LAURINBURG — The Richmond Senior High School wrestling team wrapped up its third and final holiday break tournament Saturday at Scotland High School.
Competing in the 10-team Joel McCanna Invitational, named for the former Scotland coach with over 300 career wins, the Raiders battled their way to a third-place finish.
Richmond would collect a 3-1 overall record with wins over Fairmont, St. Pauls and Westover high schools. The Raiders opened with a 66-18 win over Fairmont, defeated Westover 46-26 and made quick work against St. Pauls 55-18 in the third-place match.
The lone loss of the day was a 57-15 defeat to Laney High School, which head coach Earl Nicholson explained was one of the top-ranked teams in the state.
Laney would go on to finish 4-0 and win the tournament, and Montgomery Central High School placed second ahead of Richmond.
“I thought we did well today,” Nicholson said. “Saw some things we need to correct. The next few weeks we will focus on perfecting our strengths and eliminating our weaknesses.
“There will be a lot of focus on varsity improvement this week,” he added.
Richmond was without seven varsity wrestlers in the McCanna Invitational, Nicholson said, noting they were either injured, sick or out of town for the holiday. Senior Joey Nicholson (120-pound) was back after missing the Holy Angels Tournament last week, but wrestled through an injury involving dislocated fingers.
Joey Nicholson, along with sophomore teammates Dante Baldwin (126-pound) and Mikey Baldwin (170-pound), would collect 3-1 individual records to lead the Raiders. With his three wins, Joey Nicholson became the first Raider to the 20-win mark this season.
To open against Fairmont, Nicholson and Dante Baldwin earned forfeit wins, while Mikey Baldwin pinned Jayden Smith in the first round. He would also collect Richmond’s only pin against a talented Laney squad, getting his second of the day over Brandon McCray.
Dante Baldwin scruffed out a three-round win against Laney’s Seth Thomas in a 7-6 minor decision. Nicholson fell 5-1 to Evan Kite.
In the team’s third match, Nicholson earned a first-round pin over Westover’s Ayonna McNeill, while both Baldwins suffered a loss. Junior Josh Wallace (132-pound) picked up an 8-0 major decision victory over Rodney Melvin to help the Raiders to the win.
Sophomore heavyweight Ahmad Shelton also went 3-1 on the day, using two foreits and a pin over Terence Thompson (Fairmont) to add 18 points to the Raiders’ scoresheet. Wallace also had three wins on the day.
To close the day against St. Pauls, the Raiders used five forfeit wins to defeat the Bulldogs, among them were Dante and Mikey Baldwin. Nicholson had a 12-1 major decision over Damien Ortiz, and Wallace added a 16-1 technical fall against Xavier Smith.
The Raiders will return to Sandhills Athletic Conference action on Wednesday on the road at Purnell Swett. Richmond will battle the host Rams and Lumberton High School.
