ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond Senior wrestling team played host for a Sandhills Athletic Conference Duals on Wednesday falling to Seventy-First, 45-28 and Jack Britt, 51-27.
Three-year varsity member Austin Gallops capped off his Senior Night with two wins and though he wished for a better team result, he commented on what it meant to leave unbeaten in the home finale.
“I knew this day was going to come sooner than I expected it to, but it felt great getting recognized,” said Gallops. “Other teams (at the meet) cheered for me. It was a big moment and definitely going in the memory book.”
The 160-pounds wrestler started the evening scoring a pin against Seventy-First’s Toryon Washington to give the Raiders an early 6-0 lead. He ended the night by scoring a last-second decision over Jack Britt’s Isaiah McCain-Mercado, who had over 20 wins on the season.
Meanwhile, Nicholson went 1-1, scoring a pin over Seventy-First’s Dakari Johnson that closed the team’s deficit to 27-22. He closed by dropping a close decision to Jack Britt’s Edward Brady.
The program’s all-time wins leader expressed how emotional the evening was for him and was still optimistic for what the end of the season could bring.
“I was hoping I could win both of them today, but it is what it is. Just try to come back and beat him (Brady) in the conference tournament,” said Nicholson. “I have more time to improve and hopefully, I’ll have a good rest of the year.
Richmond coach Earl Nicholson unexpectedly announced that Wednesday’s home finale would also be the last of his 26-year tenure as head of the program and said he fought back tears when he was honored alongside his son, JoeE. He had high praise for both of his varsity upperclassmen who had to lead one of the youngest teams in his tenure.
“When [Gallops] joined varsity, we had a really tough lineup and the guys in front of him, they beat him down every day,” said Earl Nicholson. “He just came back for more and he just kept getting closer and better.”
“After they left, he took over the spot. He just kept pushing to the point where he made himself great,” he added.
It’s that determination that Nicholson feels helped Gallops finish his final home match unbeaten as he credited his ability to “wrestling to the whistle.”
Other Raiders wrestlers to pick up wins by fall were Jaylen McLean, Bryant Coll, Irwin Campos, Christian Sanchez and Lakota Scott.
Raiders senior wrestler Camden Presslar was also honored during the pregame ceremony.
Richmond falls to 2-6 in league play and finishes the regular season at rival Scotland next Wednesday before competing in the conference tournament next weekend.
