Robbinsville – The Knights just wrapped up a stretch of three grueling encounters in a span of five days.
After sweeping a tri-match at Mitchell on Dec. 5, the Black Knights traveled to the NEO Invitational at Tuscola on Saturday and capped the run with a home match against Fannin County, Ga. on Monday.
“It’s a rough stretch for us right here,” said Black Knights head coach Todd Odom. “We had a Thursday match, then Saturday, then Monday. That makes it tough on these kids; a lot of them aren’t weight-cutters, but it is tough for them to maintain their weight when it’s back-to-back-to-back like that.
Robbinsville incurred a 60-15 loss at the hands of Fannin County, with only Micah Smith (106) and Jayden Nowell (126) pinning their opponents and Kyle Fink (195) earning a 9-2 decision.
“Fannin has a great team,” Odom said. “I knew Coach (Chuck) Patterson would have his kids ready and they were. They’re in a tough conference in Georgia; they see Gilmer and Jefferson.
“I knew they were going to have some quality kids and at the end of the day, that’s what we want. We can try to pad our record, but that’s something I’ll never do. I want to wrestle the toughest and best teams in our area and obviously, Fannin County is one of them. They whipped us tonight, period.”
During the tri-match at Mitchell, Robbinsville defeated the hosting Mountaineers 60-18. Smith (106), Case Beasley (120), Nowell (126), Nathan Fisher (145), Jacob Hall (152), Phoenix Brooks (195) and Fink (220) each attained pinfall victories over Mitchell, with Luke Wilson (113), Blake Silvers (160) and Jaret Panama (182) getting their hands raised via forfeit.
The Knights faced stiffer competition from Tuscola, but prevailed 48-36.
Beasley, Wilson, Nowell, Nick Anderson (132), Fisher, Panama and Fink each won their bouts via pinfall, while Willie Riddle (138) got a forfeit win.
At Saturday’s tournament, Nowell won the 126-pound weight class, while Fisher claimed the prize in the 145-pound division and Fink toppled the 195-pound bracket. Smith and Hall both placed second in their respective weight class, while Beasley, Wilson and Anderson finished third.
Riddle took fourth, while Silvers and Panama would finish fifth. Overall, the Knights placed second.
“We’ve got one more week and then I think I’m going to give the football guys a week off. Then, we’ll have everybody in the room that we’re going to have,” Odom said of the road ahead.