A pair of familiar faces stood tall at the conclusion of Saturday's James Orr Invitational.
Black Knight seniors Adair Panama (120 pounds) and Lleyton Hooper (157) both conquered their respective weight classes at Robbinsville wrestling's spotlight event, which hosted grapplers from 17 schools and four states.
Panama bested Cherryville's Bryson Yarbro in 1:01 to reach the finals, where he ran up a 17-2 technical fall over Tuscola's David Levi Wood to capture the gold medal. Hooper skunked Rosman's Ayden Gibson 15-0 in the semifinals, before scoring a 4-1 decision win versus West Forsyth's Abdeen Zaggout in the title bout.
Devin Hall (144) and Loxston Hooper (138) each claimed second in their respective fields, while Devin Burchfield (113), Zander Lucksavage (132), Luke Green (175) and Christian Koeller (215) all finished third. Brayden Lane (190) also took fourth.
Other Black Knights competing in the tournament were Ayden Conley (126) and Jeremiah Phillips (165).
Robbinsville also captured the team championship at the tournament, with the combined finishes tallying 170.5 points. West Forsyth placed second, with 156.5.
Elsewhere, Grady Emmons (106) and Jayce Turner (120) both won their weight classes in the junior varsity bracket. Walosi Welch (132) and Austin Angelo (165) finished third, while Trakker Rogers (113) claimed fourth.
The team's success came after a resounding duals victory at North Henderson on Jan. 14. In the recurring "Battle for the Knight" – a helmet that commemorates the mascot of both programs – Robbinsville (18-9) prevailed 48-30.
The dual started at the heavyweight class, with North Henderson's Caleb Thompson taking a forfeit victory.
Emmons got the win back moments later at 106, before the first bout resulted in Burchfield pinning Jesse Clements.
Jordan Robles tied the dual back up 12-12 by pinning Turner at 2:33, but Panama snatched five points away with a resounding 21-5 technical fall at 126 pounds over Anthony Martinez. Lucksavage gutted out an 11-5 decision nod against Alejondro Ramos, which was followed by Loxston Hooper pinning Liam Williams to give Robbinsville a 26-12 advantage.
Hall pinned Logan McMinn in 2:51, but Marco Jimenez broke the Black Knights' winning streak by getting his hand raised via forfeit at 150 pounds for North Henderson. Lleyton Hooper scored a 13-4 majority decision against Elisalde Roman to swing the tide back in Robbinsville's favor, before Eduardo Rodriguez pinned Austin Angelo.
Green earned a pinfall over Jacob Carlisle in 5:41 and Lane toppled Samuel Blanton in 1:54, to round out Robbinsville's contribution to the final tally. The dual concluded with Aden Slusser pinned Koeller in 3:10.
Lady Knights
Robbinsville (14-8) stayed busy in varsity girls' duals action, following the trip to North Henderson with an appearance in the North Carolina State Duals, which were held at Parkwood High School in Monroe.
The Lady Knights shut out Anson High School 54-0 and bested Cherokee 43-24 in the tournament, but incurred losses to Dixon (40-27); Enka (42-30); and North Henderson (41-29).
Robbinsville fell 48-21 in Jan. 14's opener at North Henderson.
The Lady Black Knights fell in a 6-0 hole early, but Isabella Jones (100) promptly grabbed the points back by scoring a pin at 2:48 to knot things at 6-6.
North Henderson went on a three-bout tear, which was interrupted when Alexis Miller (126) pinned Makenna Grasso at 3:11. Alexis El-Khouri (138) later bested Sandra Navarro-Valde in a scant 38 seconds, which was followed by Myah Winfrey (145) besting Madalynn Banks in a 16-10 decision for Robbinsville's final triumph of the match.