The last time Cary High traveled to Boone and won the Appalachian State University Wrestling School's team title in 1996, the Imps went on to win sweep the NCHSAA's 4-A dual and individual titles.

Cary coach Jerry Winterton is not about to proclaim his team a double title contender for the upcoming year, but he has every right to be optimistic.

The Imps defeated the second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-ranked teams on July 8 en route to an 11-0 mark and the ASU team title.

"I was really impressed at how we came together and thought the guys -- across the board -- wrestled at a very high level," Winterton said. "To have four guys win titles against this strong a field was good, plus I was really pleased to see how well some of the younger guys wrestled.

"It was just a great week and now, hopefully, we can carry that over into next season."

Cary began its impressive run by defeating Miami (Fla.) South Dade High, then in-state rival Winston-Salem Mt. Tabor High and Collins Hill (Ga.) High -- three teams that placed second in their respective state tournaments last year. The Imps closed out the day with a win over Harrison (Ga.) High.

Leading Cary were Joey Farnsworth (103 pounds), Justin Koren (130), Thomas Ferguson (145) and Eloheim Palma (heavyweight), each of whom went 11-0 in the dual matches and 4-0 in the individual tournaments.

Ferguson and Koren won their respective titles over a couple of North Carolina champions, Matt Moretz and Travis Coffey, respectively. Also, Long Wang (160) and Trevor Dixon (215) had strong weeks, losing just three matches and each finishing fourth in the individual tournament.

Jared Abbott, Lawrence White, Matt Colvard and Gabe Brotzman helped solidify the Imps' run, while Winterton praised Tim Crooks, Khang Nguyen and Jimmy O'Brien as being the Imps' most improved wrestlers at camp.

Cary's 'B' team placed third in the third division and were led by Casey Peterson and Josh Cobb (both 11-0 records), Evan O'Neal (9-2), Brett Colyer (7-1), and Chip Reap and Ronnie Winterton (7-4).