On Wednesday, the Imps defeated host Middle Creek in a Tri-Nine Conference match that pitted two of the league’s stronger teams against one another.

With the 45-32 win, Cary now prepares for a showdown on Monday against visiting Holly Springs, also undefeated. With Holly Springs already having defeated Panther Creek, the match looks more like a Tri-Nine championship than just the fourth conference match of the season.

Neither Cary nor Middle Creek was at full-strength for their Wednesday match.

Cary (6-0, 3-0 Tri-Nine) was without three usual starters who are “day-to-day” according to coach Taylor Cummings. If they’re ready to wrestle on Monday, it will be to the Imps’ benefit.

“We’re a little banged-up right now,” Cummings said. “Guys are stepping up, and that’s what they have to do. They’ve got to step up and make up for the guys who are banged up and out of the lineup.”

Middle Creek (9-9, 2-1) led by as many as 14 points more than halfway through the match.

The Mustangs built up that lead with a retroactive forfeit win at 182-pounds by Seth Hampsey – Cary reported they had used an ineligible wrestler against Hampsey, who had won 18-0 – in addition to a pin at 2:23 by 195-pounder Jacob Baum, a pin at 1:26 by 106-pounder Ryan Pasquale, an 18-3 tech fault win by 120-pounder Baffour Atakora and a pin at 0:23 by 126-pounder Alex Battaglia.

Cary found itself down 29-15 with only three wins to show for it – a 4-0 win by Corey Daniels at 220-pounds, a pin by heavyweight Travis Bach at 0:35 and a Ryan Foran pin at 1:45 in the 113-pound match.

But the Imps took five of the last six bouts with six-point victories. Two of those were forfeits, while Cary also got pins at 138-pounds from John Blackwell (3:30), Adam Kugler at 152-pounds (1:50) and Bo Mulligan at 160-pounds (0:22).

Blackwell’s pin put Cary within two points with Kugler and Mulligan – both ranked in the state – still to go.

“Coach told me before we even wrestled ‘you’ve got to pin,’” Blackwell, a senior, said. “I’ve been in the situation before, but it gets a little nervous. It gave us a little breathing room, and this was a tight match.”

Middle Creek had lost the match by the time Luke Uhlik ended the bout with a 6-4 win at 170-pounds.

“We knew if we weathered the storm early, we could get to the strength of our lineup eventually,” Cummings said. “It was a close match but it could’ve come down to the wire. We were able to build a little bit of a buffer and comfort at the end.”

While the Imps are set to tangle with Holly Springs and Lee County for a tri-match starting at 5:30 p.m. at Cary High on Monday, Middle Creek will be at Panther Creek.

Middle Creek coach Butch Stiles, now in his fourth year, has seen his team show dramatic improvement from last season, when the Mustangs lost 54-18 to Cary.

Battaglia and Atakora, both ranked in the state, are unbeaten.

Sampsey is now 20-1 and Patrick Stennett – who missed the Cary match with injury – is 14-1 at 145-pounds.

“Cary has always had a good team and a target on their back. We were hoping to take it to them, but we fell short this year,” Stiles said. “We’ve definitely come a long way.