TROY, N.C. — The Richmond Senior High School wrestling program had its most successful outing of the season over the weekend at a tournament hosted by Montgomery Central.
Competing in five total matches, the Raiders earned a third-place finish by collecting a 4-1 record.
Richmond defeated Providence Grove 52-23, Lexington 39-30, West Wilkes 45-28 and Southwestern Randolph 39-27. The only match the Raiders lost was to Trinity High School, a 21-54 decision.
“We wrestled really well,” head coach Andre’ Ellerbe said. “We had multiple wrestlers go 4-1. We are looking good going into the latter part of our conference (schedule).”
Against Providence Grove, Joseph Patterson (120-pound), Andres Sanchez (132-pound), Naaman Perakis (138-pound), Jaxson Martin (145-pound) and Messiah Shaw (160-pound) earned six points apiece with a pin against their respective opponents.
Christian Sanchez (126-pound), Jackson Hamilton (170-pound) and Fred Garcia (195-pound) each totaled six more points via a forfeit. Favian Rivera collected the final four points in the 152-pound match, defeating Zach King 19-8 in a major decision.
In the Raiders’ next match against Lexington, the team collected 24 points thanks to four more pinfall victories. They came from Christian Sanchez (126), Perakis (138), Rivera (152) and Garcia (195).
Andres Sanchez (132) and Martin (145) tallied a win with a forfeit, and Shaw edged Jaylen Harwood 9-7 in a minor decision for three points in the 160-pound match.
Richmond kept it going against West Wilkes, using six more pinfall victories to take another win as a team. Those winners were Andres Sanchez (132), Perakis (138), Rivera (152), Shaw (160), Hamilton (170) and K’Mauri Morgan (182).
Garcia (195) tacked on six more points with a forfeit win and Martin (145) outlasted Holt Hanchey 10-7 for a minor decision and three more points.
The Raiders’ final win saw the team wrestle to four more pinfall victories and two forfeit wins against Southwestern Randolph. Getting the free six points were Patterson (120) and Christian Sanchez (126).
Registering their six points via the pin were Perakis (138), Martin (145), Shaw (160) and Morgan (182). Rivera defeated Nathan Mabe in an 11-7 minor decision for the final three points in the 152-pound contest.
Richmond’s loss to Trinity was highlighted by two pins (Hamilton and Morgan), a forfeit (Garcia) and a minor decision by Andres Sanchez (132) over Kyle Albertson by a final score of 5-4.
The Raiders will return to action at Pinecrest on Thursday to prepare for the upcoming SAC championship.
