CARY — For the second straight season, the Richmond Senior High School wrestling program has a state championship qualifier.
The Raiders sent four wrestlers to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 4A Mideast regional tournament over the weekend.
Held at Panther Creek High School, Richmond secured 38 points and finished 14th out of 26 teams. Lumberton High School won the regional title with 168.5 points.
Junior K’Mauri Morgan, who wrestled in the 215-pound weight class, punched his first career ticket to states with a third-place showing. Last season, senior Jaxson Martin qualified.
Also taking to the mat and putting in strong performances were junior Adam Estridge (144-pounds), sophomore Jason Gainey (190-pounds) and sophomore Demonte Martin (285-pounds).
“Our guys went and wrestled phenomenally,” head coach Andre’ Ellerbe said. “I am so proud of our guys. I am really excited about the future of raider wrestling with all our returnees.
“K’Mauri had some really good seeds and fought hard for every win and showed pride and determination in his loss,” he added.
Wrestling in five matches, Morgan started with two consecutive wins and finished the day with a 4-1 record.
Opening against Andrew Irwin of East Chapel Hill High School, Morgan earned the team six points with a pinfall victory 28 seconds into the second round. It was the first of his three pins in the tournament.
In the championship bracket quarterfinals, Morgan similarly defeated Tobias Jackson (Overhills High School), pinning his opponent less than a minute into the second round.
Running into Sandhills Athletic Conference foe Geronimo Oxendine, who helped Hoke County High School finish second overall, Morgan lost a 6-2 decision in the semifinals match. Oxendine went on to win the 215-pound regional crown.
Morgan answered the loss with a 14-10 decision over John Dube (Panther Creek) to send him to the third-place match.
Meeting William Estes of Green Level High School, Morgan slugged out his final pinfall victory late in the second round to secure his spot on the podium.
“It feels great knowing that I qualified for states,” Morgan shared. “I was out for a week with the flu and still battled to make it that far. I definitely have to give all glory to God. What worked well for me were my counters and shots and just staying patient and being aggressive.
“I’m definitely excited to see what the competition level is going to be at states and I know I’m going to meet a lot of people,” he added. “My expectations are to wrestle to my best ability and win states.”
Gainey was just one win away from making an appearance in the third-place match of the 190-pound weight class. He finished the day with a 3-2 effort with three pins. Starting with a pin over Cade Earl (Apex High School, 2:54), Gainey fell short in a 12-3 major decision to Deyari El-Amin (Hillside High School) in the quarterfinals. Moving to the consolation bracket, Gainey rattled off back-to-back pins against Bryson Catullo (Green Hope High School, 0:57) and Cole Harrison (Pinecrest High School, 2:59). His bid ended in the consolation semifinals when he was pinned in the third round by Christopher Ehman of South View High School. Martin went 2-2 overall in the heavyweight bracket and Estridge tallied a 1-2 record in the 144-pound contest. Losing his opening match, Martin defeated Owen Reams (Chapel Hill High School) and Ezequiel Medina De La Rosa (Cary High School) by pinfall in the first two rounds of the consolation bracket. Facing South View’s Joseph Hunt in the third round of the consolation tournament, Martin lost via a pin to close his season. Estridge’s lone victory came in the opening match of the championship bracket. He pinned Colton Krall of Southeast Guilford High School in just 57 seconds. But Estridge lost to Brennen Maddalena (Pinecrest, pin 5:35) and Brieon Mayfield (Jack Britt High School,14-9 decision) to get eliminated. Morgan (17-5) will compete in the NCHSAA 4A state championship tournament in Greensboro Thursday through Saturday. His first match will be against Hayden Haynes (50-8) of McDowell High School. The first round of 4A matches will begin Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Coliseum.
