Robbinsville

Members of the Robbinsville Middle School Lady Knights celebrate after winning the 42nd Annual North Carolina Junior High State Championship on Saturday. Photos courtesy of Sarah Orr/Lady Knights Wrestling

Members of the Robbinsville Middle School Lady Knights celebrate after winning the 42nd Annual North Carolina Junior High State Championship on Saturday. Photos courtesy of Sarah Orr/Lady Knights Wrestling

Titles fit for queens

Kevin Hensley
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Advance – Against elite performers from around the state, Robbinsville showed why its wrestling program has a feared reputation.
All Murphy’s Ryan Payne (11) could do was look on in awe of Robbinsville junior Darion Ledbetter making this reverse layup look easy during Tuesday’s nightcap with the Bulldogs. Photos by Fala Welch/The Graham Star

All Murphy’s Ryan Payne (11) could do was look on in awe of Robbinsville junior Darion Ledbetter making this reverse layup look easy during Tuesday’s nightcap with the Bulldogs. Photos by Fala Welch/The Graham Star

No Knights off: Boys division taking shape

Kevin Hensley
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Robbinsville’s Everett Taylor delivers a side heave in JV action Jan. 25 against Hiwassee Dam. Robbinsville – To repeat as the Smoky Mountain Conference champions, the Black Knights will have to make sure not to fall susceptible to the perils of the road.
Junior guard Claire Barlow fearlessly drives through four Hiwassee Dam defenders – Katie McNabb, Brinkley Payne, Olivia McNabb and Sky Taylor (from left) – in the second half of Jan. 25’s home game with the Eagles. Photos by Fala Welch/The Graham Star

Junior guard Claire Barlow fearlessly drives through four Hiwassee Dam defenders – Katie McNabb, Brinkley Payne, Olivia McNabb and Sky Taylor (from left) – in the second half of Jan. 25’s home game with the Eagles. Photos by Fala Welch/The Graham Star

Reclaiming their yard: girls end home skid

Kevin Hensley
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Robbinsville – Completing the season sweep over a fierce conference rival helped the Lady Knights end the week with a feather in their cap.
Lleyton Hooper has Mountain Island Charter’s Ethan Hayes searching for answers during the 144-pound bout of Saturday’s first-round playoff dual. Photo by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com

Lleyton Hooper has Mountain Island Charter’s Ethan Hayes searching for answers during the 144-pound bout of Saturday’s first-round playoff dual. Photo by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com

Back to the grind

Kevin Hensley
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Robbinsville – The Black Knights are in a very familiar position: the regional rounds of the state dual-team tournament. It’s a hump that Robbinsville (31-2) has struggled to get over since winning the state championship in 2017 – the only 1A team crown in program history.
Capping off a 17-0 season, the Robbinsville Middle School Black Knights relish the moment after winning the Smoky Mountain Conference tournament Jan. 24. Photos by Fala Welch/The Graham Star

Capping off a 17-0 season, the Robbinsville Middle School Black Knights relish the moment after winning the Smoky Mountain Conference tournament Jan. 24. Photos by Fala Welch/The Graham Star

17-0

Kevin Hensley
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Robbinsville – Unmatched. Unparalleled. Unrivaled. Somewhere along the way, the 2023-24 Robbinsville Middle School Black Knights embarked on a mental mission to ensure those three descriptors prefaced any discussion about the damage they inflicted on the opposition.
Robbinsville's Christian Koeller leaps into position for top control during Saturday's first-round match against Mountain Island Charter. Photo by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com

Robbinsville's Christian Koeller leaps into position for top control during Saturday's first-round match against Mountain Island Charter. Photo by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com

Knights hit the road for regional rounds

Kevin Hensley
Monday, January 29, 2024
Newland -- The Robbinsville Black Knights made it to yet another 1A Western Regional Dual Team Final on Wednesday night, but were unable to punch their ticket to a state-title match. Robbinsville (32-3) took a sizable lead over Alleghany (No.
Amidst a first-quarter flurry, no one was at the basket to stop Xamuel Wachacha’s transition basket – and if they dared to interfere with the proceedings, Eli Lambert had a front-row seat to the bucket. Photo by Fala Welch/The Graham Star

Amidst a first-quarter flurry, no one was at the basket to stop Xamuel Wachacha’s transition basket – and if they dared to interfere with the proceedings, Eli Lambert had a front-row seat to the bucket. Photo by Fala Welch/The Graham Star

How legends are made

Kevin Hensley
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Robbinsville – It was over before it really got started. Following a 10-day layoff, the Robbinsville Middle School Black Knights (No. 1 seed) showed no signs of rust when they hit the floor to duke it out with the Andrews Wildcats (No. 4) in Jan.
Senior power forward Aubrie Wachacha was not fazed by Swain County’s Carley Teesateskie (12) and Molleigh Woodard (14) while putting up this inside shot Tuesday night. Photo by Fala Welch/The Graham Star

Senior power forward Aubrie Wachacha was not fazed by Swain County’s Carley Teesateskie (12) and Molleigh Woodard (14) while putting up this inside shot Tuesday night. Photo by Fala Welch/The Graham Star

Lady Knights back to .500 in conference

Kevin Hensley
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Robbinsville – Inclement weather built a 12-day gap between games for the Robbinsville High basketball program. The Swain County Devils waited in the wings.
Cuttler Adams scored a touchdown and rushed for over 100 yards in the Jan. 8 Blue/Grey All-American Bowl, which led to the much-heralded running back receiving the game’s MVP award. Adams is pictured on the field at Cowboys Stadium with his family (from left): Tillman, Chloe, Brandi and Coy Adams.

Cuttler Adams scored a touchdown and rushed for over 100 yards in the Jan. 8 Blue/Grey All-American Bowl, which led to the much-heralded running back receiving the game’s MVP award. Adams is pictured on the field at Cowboys Stadium with his family (from left): Tillman, Chloe, Brandi and Coy Adams.

Dem mountain boyz

Kevin Hensley
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Chase Calhoun made enough of a splash in the 6th Annual Indigenous Bowl that he was named the exhibition’s Defensive MVP. One traveled 909 miles to reach his destination; the other logged 2,166. Both returned to Graham County with national exposure and appropriate hardware.
The Robbinsville Black Knights gather around their 27th Smoky Mountain Conference title, moments after defeating Swain County on Monday to clinch the prize. Photos by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com

The Robbinsville Black Knights gather around their 27th Smoky Mountain Conference title, moments after defeating Swain County on Monday to clinch the prize. Photos by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com

Many have tried; many have fallen

Kevin Hensley
Thursday, January 25, 2024
Bryson City – With all the well-documented success the Robbinsville wrestling program has experienced since its 1976 launch, it would be easy to assume that an air of superiority exists for the Knights in the Smoky Mountain Conference.