CHARLOTTE — In its second-to-last regular season meet, the Richmond wrestling team won two of five matches in order to place fourth at the Trojan Duals at Olympic High School on Saturday.

The Raiders continue to compete with a short-handed roster — due to them “cleaning house” over the holiday break — and it showed when the final results came in, as they finished with 21 forfeits.

Despite the team’s struggles, three wrestlers went without a loss. Sophomore Steven Morales, sophomore Joey Nicholson and junior Skylar Standridge all went 5-0 on the day, while teammate Austin Gallops only lost one.

Richmond defeated Hopewell (44-3o) and Vance (51-21) thanks to a combined five pins and three decisions.

Gallops scored a pin over Nijah Smith (Vance) , Morales pinned Terrell Washington (Hopewell), Nicholson won by pinfall over Damien Rogers (Vance), Standridge pinned Taishon Huntley (Vance) and Marcus Hester scored a pin over Domonic O’Brien (Hopewell).

Gallops won by major decision over Hopewell’s Joshua Solia, Hester secured an 8-3 decision over Vance’s Wydreek Williams and Nicholson earned a major-decision victory over Hopewell’s Jalen Ready.

Richmond, however, didn’t have enough to get past either East Mecklenburg (54-21), Olympic (52-30) or Providence (47-22).

Kaden Walker, at 145, was the only other Raider — other than Gallops, Hester, Morales, Nicholson and Standridge — to grab a win during those three matches. He was able to pin Maxwell Brown (Olympic) for one of the team’s five wins against Olympic.

The Raiders (20-14) will end the regular season Wednesday, Jan. 24, with a three-team conference meet at Jack Britt, facing off against the Buccaneers and Seventy-First. They will then compete in the first-ever Sandhills Athletic Conference wrestling tournament on Saturday, Jan. 27, at a location that has yet to be determined.

Reach sports editor Leon Hargrove Jr. by phone at 910-817-2673 or by email at [email protected]. For stories, scores and updates, follow the Daily Journal’s sports section on Twitter @RCDailySports.

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By Leon Hargrove Jr.

Sports Editor