CARY — The Cary wrestling team won its third consecutive 4-A dual-team final on Saturday with a 43-18 win over Matthews Butler, bringing a near-perfect ending on the near-perfect careers of the only two seniors in its lineup.

Seniors Gabe Brotzman, who is ranked No. 1 in the state at 152 pounds, and Eloheim Palma, who is ranked No. 1 in the nation at heavyweight, were named co-Most Valuable Performers of the tournament as they finished their careers 142-1 in dual-team matches.

Cary has now won four of the last five state dual-team championships and eight overall.

The teams were tied at six apiece after the first four matches, two of which were decided in the last 20 seconds. Butler's Ranson Lee scored a takedown with just 0:18 left in the third period to win at 140 pounds and Cary's Gabe Brotzman, ranked No. 1 in the state at 152 pounds, needed a reverse with :02 left in the third to win 10-9.

"When it comes down to it, it's all about what we want to do. I was like, this is my last dual that I'll be here, and I don't want to lose. When I was sitting on that leg I had to finish," Brotzman said.

"I knew that time was running down because I saw the towel-tapper coming out in the corner of my eye so I was like 'Oh man, I've got 20 seconds. This is it.'"

Matt Colvard had a pin in the final second of the first period at 160-pounds, but the second official overruled it, saying it did not come in time. A visibly sick Colvard, who had been suffering from a stomach virus, went on to win 16-8.

Butler's Joshua Boone and Austin Bumgarner both won minor decisions in their matches at 171 and 189-pounds respectively to regain the lead for the Bulldogs 12-10.

"At that point I knew we had Eloheim and Ben Creed who have done it all year and I knew they were suspect at a couple of weights coming around," coach Jerry Winterton said. "Alecio and Kevin came through and then we knew we were going to win eight weights and would have pins."

With two of its best wrestlers yet to take the mat, Cary went on a tear. The Imps won six of the final seven matches with five of them coming by pin to coast to another title.

Palma was the first in that group to pin, bringing new life to a worried Cary crowd.

"I didn't know how it was going to turnout. I'm not good at counting the matches and telling who's going to win, I'd rather not think about it and just focus on my match," Palma said. "All I knew is I needed to take care of business and put a little life back in our teammates."

Ben Creed, also ranked No. 1 in the state, took just 42 seconds to pin Butler's Kush Shah at 103 pounds. And when 112-pound C.J. Bean got his pin at the 2:50 mark, Cary had clinched the match, bringing the Cary crowd to its feet in celebration.

"It was just like ecstasy," Bean said. "It's unlike anything you can imagine, it was just great."

In what was supposed to be a "down year" for the Cary wrestling program, Winterton's team went 36-0, won the conference title for the 27th straight year and advanced to the state dual-team final for the ninth straight year.

Rounding out the winners for Cary were David Alecio (145), Kevin Puente (215), Harrison Rosenbaum (125) and Jacob Brotzman (130). The team will begin its quest for a fifth straight individual tournament championship on Friday.

"Tonight I'm going to enjoy it, but it's not done yet," Palma said. "Starting Monday we've got to start back up and get ready for regionals and states."