OAKBORO, N.C. — The Richmond Raider wrestling team wasn’t able to catch a break Saturday, as the current Christmas holiday hiatus forced the Raiders to compete shorthanded in the West Stanly Duals.
Richmond was without any of its senior wrestlers, and sent to the mat just one junior, eight sophomore and two freshmen, head coach Earl Nicholson explained. Also missing from action were top junior wrestlers Austin Gallops (152-pound) and Steven Morales (138-pound).
Competing in five matches on the day, the Raiders posted a season-worst 1-4 record. Through 26 matches this season, Nicholson and company now sit at the .500 mark at 26-26.
Despite losing to East Alamance, Mt. Pleasant, Orange and host West Stanly high schools, Nicholson expressed his satisfaction with such a young core of wrestlers.
“Even with such a young lineup, we competed really hard,” Nicholson shared. “We made some very experienced teams work for everything.
“I was really impressed with first-year wrestler Michael Demay,” he continued of the . “He went 3-2 on the day and battled hard against all five opponents.”
Richmond’s only team victory of the day came against Ablemarle High School, a 48-24 taming of the Bulldogs. Seven of the Raiders’ eight victories came via a forfeit, and it was Demay who came away with the lone victory against an opponent. Wrestling against Cameron Honeycutt, Demay earned a win by pinfall, earning the Raiders six points.
Richmond’s No. 1 wrestler Joseph Nicholson (113-pound), the only junior wrestling Saturday, was fresh off of his championship win at the E.B. Memorial Clash at the Creek tournament last week.
He opened the day with “an upset loss” to West Stanly’s Bryson Whitley, a close 2-1 decision, but “stormed back to win four matches in a row,” two of which were against ranked opponents.
Nicholson added a 14-4 major decision win against Orange’s Kessel Summers, and a 5-4 decision over East Alamance’s Nathan Myers, the No. 6 ranked 3A wrestler in the state. Another forfeit win gave Nicholson a 4-1 record, good enough to win the weight class title.
On the season, Nicholson now boasts the Raiders’ best individual record, sitting at 30-2.
Coach Nicholson noted that sophomore Bryant Coll (126-pound) also impressed, posting a 3-2 record on the day. On top of a forfeit win against Albemarle, he pinned Orange’s Daniel Dunn and West Stanly’s Joseph Frye, “two quality opponents,” according to Nicholson.
The only other Raider with three wins was Phillip Gillis, who won two matches by forfeit, and tacked on a pin over Orange’s Ethan Fortner (285-pound).
The short-handed staff led the Raiders to forfeit every match in four weight classes (152, 182, 195 and 220-pound), automatically giving opposing teams six points for each of the 20 matches.
Richmond will take nearly a week off from competition, as school is slated to start back up Wednesday. The Raiders’ next competition will be in the Joel McCanna Invitational at St. Andrews University on Saturday, Jan. 5.
