Robbinsville shifts focus to individual tournament
Newland – Robbinsville High School’s dual-team wrestling season came to an abrupt end on Feb. 6, when the Black Knights fell in the 1A Western Regional Finals at Avery County High School.
The Knights (18-8) defeated South Stokes (19-11) 43-36 in the semifinals, but fell to eventual state champions Avery County (27-3), 46-27.
“I was really proud of the Black Knights for their effort in the duals,” Robbinsville head coach Todd Odom said. “Quite frankly, we were not supposed to be there. From the outside looking in, this was supposed to be a ‘down,’ or ‘rebuilding’ year for us.”
Robbinsville enjoyed three forfeit wins against South Stokes, with the latter reaping the benefits after the Knights had mathematically won the match. Micah Smith (106 pounds) pinned Kendell Caudil to begin the dual, before Case Beasley (113) suffered the same fate at the hands of Cody Lawson, tying things at 6-6.
Luke Wilson (120) earned an 11-3 majority decision over Nathan Grogan, before Willie Riddle (126) picked up a 10-5 victory against Gage Shaffer. Jayden Nowell (132), Nick Anderson (138) and Nathan Fisher (145) all had their hands raised via forfeit, which ran Robbinsville’s lead up to 31-6.
Kamron McGuire (152) lost to South Stokes’ Johnny Dotson via pinfall, but Justin Stewart (160) put Robbinsville back in the win column with a pin against Kaleb Mitchell. The Knights forfeited at 170, 195, 220 and heavyweight, with Jaret Panama (182) earning the final Robbinsville win of the match in a pinfall victory against Nick Heavener.
Beasley earned a forfeit victory to begin the Western finals against the hosting Vikings, but a string of pinfall victories over Wilson, Riddle and Anderson propelled Avery County to an 18-6 lead. Nowell then fell in an 11-5 bout, but Fisher would earn a 4-2 win over Johnathan Cable. McGuire suffered a third-round loss, but Stewart would pin Seth Blackledge to cut the Vikings’ lead down to 27-15.
Avery County would then clinch the Regional crown with a majority-decision victory at 160, a decision win at 170 and a pinfall victory at 182 pounds. Carlos Lopez (195) lost a tough 6-5 battle to Avery’s Dakota Hudson, while the Knights won via forfeit at 220 and 106 pounds.
“Our expectations do not change from year-to-year,” Odom added. “We believe that hard work, discipline and the toughest kids in the state equal the recipe for success.
“We had our shot and we ended up as the regional runner-up, which effectively puts us as one of the top four teams in the state. We will grow from the experience and try to be in the hunt for a title once again next year.”
Individuals begin
The Black Knights set their sights on individual championships. The team will now take time to prep for the 1A West Individual Tournament, set to be held at Mount Airy High School on Saturday.
“As we transition to the individual part of the season, we have several kids who will find themselves on-the-podium after that last whistle blows,” Odom said. “We have 8-10 young men who are talented enough to punch their ticket to the state tournament. We have four kids ranked in the top two in the state in their respective weight classes.
“I know this … no one wants to wrestle a kid with ‘The Ville’ on their chest at this point in the year.”