Knights young in age, but not in experience
* Robbinsville wrestling season preview
Robbinsville – How do you respond to a season which saw five state champions crowned?
Simple: you go back to the basics.
It’s not like Robbinsville’s wrestling program is without any returning threats: two-time state champion Kage Williams (182 pounds his freshman year, 195 his sophomore) and last year’s 106-pound 1A champion Alexis Panama are both still donning singlets. Names familiar to Black Knights’ faithful – like Skyler Anderson, Avery Phillips, Willie Riddle, Juan Rios, Ethan Webster – all competed last year and contributed significantly to Robbinsville’s success.
But a quick glimpse over the 2022-23 roster might leave a lot of fans scratching their heads in wonder: just who are some of these guys?
Yes, Robbinsville is freshman- and sophomore-heavy. There are 13 freshman and seven sophomores on a depth chart of 35.
But don’t let the ages fool you: the youngsters are veterans.
“For a 1A school, we’ve almost got two teams,” pointed out Robbinsville head coach David Haney, back for his fourth stint over the program, after 1993 was his last year at the helm. “We’re going to wrestle two tournaments where the starters will compete in one bracket and the non-starters will compete in another. We have got an awesome bunch of freshman and sophomores.”
Riddle joins Nick Anderson, Devyn Galloway, Turner Jackson, Haden Key, Carlos Lopez and Jacob Teesateskie as the seniors for Robbinsville. Of those seven, the final four listed are still playing football – and the final three will compete in the heavier divisions.
“Nick went to camp with us (during the offseason) and Willie has done a lot of open-mat work with us,” Haney noted. “Both of them have a lot of potential; they just have to get in shape.”
“If Willie stays healthy, he’s a state qualifier,” assistant coach Billy Knight quickly added. “And a lot of people don’t realize that as a freshman, Turner Jackson wrestled a state finalist – Justin Stewart, who was a senior – and it was a decision (win for Stewart). He hasn’t wrestled in a couple of years, but he’s back. I think he’ll be a big story for us this year.”
Williams carries a 35-1 record in varsity competition into his junior season and is coming off shoulder surgery. He suffered the ailment during the fall 2021 football season – and still won a state championship before getting the repair.
Another junior, Panama is 26-6 and made quite the impression at the 1A tournament in February, last besting North Stokes’ Hunter Fulp to win the 106-pound championship.
But the coaching staff knows the potential does not stop with Williams and Panama.
“The biggest juniors that nobody knows about is Avery and Christian Phillips,” Knight said. “Those are two kids that nobody is going to see coming. They’re probably going to the state tournament, provided they can stay in the starting line-up; they both have competition.”
“That’s how tough we are; we’ve got kids sitting on the bench that any other year – or at any other school – would be starters,” Haney added.
The depth is plentiful. There is not a single weight class that has just one wrestler on-deck for Robbinsville.
“The middle-school team that we had last year is the best one we have ever had. That’s a fact,” Knight stated. “Those kids that are freshmen are not really freshmen. They’ve wrestled probably 100 matches since the season ended.
“And they’ve arrived. They’re here now,” said Haney. “They’re as technically sound as most juniors and seniors.”
Knight and Haney both heaped praise on 106-pounders Adair Panama and Skyler Anderson. The two were the “main event” of Monday’s Black and White scrimmage, which saw Adair prevail via decision.
“If Skyler can get it into his head that he can wrestle with the top of the line, he’s there,” said Haney.
“There’s a reason that match was last,” Knight explained. “We think they’re both potentially state qualifiers.”
Haney also expressed his gratitude toward the staff around him. The Black Knights have a mixture of 12 coaches and volunteers and – as Haney boasted – the “best trainer in the state,” Anne Smallwood, all helping drive Robbinsville to success on the mat.
But the core principle still remains the main focus.
“I just want us to be technically sound,” Haney said. “I want us to be in shape, which we’re not yet. But if somebody is going to beat us, I want them to have to outwrestle us: I want to get the kids to where they don’t beat themselves, by getting in bad positions.”
Robbinsville officially begins the season Tuesday, hosting Madison and Cherokee at the new Jacob Cornsilk Community Complex in Snowbird.