ROCKINGHAM — Austin Gallops and Joey Nicholson have spent the last few days gearing up for what will be the final wrestling tournament of their respective high school careers.
And there’s a lot on the line for the pair of senior Richmond wrestlers, as they both will compete in their first North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4A individual state championship tournament.
Both Gallops (160-pound division) and Nicholson (120-pound division) had a strong showing in the 4A Midwest regional tournament last week, each taking fourth place in his respective weight class.
Now the stakes are raised even higher, as the two All-Sandhills Athletic Conference wrestlers will try and make a deep run at a state championship. Due to falling one win short at regionals as juniors, neither Gallops or Nicholson qualified for the big dance last year.
“It’s always exciting to get kids into the state tournament, but these two are special because they’ve worked super hard,” head coach Earl Nicholson said. “They both deserve to be here and are in two very tough weight classes.
“To get out of their region was a big accomplishment in itself,” he added. “I’m glad they actually made it here.”
Joey Nicholson will start with Kaiden Fisher out of Lake Norman High School, who won the 4A West regional title last week. Fisher has compiled a 49-10 record this year, while Nicholson, who is Richmond's all-time wins leader, enters with a 33-8 record.
“I’m really excited,” Joey Nicholson smiled. “At regionals, I wish I would have placed third, but I realized I can wrestle with anybody. If I stick to my game plan, I know I can place at states.
“I’ve been working on my attacking options and getting off the bottom more quickly,” he added of his prep work. “Conditioning has been big, too.”
Nicholson could faceoff against several familiar faces, including Northwest Guilford High School’s James Joplin (49-0), who defeated Nicholson at regionals and earned first place. Joplin is the favorite to win the 120-pound state title.
The same goes for Davie County’s Adam Szewczyk (42-10), a junior who defeated Nicholson in the third-place match at regionals after the Raider suffered an injury during the contest.
Gallops, who boasts a 30-11 overall record this season, will kickoff his bout for a state title against Will Lowery. The Myers Park High School senior wrestler is 30-8 on the season a fresh off a first-place finish in the 4A West regionals.
It will be the second meeting this year between Gallops and one-seeded Lowery, seeing the Mustang win the first matchup 8-1. Gallops suffered a shoulder injury during the match in December.
Coach Nicholson said all the wrestlers in Gallops’ weight class are “comparable in stats and records” against common opponents.
“I expect to at least place at states,” Gallops said. “Looking at the bracket, I definitely think it’s in my favor. The top two guys in the state are on the other side of the bracket.
“Regionals helped me get past some of the toughest guys in the state,” he continued. “It showed me what I’m capable of doing. I’m very excited to see what I can accomplish at states.”
Some wrestlers Gallops may have to possibly contend with are conference foe Hunter Hillis (Pinecrest High School, 42-6), who has defeated Gallops three times this season.
Jack Britt High School’s Isaiah McCain-Mercado (34-13) is also in the mix, and last year’s state runner up Chris Jones (Middle Creek High School) enters as one of the favorites with a 50-1 record.
“Austin and Joey can both place at states if they wrestle up to their potential,” Coach Nicholson closed. “It doesn’t matter about the seeds or the rankings as long as they wrestle hard and do what they need to do.”
The NCHSAA recognizes the top six finishers in each weight class, and each field has 16 wrestlers set to compete. Gallops and Nicholson will begin their journey on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum.
ROSports will update both wrestlers’ progress on Twitter at @ROSports_.
