Robbinsville sets quartet atop state podium
Greensboro – Soon enough, there will be four more championship canvasses hanging inside the Robbinsville wrestling building.
The Black Knights trekked to the Greensboro Coliseum on Friday and Saturday, and did what “The ‘Ville” is best known for: bringing home some hardware.
All told, four individual state champions – Kyle Fink (182 pounds), Kage Williams (195), Ben Wachacha (220) and Alexis Panama (106) – were crowned, two Robbinsville grapplers advanced to the state finals and a total of nine Knights competed overall.
Kyle Fink
After clinching the 195-pound title his sophomore and junior year, Kyle Fink decided to drop down a weight class for his final hurrah.
Fink (46-4) pinned Bishop McGuinness’ Myles Payne in the quarterfinals and bested Cherryville’s Mason Grindstaff 9-1 in the semifinals, to advance to the 182-pound championship bout against South Davidson’s Joseph Akers.
In a contest that appeared destined to go the distance, Fink suddenly muscled Akers to the mat and attained the distinction of three-time state champion.
Fink is the first three-time state champion in Robbinsville wrestling history.
“I was really looking to finally be in a weight class where I was as strong – or stronger – than the people I was wrestling; and that definitely was a good decision on my part, considering that I managed to pull off a state championship,” Fink said.
“Being the first three-timer in Robbinsville history is a huge honor to me, considering the great wrestlers that have come before and the wrestlers that I surround myself with today are so great. I feel lucky to be the first.”
Kage Williams
It was not really a matter of if sophomore Kage Williams was going to win his second 1A title: it was really of matter of how quickly.
Even though Williams (35-1) bumped up to 195 pounds for his second varsity season, the competition was little trouble for the well-traveled mat veteran.
In a combined 2:26, he pinned his way to the gold, slamming North Moore’s Ranger Dunlap, Pamlico County’s Ryan Baker and Mount Airy’s Edwin Agabo to win it all.
“I’ve just got to keep training at a high level,” Williams said of his future aspirations. “(I have to) stay hungry and not get satisfied with what I’ve already accomplished.”
Ben Wachacha
A bit of a surprise last season, Ben Wachacha proved he was the elite 220-pound 1A grappler in his Robbinsville swan song.
Wachacha (40-6) picked up his second state crown with pinfall wins over Pamlico County’s Tyler Stevens and Starmount’s Steven Sullivan as well as a 7-3 decision in the finals against a familiar foe from Swain County, Carson Taylor.
“These last two years have been the most exciting and – by far – best part of my life,” Wachacha said. “I couldn’t ask for a better team and community behind my back through these years.
“Wrestling has given me a second family. My teammates have helped me prepare for that final match. I worked hard in the offseason with my dad to keep me in shape. In the end, all that work paid off to get me a two-time, state champion title.”
Alexis Panama
The Knights’ smallest wrestler turned heads with his performance in Greensboro.
Alexis Panama (26-6) made the most of his chance to slide into the 106-pound starting role for Robbinsville this season. At the state tournament, Panama reached the mountaintop with a pinfall win over Albemarle’s Christian Harris, a 2-0 decision nod against Avery County’s Cooper Foster in the semifinals and a 10-3 nod in the finale against North Stokes’ Hunter Fulp.
“After I heard that final buzzer go off, I froze; then it finally hit me that all the late nights and all the hard work finally paid off,” Panama said. “It also has been a goal of mine since I started wrestling (to win a state title), and to finally get it done as a sophomore just feels awesome.”
Other competitors
Robbinsville had two more in the hunt for state immortality, but Carlos Wesley (285, 26-9) and Jayden Nowell (126, 38-5) came up short in decision losses. Three more Black Knights also competed in the tournament: Logan Hyde (120), Zane Lucksavage (138) and Jaret Panama (145).