ASHEBORO, N.C. — Two days after the Thanksgiving holiday, the Richmond Senior High School wrestling team traveled to Asheboro High School Saturday to compete in the Cold Turkey Duals Tournament.
The Raiders weren’t affected by the holiday slumber, as they went 3-1 on the day, with their only loss coming to the host Blue Comets. Through two meets this season, head coach Earl Nicholson’s team is 5-4, and he was pleased with the efforts during Saturday’s matches.
“I saw a lot of really good stuff from the young guys today,” Nicholson said. “Whether they were winning or losing, I saw them doing the moves. That’s a big step in the right direction. I’m really proud of our performance today, and everyone gave it their all.
“We did how I expected us to” he continued. “I knew we’d have to get through Asheboro to win it. We lost to them early, but we did win the rest of our matches.”
The Blue Comets, coached by Wes Berrier, won the tournament by going a perfect 4-0 on the day, and improved to 13-0 on the season. Asheboro defeated Richmond, Chatham Charter, Southwestern Randolph and Union Pines high schools to claim the victory.
Richmond opened the day with Chatham Charter School (Siler City, N.C.) , a 1A program that only brought one wrestler -- the No. 2 wrestler in the state in Chandler Steele. Competing in the 120-pound classification, Steele outlasted the Raiders’ top wrestler, junior Joey Nicholson, in an 8-2 minor decision. Every other Richmond wrestler was awarded a victory by way of forfeit, and took the match 78-3.
Still missing all of his varsity football players on the mat, Nicholson was also with junior Steven Morales, who was out of town for the holiday. Up next were the Blue Comets, as the home team muscled its way past the Raiders 63-15.
Of the 14 individual matches wrestled against the Blue Comets, only three Raiders managed to pull out victories. In the 152-pound match, junior Austin Gallops pinned Manuel Jacobo, and Nicholson bounced back, this time wrestling in the 113-pound match. He defeated Abraham Mora in a 4-1 minor decision.
The last win was awarded to freshman Gabe Altman in the 195-pound class, a forfeit, as the ninth grader finished the day 3-1 for the Raiders.
“Austin Gallops is now 9-0 on the season,” Nicholson commented of his lone undefeated wrestler. “My son, Joey Nicholson, went 3-1 and only lost to Chandler Steele. He was in control for most of the match and then started cramping up a bit and only lost by six points.
“It was a good day wrestling and the guys were ready to rock and roll,” he added. “The program is headed in the right direction.”
In the third match of the afternoon, Richmond downed the North Forsyth High School Vikings (Winston-Salem, N.C.) by a final score of 53-28. The Raiders picked up 30 of those points from forfeits, but saw four other wrestlers pick up wins.
Gallops (152-pound) impressed again with another pin, this time against Armondo Neri, and sophomore Kaden Walker (160-pound) scored his only pin of the day with a win over Joseph Terry.
Sophomore Kaden Walker (green) pins North Forsyth’s Joseph Terry in the 160-pound match.
Junior Glenn Gilliam (182-pound) took out Myquan Royster by technical fall, defeating the Viking by a final score of 20-5, while Jordan Ratliff rounded things out with a pin over Byron Hill in the 285-pound match.
Richmond’s closest match on paper was its final one, a 48-36 victory against Chatham Central High School (Bear Creek, N.C.). Four forfeits aided the Raiders, but Nicholson, Ratliff, Matthew Haber and Evan Ingram all secured wins by pin to oust the Bears.
Nicholson finished the day with a quick pin against Brantly Hart in the 113-pound match, and was followed by Haber defeating Nick McNeill in the 138-pound round. Ingram (220-pound) knocked off Gabriel Silva, while Ratliff ended the afternoon with a pin against JAaron Wise in the 285-pound contest.
Richmond will be back in action and look to improve on its early season success Saturday, Dec. 1. The Raiders will host their second tournament of the year, with matches beginning around 9 a.m. in Raider Gymnasium.
