Advance – For two days, thousands of aspiring varsity wrestlers sampled the competition that will stand in front of them for years to come.
But when the RISE Indoor Sports Complex in Advance began to finally clear at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, the team that prevailed?
If you guessed “the first-ever Robbinsville girls wrestling team,” step up and claim your prize.
Two individual champions – coupled with solid placements across each bracket – meant that the middle school Lady Knights (competing under the Peak Wrestling Club umbrella) tallied 83 team points in the 40-program field, besting second-place West Side Wrestling (44 points) to capture the 7th Annual Women’s K-8 State Championship in a maddening Saturday-afternoon scramble.
“This is an absolutely amazing group of girls who have shown their hard work and dedication all season long,” said head coach Sarah Orr. “I am beyond proud of each one of them.
“I fully anticipated several girls to place at state this year, but to come in first overall as a team in our first year is incredible. They definitely proved themselves.”
Latesha Orr (7th-8th Grade, 101-105 pounds) and Tina Anderson (7th-8th, 136 pounds) went unscathed through their assignments, attaining championship gold just 40 miles from where – in short order – both will contend for varsity immortality.
“Latesha and Tina set out Friday on the way to state with first place on their minds and they went out there to show they are the best in the state at their age,” coach Orr said. “Latesha is our aggressive go-getter, with the natural-born instinct to wrestle; Tina may seem like a nervous wreck before the match, but the second she walks on the mat, a switch flips and she is in ‘wrestle-mode’ and won’t let anything get in her way.
“These two showed us the fight they have inside them, their knowledge and their love for this sport.”
Orr’s medal was secured with pinfalls over Mitchell’s Katie Stowe (in a blink-and-you-missed-it 14 seconds) and unattached Ziva Vargas.
Anderson had twice the workload, including emerging with a hard-earned 2-0 victory in the quarterfinals over teammate Cheyanne Geyer. From there, Anderson bested a pair of unattached competitors: Eliza Cagle (via 7-5 decision) and Georgia McGee (pinfall).
To pace the competition, Anderson knocked off another Peak Wrestling teammate, Alexis El-Khouri, with her second-straight pinfall in the championship finals.
Gracie Anderson (7th-8th, 185) was Peak’s lone second-place girls finisher, but three Lady Knights seized third place: Milexa Jenkins (5th-6th, 90-100); Briley Powers (5th-6th, 110); and El-Khouri. Fourth-place honors went to Kylee Orr (3rd-4th, 60-65); Khaygen Buchanan (7th-8th, 110); Myah Winfrey (7th-8th, 127); and Geyer. Jayden Chekeleelee (7th-8th, 119) took fifth in her division.
Others girls competing for Peak Wrestling were Andrea Sheeks (7th-8th, 110); Alyssa Bohn (7th-8th, 145); and Cambell Brooks (7th-8th, 185).
“For the first year, I couldn’t have asked for a better season,” said coach Orr. “(The) majority of this team has never stepped foot on the mat until this year and by the end of the season, you would have never known they hadn’t been wrestling for years. These girls became a family; sisters for life. They had high hopes this year and never stopped reaching for their goals.”
Two Orrs, in a row
Scattered across the massive complex were another pair of tournaments: the 41st Annual Junior High State Championship, as well as the 22nd installment of the Elementary State Championship.
Competing unattached in the elementary tournament, siblings Clyde (3rd-4th, 120) and Kayleb Orr (5th-6th,160) – coincidentally, Latesha’s brothers – collected championship gold in the event.
Clyde mowed down unattached Jionny Nuevo and Mooresville Wrestling Club’s Tyson Lee, while Kayleb’s quest went through Haywood Elite Wrestling Club’s Parker King; unattached Tate Weaver; and Buffalo Valley Wrestling Club’s Josiah Lodeserto. Both pinned their way to gold medals. Lawton Gibby (3rd-4th, 56) placed third, while Jacob Emmons (3rd-4th, 59) and Ethan Chekeleelee (5th-6th, 108) also competed at the event.
No state champions emerged from the junior-high showcase, but Benton Gibby (7th Grade, 100) took fourth in his weight class. Others from Graham County donning singlets were Ayden Conley (7th, 100); Braydon Lane (7th, 134); Joseph McCoy (8th, 154); Luke Green (8th, 154); and Joshua Pressley (9th, 128).