FAIRFAX, Va. - The Richmond Senior High School wrestling season may have wrapped up several months ago, but for standout rising junior Joseph Nicholson, the pursuit of perfection on the mat never ends.
And he continued his journey at his second national-level event this year.
On Saturday, June 23, Nicholson traveled to George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., to compete in the “Melee Til Midnight” national wrestling tournament, which featured wrestlers from 17 different states in the university’s field house.
Representing the School of Hard Knocks (SOHK) wrestling club, which is based out of High Point, N.C., and coached by 40-year veteran Bob Lloyd, Nicholson scrapped his way to a second-place finish in the 113-pound weight class. He won three straight matches before ultimately falling in the championship round.
Back in mid-April, Nicholson also traveled with the SOHK wrestling club to the My House National Folkstyle Wrestling Tournament in Lancaster, Pa. While there, Nicholson went 2-1 in the 115-pound weight class, finished second overall and earned All-American honors.
In Virginia just over two months later, Nicholson’s bracket contained 16 wrestlers (including himself) primarily from Delaware, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia. In his opening round match, Nicholson won by forfeit over Kevin Brown of the Bear Brawlers Wrestling Club based out of Virginia.
Getting to actually wrestle his opponent in the quarterfinals round, Nicholson wasted no time and defeated Hunter Brown of the Fauquier Wrestling Club (Warrenton, Va.) in 1:09 via pin fall. Advancing to the semifinals round of the Melee event, Nicholson squared off against a familiar face, meeting fellow SOHK wrestling Zach Brimm on the mat. This time it took a little longer, but Nicholson emerged victorious over Brimm in 2:49, also winning by pin fall.
Just like he did in the My House National Folkstyle Wrestling Tournament, Nicholson breezed past his competition to make it to the championship round. Similar to Brimm, Nicholson’s final opponent of the day was also a SOHK teammate, and Elijah Boyd proved to be just good enough to keep Nicholson from taking the crown.
Nicholson avoided being pinned by Boyd in the championship match, but fell by a final decision of 2-0. Both Brimm and Boyd were 2018 North Carolina state qualifiers, and this was Nicholson’s second career runner-up finish at a national-level tournament (the other being the My House event in April).
“I’m going to keep training and continue to fix my mistakes as I prepare for the Super 32 National Tournament in Atlantic City, N.J., in August,” Nicholson commented after his performance at Melee Til Midnight.
Content used in this article was provided by Earl Nicholson.
