Pair of Robbinsville Black Knights, state champions taking skills to Midwest
Robbinsville – While others were busy scouring the depths of their acreage for magical gifts on Easter Sunday, both Aynsley Fink and Jayden Nowell were busy making sure their wrestling aptitude would carry over to the college level.
Neither has competed on the mat in over a year, but their achievements while grappling in North Carolina drew the attention of the Ottawa (Kan.) Braves wrestling program, which competes in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.
The institution is known for its large percentage of student-athlete enrollment – around 90 percent of the roughly-900 pupils on the campus compete in some form or fashion for the Braves – and has satellite campuses in areas you probably have heard of: Kansas City, Phoenix and Milwaukee.
“I never thought I would get back into wrestling, honestly,” Nowell revealed Sunday, after he and Fink both signed with Ottawa University.
“Over this past year, we’ve kept seeing memories pop up from past seasons. It’s just crazy how wrestling finds its way back.”
Fink and Nowell traveled to Ottawa for a visit last week with parents Todd Odom and Susan Crowe. They departed with no doubt in their minds about making the move.
Odom and Crowe became Nowell’s legal guardians two years ago, so the Braves are securing a pair of siblings.
“We were a package deal,” Fink confidently admitted. “I wasn’t going to go without him.
“I don’t think of him as anything but my brother; he’ll always be my brother.”
A member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Long Hair Clan, Fink is transferring from the University of Tennessee, where she was pursuing a degree in business. She plans to switch her major upon arriving to the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma-affiliated university to sports leadership.
The purest definition of a “trendsetter,” Fink left an impact so great on Robbinsville’s wrestling program that an entire middle-school girls team was formed last year. All of the competitors point to Fink as their major influence for getting interested in the sport.
Her resume speaks for itself: a two-time N.C. High School Athletic Association Women’s Invitational champion (2021, 2022); a three-time Women’s Invitational finalist; and the 2021 Smoky Mountain Conference men’s individual champion of the year at 113 pounds.
She also qualified for the men’s state invitational in 2021.
“I’m more excited than anything; I’ve missed wrestling since it ended,” Fink admitted. “I’ve wanted to get back on the mat for a year, so I’m really thankful for this. I’m excited to start a new journey, but also continue the journey I’ve already had. I want to continue to set good examples, and do good on and off the mat.”
Nowell reached the mountaintop in the 126-pound weight class in 2021. He qualified for state all four years he competed for Robbinsville High, reached the finals on three separate occasions and even set “The ‘Ville’s” program record for most pinfalls in a career (107), all while amassing a 155-22 mark as a Black Knight. He is transferring his business-major credits to Ottawa from Western Carolina University.
“It’s just a blessing that after a year (off), I’m able to get back into this sport,” Nowell said. “After the (Ottawa) coaches contacted me, I (knew I) couldn’t pass up the opportunity. I was kinda at a place in my life where I needed that structure of wrestling again.
"We’ve done everything else we’ve set our minds to, so it’s just the dedication to the process of putting in the work.”