SANFORD — The Richmond Raider wrestling team split another pair of Sandhills Athletic Conference matches to start the new year.
Last Wednesday, Richmond traveled to Southern Lee High School and defeated the host Cavaliers and lost to conference powerhouse Union Pines High School.
The Raiders suffered a 60-24 loss to the Vikings and rallied to defeat Southern Lee 60-12.
Against Union Pines, four Raiders earned pinfall victories to collect the team’s two dozen points.
They were sophomore Adam Estridge (138-pounds) over JT Erle, senior Jaxson Martin (145-pounds) against Evan Thompson, sophomore K’Mauri Morgan (220-pounds) over Sincere Bonner and senior Urijah McDonald (285-pounds) in his bout with Carter Herring.
All four of those Raiders collected 2-0 records during the SAC contest.
Richmond used eight pins and two forfeits to cruise past the Cavaliers and even their season record to 2-2 against SAC opponents.
Senior Gael Onesto (113-pounds) and McDonald (285-pounds) were awarded six points via a forfeit.
The middleweights dominated for the Raiders, starting with Estridge (132-pounds) pinning Logan Mitchell in the first round.
Fellow sophomore Joseph Patterson (138-pounds) added another quick pin against Ori Ellis.
Martin (145-pounds) and fellow senior captain Naaman Perakis (152-pounds) contributed to the scoring with two more pins. Martin held Kevin Brown to the mat during his match, and Perakis defeated Diego Badillo.
Seniors Amir Martin (160-pounds) and Messiah Shaw (170-pounds), the other two senior captains, added to the scoring with pinfall wins and another 12 points. No opponent name was listed for either wrestler.
Finishing the win were sophomore Jackson Hamilton (182-pounds) and Morgan (220-pounds). Hamilton pinned Jaylenn Spinks and Morgan earned his second win of the night against Joshua Silva.
Richmond (8-7, 2-2 SAC) will compete in a tournament at Montgomery Central High School on Saturday.
Note: Scores for the Southern Lee match weren’t posted in Track Wrestling until this week.
