RAEFORD — Becoming the first winter sports program at Richmond Senior High School to officially open its season, the Raider wrestling team competed in the Bucktown Classic Invitational Saturday.
Hosted by Hoke County High School, which is also one of Richmond’s Mid-South Conference regular-season opponents, the season-opening tournament featured six total qualifying teams.
Richmond and fifth-year head coach Andre’ Ellerbe finished fourth with 86 points, just 1.5 points behind third-place finisher Knightdale High School (87.5 points).
Winning their own invitational were the Hoke County Bucks (235 points), followed by second-place Terry Sanford High School (104 points).
Other participants were E.E. Smith (67 points) and Douglas Byrd (53 points) high schools.
Richmond had five wrestlers finish in second place in their respective weight class brackets — sophomore Dylan Nunez (120-pounds), freshman Axel Nunez (126-pounds), junior Hayden Smith (157-pounds), senior Braxton Martinez (190-pounds) and sophomore Samuel James (285-pounds).
Sophomore Luis Carrillo earned the team’s only third-place finish in the 144-pound bracket, and fellow sophomore Jake Gardner was fourth in the 150-pound division.
Richmond didn’t compete with a complete roster due to several returners still playing football. Among those wrestlers are seniors Jordan Hamilton and Demonte Martin, along with junior Konner Gardner.
Dylan Nunez won a pair of matches to start his day by technical fall (21-3 and 19-3). He moved to the championship match against Jouse Hipolito (Hoke County) but fell by an 8-5 decision.
Similarly, Axel Nunez began the invitational with two wins, one by a 9-5 decision and the other a 21-5 technical fall. Facing Jekai Sedgewick (Hoke County) in the finals, Nunez lost by first-round fall.
A 17-0 technical fall win in the opening round of his bracket is how Smith started the day. He later earned a pinfall win to advance to the first-place match. Competing against Isaiah Johnson (Hoke County), Smith lost 21-6 by tech fall.
Martinez went 2-0 to begin his way to the championship match in the 190-pound bracket. He pinned his first opponent before running away with a 20-4 tech fall. In the second-place matchup, Martinez defeated Jack McClain (Terry Sanford) with a first-round pin.
James had to wrestle four times to get second place in the heavyweight division. He pinned his first two opponents, lost his third match 9-4 by major decision and bounced back to quickly pin Manuel Gunner (Terry Sanford) in his final match.
The Raiders will return to the mat Wednesday for a non-conference match at North Moore High School. Weigh-ins are set for 5 p.m.
