Scotland's Tyler Graves rallied past Richmond's Wesley Mason in the third period to take a 4-2 win by decision on Thursday in Rockingham. Scotland won the match 69-8.
Scotland dominated Richmond for a 69-8 Mid-Southeastern 4-A Conference victory in the Raiders' varsity gymnasium. The win would have come either way, but it didn't help that RSHS committed a long series of technical rules violations that Stryeller repeatedly caught up to them on.
Stryeller gave what seemed like several dozen warnings, he awarded points to Scotland on several occasions after Richmond rules violations, and he even took a point away from the Raiders' team score after Glen Williams began to take his green and gold singlet off before he stepped off the mat after being pinned by Scotland's Kyle Bland with 1:24 remaining in the second period of the 171-pound match.
"They're real young," said McCanna of Richmond. "They've got five seniors on the team, and only two seniors wrestle for him.
"The rest of them are all sophomores and freshmen. We've had the same problem with our young guys, but we don't lock hands. That's one thing we've worked on.
"They've got a lot of strong kids, so they lock those hands and think they can throw you backwards, and it gets you in trouble."
Richmond didn't have to look too hard to find trouble. The Scots went ahead 6-0 when Zak Watts won via forfeit at 103 pounds. Matthew Kang wrestled Richmond's Travis Griffin at 112; the match was tied 4-4 in the second period when Griffin, repeatedly warned for illegally locking his hands, was disqualified.
The Scots went up 18-0 as 119-pound Scot Bradley Stewart pinned Chad Wright in under 90 seconds. Stewart turned on his stomach and, with his chin on the mat, used his legs to pin down Wright's upper body on the finishing move.
Richmond cut the deficit to 18-3 with a win by decision at 125 pounds. Scotland's Dustin Chavis trailed 7-0 in the final period, but got a reverse and a 3-point near fall to cut the lead to 7-5 before time ran out.
Trevin Hoskins put SHS up 24-3 as he pinned T.J. Gates with 43 seconds left in the opening period of the 130-pound match. Down 2-1, Scotland 135-pounder Tyler Dennis reversed Jamar Allen and pinned him with 56 seconds left in the first period.
Sam Williams (140) pinned Richmond's Scottie Brewington 29 seconds into the first period to put Scotland ahead 36-3 in the match. Tyler Graves (145) trailed Richmond's Wesley Mason 2-1 going into the final period, and Mason chose to start down on the mat. Graves took advantage with three near fall points to pull out a 4-2 decision and increase the Scots' lead to 39-3.
Jay Clark (152) was tied 5-5 with Richmond's John Mack heading into the second period, but he ended a competitive battle by pinning Mack with 47 ticks remaining in the second period.
Scotland's Evan Baker — the state's No. 1 ranked 160-pound 4-A wrestler and a definite state championship contender — abused Justin Flores, building a 13-1 lead before pinning Flores, mercifully, with 31 seconds left in the second period.
Bland built an 9-0 first-period lead before pinning Williams in the second. The score went from 57-3 to 57-2 when Williams was penalized for pulling the top of his singlet off while still on the mat.
At 189 pounds, Clifton Bostic took an 8-2 lead into the second period before pinning Tony Mora in a total time of 2:36.
"Clifton did a great job, was giving up about 15 pounds to the guy he wrestled," said McCanna.
Scotland's final win came at 215 pounds. Freshman Davis Jones engaged in a hard-fought battle with Richmond's Justin Wall. Davis avoided being taken down when he and Wall went out of bounds with 21 seconds left in regulation and the score tied at 2-all.
A third technical violation by Wall in the second overtime gave Davis two points and tied the match at 4-4. A fourth rules violation gave Davis the victory as Wall was disqualified.
"Davis did a great job," said McCanna. "He didn't win the match — the kid gave it to him with a technical violation — but it was still a great job by him to stay in the match and take it into overtime.
"That's the first time he's ever gone six minutes. Then he went seven, then he went seven and a half, and then he was in the last period there (when the disqualification occurred)."
The final score of 69-8 came as Richmond heavyweight Kevin Alfonso pinned Scotland's Fid Hoskins 48 seconds into the first round.
The win improves Scotland's record to 14-7 overall and 3-2 in the M-SEC. The Raiders fall to 3-12 and 0-4. Scotland is two back of unbeaten Seventy-First, but the Scots still have a legitimate shot at finishing in a tie for second in the league standings.
"If we win out, we should end up in a tie for second place with us, probably Douglas Byrd and Pinecrest," said McCanna. "If Pinecrest can beat Douglas Byrd, we'll have a tie for second place."
"That's what we're fighting for right now, is a second-place finish."
Scotland's other ranked wrestlers are: Kyle Bland (No. 5 at 171 pounds); Clifton Bostic (No. 5 at 189 pounds); Zak Watts (No. 6 at 103 pounds); Bradley Stewart (No. 7 at 119 pounds).
Scotland wrestles in the Sara Wilkes Tournament in Morehead City today and Saturday. The Scots face Hoke County in Raeford next Wednesday at 6 p.m.
The Sara Wilkes Tournament is an individual tournament that McCanna is bringing nine of his wrestlers to.
"This will be the toughest competition we've faced all year," he said. "At 189 pounds, where Clifton Bostic is at, there will be nine kids who are ranked.
"Every weight division has two or three ranked wrestlers. That's why we're going. We're trying to get ready for the postseason, and this is a good place to do that."
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