Cary wins 4A Mideast wrestling regional

Host Cary High won the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A Mideast wrestling regional on Saturday. The Imps piled up 174.5 points to top second-place Holly Springs’ 157.5 and third-place Leesville Road’s 109.

Holly Springs had four regional champs.

“To come here and get four champs, it’s awesome, I’m proud of the way the guys wrestled through the placement rounds,” Holly Springs coach Nick Nosbich said. “You always want to finish on an odd number, and they won their last match which gives us a lot of confidence heading into Greensboro.”

Fuquay-Varina opened up the championship bouts with a quick win in the 106-pound class, as Logan Maher pinning Leesville Road’s Justin Tibbs in only 36 seconds.

John Royal (195) also came in first for the Bengals.

After Holly Springs’ undefeated Josh Lehr picked up a victory in the 113’s bout, eight straight match-ups for first place went the distance until Clayton’s Michael lines earned a pin in the 182-pound bout.

Holly Springs’ No. 1-ranked Cam Devers, a state runner-up in 2015, had a showdown with Wake Forest’s No. 2-ranked Nick Mutio.

Devers improved to 49-0 with the 5-2 decision victory over Mutio.

“This gives me a great amount of confidence, especially beating a kid like Nick as tough as he is,” Devers said. “This gives me the confidence to say I truly am number one in the state. I just have to … keep working hard and hope everything works out for me in the end.”

Holly Springs also had Hunter Morton (120) and Nick Connochie (152) win regionals.

Cary’s Kollin Wade, also stayed undefeated in a 12-6 decision over Broughton’s Nash Philbeck in the 145s.

Wade, a defending state champion, has had no problem staying hungry in 2016.

“As soon as the state championships were over last year, it was a new season and I wasn’t a state champion anymore,” Wade said. “I have to work even harder to be a state champion because now there’s a target on my back.”

Cary also had Alex Zuniga (170) win the regional after a low-scoring affair with Fuquay’s Josh Arrington that finished 3-1, and Rod Perry (285) won the heavyweight championship.

Heritage’s Anthony Brito scored the most points of any bout, outscoring Apex’s Joey McMahon 17-6 in the 132-pound match.

A Cap-8 trio of Leesville Road’s Dan Mills (126), Millbrook’s Matt Flores (195) and Wake Forest’s Sander Cyper (160) each came in first place in their respective weight classes.

This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 10:05 PM with the headline "Cary wins 4A Mideast wrestling regional."