Black Knights finish 2nd in downsized invitational
Robbinsville – Things did not go exactly to plan.
The 2023 James Orr Memorial Invitational is normally a massive, daylong tournament, drawing programs from around the tri-state area to Graham County.
But scheduling the showcase in January carries a risk and Saturday, Mother Nature had other plans for 10 of the 16 teams booked for the event. Snowfall across the area ultimately limited the team line-ups to Andrews, Cherryville, Robbinsville, Rosman, Swain County and West Oak, S.C., and thanks to a quick audible called shortly before the planned 10 a.m. start time, was trimmed to a five-man, round-robin format in each weight class.
As predicted by Robbinsville head coach David Haney before the tournament began, what followed was 5 ½ hours of “quality” competition on the three-mat spread. The Knights left their home gymnasium with four individual champions and the runner-up trophy, recording 118.5 team points to West Oak’s 134.5 on the day.
“I’m pleased with how we did,” Haney said. “West Oak are dual-team champions in South Carolina and they’ve defeated Avery (County) this year, so they’re no slouch.”
Lleyton Hooper (126 pounds), Turner Jackson (170), Kage Williams (182) and Koleson Dooley (220) each prevailed against their respective fields, with the latter rightly earning the Most Outstanding Wrestler nod for the invitational.
A junior, Dooley swiftly pinned Cherryville’s Justin Harris and Rosman’s Lee Birchfield, before reaching perhaps the most thrilling bout of the day against Swain County’s Blake Sain. Despite pleas from many in attendance that Dooley had scored two points at the end of regulation – including the exhausted grappler himself – the referee only awarded one, forcing an overtime.
Dooley took down Sain around the 45-second mark of the extra period to clinch the win, then pinned West Oak’s Corbin Dickson to wrap up the championship.
“It was a coin flip,” Dooley said of the back-and-forth war against Sain. “I was just trying to keep myself calm and under control. I didn’t want to overthink the situation.”
“He beat the No. 1 kid in the state in 1A (Sain), and I assume the kid from West Oak is highly ranked in South Carolina,” Haney added. “He definitely earned the MOW.”
Hooper’s road to gold rolled through Cherryville’s Abram Avery (a second-period pinfall); West Oak’s Grant Mobley (a 13-2 majority decision); Swain County’s Jason Maffett (another second-round pin); and Rosman’s Jayden Reynaldo (a 6-2 decision).
Jackson toppled West Oak’s Connor Stancil with a first-period pin, before securing a 6-2 decision against Cherryville’s Kam Bolin. Only assigned two bouts himself, Williams pinned Cherryville’s Gabriel McSwain in 30 seconds, then West Oak’s Ryan Addis in 1:40.
Adair Panama (106), Loxston Hooper (120), Willie Riddle (145) and Ryleon Waldroup (160) each finished second, while Skyler Anderson (113), Bobby Moore (132), Juan Rios (138), Blake Powers (152) and Jacob Teesateskie (285) all finished third.
“I was glad to see Lleyton and Turner come through,” said Haney. “I’m proud of all the kids. Skyler had an extremely hard weight class. Loxston typically would have won, but he had a really good kid from West Oak.”
The Smoky Mountain Conference title will be determined in a home dual at 7 p.m. tonight against Swain County. The Black Knights host the divisional tournament Saturday, then the dual-team postseason kicks off. Robbinsville is 23-3 in duals this season.
“The team is doing awesome,” Haney boasted.
“The match against Swain is huge; we want a lot of people to come. If we wrestle as well as we did at the Enka Duals, I think we’ll go a long way (in the postseason).”