Advance – The 40th annual N.C. Junior High State Championship belongs to Robbinsville.
Chocked full of potential – which still has time to develop – seventh-, eighth- and ninth-grade Black Knights traveled to the Rise Indoor Sports Complex on Feb. 5, planting another feather in the cap of Robbinsville’s future depth chart by clinching the team crown 124-123 over second-place Piedmont.
“It was a phenomenal weekend for our wrestling program,” said Wren Millsaps, head coach of the Robbinsville Middle School team, although he was not present at the tournament due to coaching restrictions.
“We have known how special and talented this group is, and they showed up and showed out.”
Four individual titles were also claimed by the Knights. Adair Panama toppled the eighth-grade, 100-pound bracket, besting Lumberton’s Trevelian James 13-8 in the finals. Lleyton Hooper captured the eighth-grade, 122-pound title – knocking off Combat’s Landon Wilson in a mere 1:27 – while Kyler Branham conquered the eighth-grade, 184-pound competition, last defeating Chase’s Ethan Fowler 6-4.
Also competing for Robbinsville were Christian Chapman (seventh grade, 147); Loxston Hooper (eighth grade, 115); Andrew Adams, who finished fourth in the eighth-grade, 134-pound division; Jeremiah Phillips, who placed third in the eighth-grade, 147-pound weight class; Kellen Ensley, a second-place finisher in the eighth-grade, 222-pound division; and Mason Phillips (ninth grade, 108 pounds).
Additionally, 7-year-old Lawton Gibby found his way on top of the podium in elementary competition, becoming the youngest Robbinsville wrestling state champion in history in the process.
“What people don’t know is the thing that makes this program special is the parents – and all the other family members – that load these kids up every weekend for them to compete,” Millsaps added.
“Hats off to the wrestlers and their families.”