Tuesday night in Hope Mills, the Union Pines Viking wrestling team continued its dominance in the Cape Fear Valley (CVF) conference, picking up a 69-9 victory over the Gray's Creek Bears.

With the win the Vikes are now 3-0 in the CFV standings and tied for first place with the Southern Lee Cavaliers.

"We had another great night at Gray's Creek high school," Union Pines' head coach Matt Ragsdale said.

"There were a ton of fans there that made the trip to support us, which is always a good feeling."

Ragsdale felt the win was an impressive one for his team, considering the Bears finished second place in the CFV conference last season.

"Randy Stevens had a huge win over Patrick Wells at 135-pounds," said Ragsdale.

"That was definitely an exciting match."

Wells came into the match 14-1 before Stevens pinned him in at the 5:25 mark.

Along with Stevens, six other Vikes won by way of pin, including: Jayden Lindsey (103); Daniel Deardorff (112) Brandon Berry (119); Trey Weliver (130); Jason Berry (171) and Marquis McKinney (285).

Vikings Michael Brennan (140) and Matt Lester (152) claimed victories via decisions. Union Pines' other wins came by way of forfeit.

The Vikes are now 11-4 on the year in dual matches, having won 11 out of their last 12.

Next on the agenda for the Union Pines' grapplers is the Tiger Holiday Classic Tournament at Chapel Hill High School, on December 22 and 23.

"This always promises to be a very exciting high school wrestling event," Ragsdale said.

F. W. Manning II can be reached at 639-5481 or by email at fwm2@nc.rr.com