ROCKINGHAM — Two local wrestling coaches who showed promise at the middle school level recently got a promotion to the high school varsity mat.
Richard Kerekes and Andre Ellerbe, who have led the Richmond County Schools middle school wrestling program since its inception during the 2018-2019 school year, were officially named the head coach and assistant head coach, respectively, of the Richmond Senior High School wrestling team earlier this month.
It is both Kerekes’ and Ellerbe’s first varsity head coaching job.
Former head coach Earl Nicholson, who spent 24 years at the helm of the Raiders, announced his retirement from coaching in a senior night surprise on Jan. 22.
A longtime math teacher at Hamlet Middle School, his departure will allow him to pursue a job in administration and follow his son, Joey Nicholson’s, wrestling career at UNC Pembroke.
Though Nicholson left some big shoes to fill as Richmond’s longest tenured coach at the time of his departure, he felt confident that Kerekes and Ellerbe were the right coaches for the job. Ellerbe spent three years as an assistant coach under Nicholson before helping take the reigns of the middle school team.
Nicholson approached the pair following his coaching retirement to see if Kerekes and Ellerbe would be interested. Richmond’s athletic director Rob Ransom was also in on the hiring and the transition was smooth and quick.
“I’m really excited and can’t wait to see how the program will move forward with them as coaches,” Nicholson said. “Richard and Andre will do a great job with the wrestling program.
“They both have great ideas about trying to get the program to the next level, and I feel really good about their knowledge of the sport.”
Experience and expertise are also two qualities that Kerekes and Ellerbe will bring to the high school level in 2020-2021. In their first season with the middle school team, the duo not only taught the sport to dozens of beginner athletes, but also brought home the Southeastern Middle School Athletic Conference championship.
Kerekes, who is the physical education teacher at Cordova Middle School, graduated from Maiden High School in 2012. He was a four-year varsity wrestler for the Blue Devils, and qualified for the state tournament during his sophomore through senior years.
Competing in the 145-pound and 152-pound divisions, Kerekes placed third in the state championship during his junior and senior years. He also wrestled as a freshman at UNCP before transferring to Appalachian State, where he did not wrestle.
“When Coach Nic asked me to take over, I wasn’t sure at first with two young kids,” Kerekes explained. “But this is my sport and I love wrestling. We had a lot of success with the middle school program, and I know we’ll have many of our kids for the next couple of years.
“I thought about it, and knew I’d love to do it,” he added.
Ellerbe, a 2007 graduate from Scotland High School, was a varsity heavyweight wrestler for the Fighting Scots. During his senior season he was a state championship qualifier.
He went on to wrestle at St. Andrews University for four years after red-shirting, and brings with him an outsider’s perspective of having wrestled against some of Nicholson’s best teams in the late 2000s. Ellerbe works as an exceptional children’s teacher at East Rockingham Elementary.
“I’m super excited and super appreciative to get this opportunity,” Ellerbe said. “I helped Coach Nic for a couple years and I’m abreast of what he did and how he ran practices.
“I’m looking forward to following up all the great things he accomplished,” he added. “Coach Kerekes is also a great coach and I know the two of us will be able to carry over what we’ve done in middle school and be successful.”
In 2019-2020, the Raiders sent Joey Nicholson and fellow senior Austin Gallops to the 4A state championship. The year prior, former Raider Skylar Standridge represented Richmond in the big dance. The two newly hired coaches hope to send more wrestlers each year.
What Kerekes and Ellerbe both noted as one of their greatest strengths as a coaching duo is their different experiences on the mat as high school and collegiate wrestlers. Kerekes says while they will work as a team to improve the program, his work with the light and middle weight classes will balance nicely with Ellerbe’s knowledge of working with the heavyweights.
“Andre is a huge help, and with each of us specializing in different skill sets we feed off of each other,” Kerekes said.
“Coach Kerekes is a friend, and I’m his partner, not just an assistant,” Ellerbe added. “Our backgrounds work well together, we communicate really well, and our success at the middle school level came from putting our heads together.”
Since many of the wrestlers they’ve coached will be sophomores or freshmen in the coming season, Kerekes and Ellerbe hope to continue their athletes’ growth while also improving the upperclassmen. There will be several key returning starters in a variety of weight classes who have multiple years of experience under Nicholson.
One thing Kerekes is looking forward to is ramping up the competitiveness on the mat. He noted middle school wrestling is focused on developing basic skills and moves, but now he and Ellerbe can fine-tune the talent that’s already there and “build higher-level skills and strategies.”
On top of that, Ellerbe wants to “be a positive role model” for the program and is hopeful to bring back a strong presence of football players following their season, something Nicholson did for a long time.
“One of my goals is to see these guys get scholarships and wrestle in college,” Ellerbe said. “I know Coach Kerekes and I are happy to have this opportunity and can’t wait to get started.”
Coach Earl Nicholson will stay on as an adviser this year, helping with scheduling, recruitment and fundraising.
