The Cary wrestling team had nine individual champions and won the Tri-Eight championship Saturday, but the mood in the Imps’ camp was most certainly short of elation.

“A very frustrating day for me; I didn’t think we wrestled very well at all,” said Cary coach Jerry Winterton. “This time of year, I’m hoping that we’ll beat people that have beaten us or close the gap on people that have beat us. And even when we closed the gap, we looked poor doing it.”

Senior Brendon Parker-Risk, one of the Imps’ champions, shared Winterton’s less than enthused sentiment.

“Today was an all right day, I guess,” Parker-Risk said. “I think we could’ve done better, really. I think we did pretty good, but we could’ve done better.”

Ben Creed got the Imps’ title run started with an 8-3 decision over Panther Creek’s Ben Elliot at 103 pounds, and Cordale Risk notched the next one with a 10-2 major decision at 119.

Beginning with Lawrence White’s win at 130, the Imps were victorious in the next five straight weight classes. White had little trouble with Panther Creek’s Joe Morrison, as he scored a 9-2 decision.

Matt Colvard followed with 13-6 win over Green Hope’s Pedram Rahmatabadi at 135.

Justin Koren had a close match with Green Hope’s Brett Farina at 140. After a scoreless first period, Koren scored on an escape early in the second and a takedown to lead 3-0. Farina escaped and earned a penalty point, but Koren held on for the 3-2 win.

Parker-Risk built a comfortable 6-0 lead over Green Hope’s Joey Baird before pinning him with five seconds left in the 145-pound match.

Gabe Brotzman had little trouble with Middle Creek’s Peter Comis at 152, and he cruised to a 7-2 win.

Brett Colyer won his first conference title at 171. He was also the only Cary wrestler to have to come back in his final. Colyer fell behind Fuquay-Varina’s Soren Ferrell 2-0, but reversed then scored three points on a near fall to lead 5-2. Colyer never trailed again and went on to win 10-4.

Eloheim Palma rounded out Cary’s champions. Palma pinned Green Hope’s Mike Burdett midway through the first period for the heavyweight title.

Saturday’s conference tournament also served as the Imps’ final tune-up as they prepare for the dual-team state tournament, which began Tuesday. Green Hope will be the conference’s other representative in the tournament.

“Hopefully we can wrestle better next week,” Winterton said. “We had time off to work on technique. I thought our technique was pretty good, but we didn’t have any oomph or sense of urgency to go above and beyond.”

While the Imps left the gym slightly disheartened, Panther Creek was thrilled. With 12 placewinners, the Catamounts compiled 203 points and finished the tournament in second place.

“It’s awesome,” said Panther Creek coach Jon Armfield. “We had a good tournament. Twelve of our wrestlers placed. To get second place is quite exciting, it really is. I’m really proud of them.”

The Catamounts’ 12 placewinners were second only to Cary’s 14. Panther Creek had five wrestlers in the finals, and Alex Branoff, at 125 pounds, came away with the only win.

Branoff scored two takedowns on Athens Drive’s Kyle Jones and led 4-2 going into the third period. Jones escaped with 26 seconds remaining, but he was unable to take down Branoff, allowing the Panther Creek wrestler to claim the title.

Athens Drive, which finished fourth with 132 points, crowned two champions, the only other team with multiple winners.

J.J. Greenstein pinned his first two opponents then outlasted Panther Creek’s Matt Elliot 9-4 in the 112-pound final.

Nathan Scott had a first-round bye before notching a pair of pins to take the 189-pound title. In the final, Scott led Green Hope’s Scott LaChapelle 5-0 before getting the pin with 45 seconds remaining in the second period.

“All my hard work’s paying off, so it makes me happy,” Scott said.

Green Hope’s Preston Mitchum had a dominant day on his way to the 215-pound title. Mitchum had first-period pins in his first two matches before earning a 9-1 major decision over Apex’s Lewis McAlister in the final. Green Hope finished third as a team with 173.5 points.

Most of the Tri-Eight’s wrestlers will be away from competition this week while the dual team tournament is conducted. The individual regional tournament is Feb. 15-16 in Chapel Hill, and the state tournament is the following weekend in Winston-Salem.

“Next week,” said Cary’s Colyer, “we’re going to have to take it up a notch to succeed.”