ROCKINGHAM — After finishing in a 42-all tie with Richmond on Wednesday night, Scotland’s wrestling team defeated their rivals 7-6 in a tiebreaker.
The amount of first points both teams earned throughout the dual determined their respective scores in the tiebreaker.
Scotland tallied seven pins against the Raiders.
“They got us last year, 45-30. Some of our guys were supposed to win, and they didn’t get the wins,” said Thomas Havener, Scotland’s head coach. “I told the guys on the bus, just do your job. If you’re supposed to get the pin, get the pin.”
Scotland’s Michael Locklear and Nathaniel Harrington helped their team take an early lead with pins in the 220 and 285-pound bouts, respectively. But the Raiders quickly put themselves on the scoreboard.
Richmond’s Andres Sanchez pinned Scotland’s Keldon Clark in the 106-pound match to give the Raiders their first six points of the night. Richmond’s Dante Baldwin then pinned Scotland’s Kameron Spangler to tie the score at 12-all.
After Richmond took an 18-12 lead with a pin by Joseph Nicholson against Jay Johnson at 120 pounds, Scotland’s Seth English evened the score again by pinning Bryant Coll in the 126-pound bout.
But Richmond registered two more pins and jumped out to a 30-18 lead. Scotland’s Nathan Joyner was pinned by Steven Morales at 132 pounds, and Richmond’s Carson Jordan pinned Ethan Tone in the 138-pound fight.
Scotland responded with two pins of its own. Mark Aiken registered the first one against Ethan Owens at 145 pounds.
“Mark coming out with that pin, that was one of the ones we weren’t expecting to happen,” Havener said.
It was an unexpected pin, but it was crucial for the Scots. In the 145-pound bout, Scotland’s Brendon Smith pinned Bryant Stevens to tie the score at 30-all.
Richmond then took the lead again after Kaden Walker pinned Scotland’s Jacquez Henderson at 160 pounds. But Scotland ended the dual with two consecutive pins. Jeremiah McRimmon defeated Jamarion Short in the 170-pound bout, and Charles Wall beat Tyreese Jones in the 182-pound class.
Richmond won the 195-pound match by forfeit, leaving the score tied at 42-all.
After it was announced that Scotland won the tiebreaker, the Scots celebrated their rivalry win.
“It feels really good honestly, because we’ve been going against them for a while now,” McRimmon said. “We wanted to pick up a win, so we came out tough.”
Scotland will wrap up the regular season by competing in the Bulldog Brawl at St. Pauls High School on Saturday. The Sandhills Athletic Conference Tournament is scheduled for Jan. 26 at Purnell Swett.
