SOUTHERN PINES — The Richmond Senior High School wrestling program competed in its biggest team tournament of the season last weekend.
Wrestling in the Pinecrest Duals, which featured 18 teams from across the state, the Raiders battled against five other programs and collected a 2-3 record on the day.
Richmond and head coach Andre’ Ellerbe collected match wins over Chapel Hill and Seventy-First high schools.
Ellerbe noted that “forfeits and injuries” hindered the Raiders in losses to Apex Friendship, Piedmont and West Carteret high schools.
Senior Messiah Shaw (170-pounds) was the team’s leading wrestler, going 5-0 on the day. He earned three pinfall victories, one decision and one forfeit win.
Also impressive were seniors Naaman Perakis (152-pounds) and Amir Martin (160-pounds), who both collected a team-high four pinfalls to account for all of their respective wins.
A trio of Richmond wrestlers also collected three wins — senior Urijah McDonald (285-pounds) and sophomores Adam Estridge (132-pounds) and K’Mauri Morgan (220-pounds).
Rounding out the Raiders’ 27 individual match wins during the tournament with one win each were seniors Christian Sanchez and Jaxson Martin, junior Filix Guinn, sophomore Jackson Hamilton and freshman Jordan Hamilton.
Raiders use 5 pins to defeat Chapel Hill
In the team’s first win, the Raiders used five pinfall victories and four more forfeits to cruise past Chapel Hill 54-22.
Winning by pins were Estridge (Moo Loh, 2:37), Perakis (Avery Soular, 1:47), Amir Martin (Zain Shah, 2:35), Jackson Hamilton in the 182-pound match (Luke Bennard, 4:49) and Morgan (Joseph Rodriguez, 3:28).
Adding 24 points via forfeits were Sanchez (138-pounds), Shaw, Jordan Hamilton (195-pounds) and McDonald.
Seven Raiders win in victory over Seventy-First
Another strong showing by the Raiders led to a 39-30 win over the Falcons. As a team, Richmond had seven wins, including five pins, one decision and one forfeit.
Pins came courtesy of Perakis (Darius Harris, 1:33), Amir Martin (Teddy Spence, 0:53), Shaw (Ladarius Vines, 0:00), Guinn in the 182-pound bout (Deondre Jackson, 0:32) and McDonald (Jordan Williams, 1:20).
Estridge battled to a high-scoring 19-15 decision for three points against Joshua Adu-Offel, and Morgan picked up the final six points due to a forfeit in his match.
Raiders suffer close loss to Apex Friendship
Flipping the score around, Richmond came up just short against Apex Friendship 30-39.
Despite the loss, five individual wrestlers collected a win, all courtesy of the pin.
Estridge defeated Dillon Beatty (0:00), Jaxson Martin pinned Sage Wayne (1:25) in the 145-pound match, Perakis took down Tyler Collins (1:45), Amir Martin held Cole Snyder to the mat (1:41) and Shaw pinned Hayden Hunkele (1:41).
Richmond combines for six wins against Piedmont, West Carteret
In their final two matches of the day, the Raiders fell 24-57 to West Carteret and 6-66 against Piedmont.
Four wins came against West Carteret. Perakis earned his final pinfall victory over John Schulz, Amir Martin ended his day with a pin over Nathan Hughes and Shaw pinned Jeremiyah Dixon.
Richmond’s other six points against West Carteret were gained on a forfeit victory by McDoanld.
Shaw and Morgan wrapped the tournament with a pair of close decisions and three points each against Piedmont.
Going all three rounds with Colby Davis, Shaw earned a 6-5 win. Morgan held on to defeat Reece Lester 6-4.
Following Saturday’s action, the Raiders have a 2-4 overall record this season. The team’s match against North Moore High School, originally scheduled for Friday, has been postponed.
