FAIRFAX, Va. — A pair of Richmond Senior High School wrestlers traveled to George Mason University over the weekend and helped their travel wrestling club power its way to a first-place finish.
Rising senior Joey Nicholson (113-pound) and rising sophomore Andres Sanchez (106-pound) were a big part of the School of Hard Knocks’ top finish in the “Melee at Midnight” event.
School of Hard Knocks, based out of High Point, N.C., is coached by Bob Lloyd. It’s a wrestling club that houses some of the best wrestlers in the state and sees them compete in tournaments up and down the east coast. Last month, both Nicholson and Sanchez posted winning records at the Virginia Beach National Duals.
SOHK earned 180.5 total points, which was more than 50 points better than the second-place team. Nicholson finished the one-day tournament with a 3-1 record, which was good enough for a third-place finish in his weight class. Last summer at the same event, Nicholson placed second.
Sanchez went 2-2 and just missed out on a third-place finish in his respective weight class.
"Both Andres and Joey are training really hard this summer to get ready for the 2019-2020 high school season,” Richmond head wrestling coach Earl Nicholson said. “They are improving every tournament. They will continue their training this week as the high school wrestling workouts will be from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays."
Earl Nicholson serves as a volunteer coach with SOHK and explained his son earned win via a second-period pin, a third-period default and a 14-3 major decision. Nicholson’s lone loss of the day was a 4-3 decision, which his coach called “controversial.”
“The official prematurely awarded two points to Nicholson's opponent, assuming he was going to get behind (Joey),” Coach Nicholson said. “But (Joey) grabbed his wrist and blocked his knee to remain in control, but the official would not reverse his call.”
That loss came in the second match of the day, and Nicholson went on to defeat his next two opponents to take third place.
Sanchez’s two wins came via a default win and a 6-2 decision. He lost a 4-2 match to his fellow SOHK teammate Kory Paschal in his efforts for third place. Sanchez’s other loss came in the quarterfinal round to the weight class’ eventual champion (an 11-3 major decision).
Up next for the duo of Raider wrestlers and SOHK is the Southern National Duals in Atlantic City, N.J.
Coach Earl Nicholson contributed to this story.
