ROCKINGHAM — Two Richmond Raider senior wrestlers were recognized ahead of Wednesday’s senior night match against visiting Scotland High School, but it was a wealth of underclassmen who picked up the majority of the points for the Raiders.
Seniors Gerardo Godinez and Skylar Standridge were escorted by family members prior to the match, which only featured the Fighting Scots in a rare two-team Sandhills Athletic Conference dual.
The back-and-forth affair saw both teams hold a lead at different times throughout, but it was the Fighting Scots who wrestled their way to a victory. The initial meet ended in a 42-42 tie, but Scotland was awarded the tie-breaking point thanks to winning the overall number of first points scored.
“The rule with the tie-breaker is that we go through a bunch of priority things, and it’s usually the first points scored in each match,” head coach Earl Nicholson explained. “Scotland beat us 7-6 on takedowns, and the (195-pound) forfeit actually hurt us.”
The night’s events started with the 220-pound weight class featuring Standridge and Scotland’s Michael Locklear. Standridge, who entered the night with 68 career wins over four years as a Raider, trailed 4-1 after the first two rounds. In the final two-minute period, Locklear managed to pin Standridge with 23 seconds left to give Scotland an early 6-0 lead.
Richmond’s Ahmad Shelton, who competed in the 285-pound bout against Nathaniel Harrington, suffered the same fate as Standridge. Trailing 12-5 at the start of the third round, Shelton was pinned just 29 seconds into period.
The Raiders didn’t give up, as their next three wrestlers went on to pin their respective opponents to give Richmond its first lead of the night, 18-12. In the 106-pound match, freshman Andres Sanchez got out to an 8-2 lead over Keldon Clark in the first 90 seconds of the first round. He earned Richmond’s first six points by pinning Clark with 25 seconds left in the first round.
Fellow freshman and 113-pounder Dante Baldwin followed up with Richmond’s quickest pin of the match. It took him only 33 seconds to get a win against Kameron Spangler, tying the match 12-12.
Richmond’s No. 1 wrestler Joseph Nicholson moved up to the 120-pound match, and jumped out to a fast 7-1 lead over Jay Johnson. With 59 seconds left in the second round, Nicholson held Johnson to the mat to give the Raiders a six-point advantage.
After sophomore Bryant Coll was pinned by Scotland’s Seth English in the 126-pound match, junior Steven Morales and sophomore Carson Jordan regained the lead with back-to-back pins. Morales (132-pound) finished off Nathan Joyner with 38 seconds left in the first round, and Jordan’s pin 59 seconds into his round against Austin Wood gave the Raiders a 30-18 lead.
Seniors Skylar Standridge (second from left) and Gerardo Godinez (right).
But two straight pins by Scotland’s Mark Aiken (145-pound) and Brendon Smith (152) saw the score tied once more, 30-30. Sophomore Kaden Walker gained the Raiders’ final lead of the night when he made quick work against Jacquez Henderson, pinning the Fighting Scot just over a minute into their 160-pound match.
Two more wins for Scotland in the 170 and 182-pound contests gave the Fighting Scots a 42-36 lead. Freshman Gabe Altman (195-pound) didn’t have an opponent to face in the 14th and final match, as his forfeit victory drew things to a 42-point tie. Not facing an opponent, Altman didn’t have an opportunity to earn a first-point strike, which is why Nicholson said the forfeit hurt.
“Skylar can’t train the way he wants to with an injured ankle,” Nicholson said. “We know he can wrestle better than that, especially against a first-year wrestler. I knew it would be back and forth tonight, and we kind of had a feeling of which matches we were going to win and which ones we weren’t.
“The wildcard factors were the 126 and 145-pound matches,” he added. “I wasn’t sure what (Scotland) had there, and Bryant and Ethan (Owens) are good pinners when they’re on top. They just never got that opportunity tonight.”
Not wrestling for Richmond was junior Austin Gallops, who competes in the 152-pound class. Nicholson explained his captain missed weight, making him ineligible to wrestle.
Nicholson explained that Godinez is a “first-year wrestler” who steps up when Morales is out or in a different weight class. In December, Godinez placed second in the junior varsity tournament at Mallard Creek High School, what he calls his “greatest accomplishment.” Godinez wants to attend a four-year university and major in environmental science.
Standridge hopes to also attend a four-year university and pursue an undergraduate degree in engineering.
The loss bumped the Raiders’ SAC record to 3-4 on the season. They’ll be back in action Saturday at the Bulldog Brawl at St. Pauls High School, which is the final regular season meet of the year. Matches will begin at 9 a.m.
