CARY - Cary senior John Blackwell is proud to be a part of team who ushered in a new, yet at the same time familiar era of Imp wrestling.

Cary was attempting to reclaim its spot atop the Tri-Nine conference after finishing second last year.

Mission accomplished, as the Imps dominated Green Hope 61-9 on Wednesday, remaining unbeaten in the Tri-9 and clinching the conference title. Cary will wrestle at Athens next week, but cannot be overtaken for the conference crown.

“The goal this year was to start fresh and set our own tradition,” said Blackwell, who earned a 10-3 victory over Adam Sullivan at 138 pounds. “We wanted to get the conference title back and set the precedent for future Cary teams. Tonight was an awesome way to cap it off.”

The Imps won 12 of the 14 matches, including five by pinfall. Adam Kugler (152 pounds) pinned Josh Hartman in 3:54, Bo Mulligan (160) pinned Ben Perlman in 1:11, Ryan Silverman (170) pinned Collin Powers in 49 seconds, Nick Tarvin (106) pinned Michael Eastwood and Ryan Garrigues (113) also earned a pin.

“I’m really proud of the guys for coming through on Senior Night,” said Cary head coach Taylor Cummings, who earned his first conference championship. “We’re starting to hit our stride at the right time with (state duals) coming up.”

Although Cary controlled most matches, Green Hope pulled out the night’s most exciting bout. Ian Callahan, ranked fifth in the state at 195 pounds, battled Cary’s Travis Bach in the lone overtime match. Callahan (31-3) led 10-7 with 13 seconds left, but Bach gamely scored the necessary points to send it into an extra period. Callahan earned the 12-10 victory with a takedown early in the overtime.

“I liked that Travis had the courage to throw their kid down late in the match,” Cummings said. “With a little more experience he would have pulled out the win.”

The Falcons other victory came when Chad Mason pinned Trent Wooten in the heavyweight bracket.

Other Imp wrestlers who prevailed were Alex Yaegio, Mark Mulligan, Carlos Alvarez and Ryan Foram.

Alvarez (120) notched a tight 2-0 win over Danny Hegeman. Cary’s Frank McNamara and Cory Daniels won by forfeit.

“It’s a new team, a new future and time to turn over a new page in Cary wrestling,” Blackwell said.