ROCKINGHAM — The Raider wrestling team hosted its second tournament of the young season Saturday inside Raider Gymnasium and it was a handful of junior varsity wrestlers who helped Richmond on the mat.
Competing in Raider Rumble II, head coach Earl Nicholson’s team finished 3-2 on the day, its second-straight meet with a winning record. Three meets into the 2018-19 season, Richmond now has an 8-6 overall record, and finished tied with Douglas Byrd High School on Saturday for third place.
Visiting Holly Springs High School won the tournament with a record of 4-1, while fellow Sandhills Athletic Conference opponent Seventy-First High School took second place.
The injury bug caught up with Nicholson’s team, as junior Steven Morales was unavailable after sustaining an injury in his opening match. Also not able to help the team due to injury were Bryant Koll, Matthew Haber and Camden Preslar.
But Nicholson called upon his relatively young and inexperienced junior varsity wrestlers, who answered the call to keep the Raiders in contention. Some of those wrestlers include Hector Castro and Carson Jordan, as well as freshman varsity member Gabe Altman.
“Today was really good for us because we had four starters out because of injury,” Nicholson said. “The JV guys stepped up and got better as the day went along. They did their part and we were able to beat Holly Springs, which was 4-0, in our last match. It was good to be able to do that.”
To open the day, Richmond started 2-0 against East Montgomery High School (Bisco, N.C.) and Westover High School (Fayetteville, N.C.). The Raiders took down the East Montgomery Eagles 54-27, while also outlasting the Westover Wolverines 48-36.
Six wins by forfeit (36 points) aided Richmond in beating the Eagles, and the Raiders also used pinfalls by three wrestlers to send East Montgomery packing. Junior Joseph Nicholson, who was the lone Raider to go 5-0 on the day, pinned William Beane in the 113-pound match.
Sophomore Kaden Walker beat Dillan Stuart (160-pound), and junior Jackie Bloomfield rounded things out with a pin over Brian Tinoco in the 285-pound bout. Junior Austin Gallops, who entered the meet a perfect 9-0, lost his only match of the season to Keyon Ellis, 14-10 in a minor decision.
Six more forfeits against Westover is what made the difference for the Raiders in their second match, as Nicholson and teammate Gerardo Godinez picked up pinfall wins. Nicholson downed Rashad Thompson (113-pound), while Godinez earned a victory over Nathan Lilly in the 132-pound round.
Sophomore Cale Luckey takes down Gregory Young in his 106-pound class victory.
Up next were the Eagles of Douglas Byrd, and Richmond suffered a one-point loss, 43-42, after finishing the match with a tied score. The extra point awarded in the tie-breaker went to Douglas Byrd on the account of scoring the most first points in the match.
Nicholson pinned Jabriel Crudup, while Hector Castro got in on the winning mix, pinning Kysear McCoy in the 132-pound match. Gallops got back on his horse to return to the win column, rebounding from his loss to Ellis with a pin over Louis Velez in the 152-pound match. Jamarion Short picked up the final win for the Raiders in the match, holding NyJuan Brown to the mat (182-pound).
“We kind of wrestled the 132-pound class by committee today,” Nicholson said. “Hector came up really big today and had himself a big win against Douglas Byrd. His pin tied up the match, but then we lost it in the tie-breaker.”
Richmond’s largest loss on the day came at the hands of the Seventy-First Falcons, as the Fayetteville school pulled ahead 47-30. Gallops and Walker beat Gabriel Carrington (152-pound) and Demontrious Ratliff (160-pound), respectively, both by minor decisions. Gallops squeezed out a win 8-7, while Walker took his match 9-5.
The only other non-forfeit win in the match came way of sophomore Cale Luckey, as he returned to action after missing last week’s match. Luckey pinned Gregory Young in the 106-pound action, notching his lone win of the day.
The Raiders ended their day by handing the Holly Springs Golden Hawks their only loss of the tournament, a 48-36 defeat. Nicolson capped off his perfect performance with a pin over Gavin Draper, and Jordan came up big with a pinfall against Malcolm Prater (145-pound).
Three other Raiders managed to pin their Golden Hawks opponent to the mat, as Gallops finished 4-1 with a pin against Wessley Robinson. Earning his first varsity pin was Altman, who took down Hayden Pietrowski in the 195-pound battle. The last Richmond wrestler to win was Bloomfield, who pinned Dominick Rossetto (285-pound).
“Carson came from behind to beat (Prater) and that was his first varsity win of the season against an experienced wrestler,” Nicholson said. “Gabe also go his first win, and in this sport, it’s all about getting that first win, and hopefully these guys can get on a roll.
“Joey went 5-0, and we’re tweaking and trying to fix minor mistakes so he can take it to the next level,” Nicholson concluded. “Austin lost first match (of the season) to Keyon Ellis — Austin took an 8-7 lead before losing. Last year, Ellis beat him by technical fall, so it was an improvement (for Gallops).”
Richmond will begin SAC conference matches Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Scotland High School. The Raiders will face Hoke County and Pinecrest high schools.
