For a second straight season the Union Pines wrestling team had its dual playoff run thwarted early, falling short in a close round-two contest on its home mat in Cameron Tuesday.

Ultimately South Brunswick proved a little too much for the Vikings to handle, picking up a 35-34 victory. The Cougars improved to 24-4 on the season with the win as they advanced to Thursday’s sectionals in Hillsborough to vie for a 3-A NCHSAA dual team state title berth alongside host school Orange (20-0), as well as Morehead (15-1) and West Carteret (19-7).

According to South Brunswick coach Sammy Roundtree, the win signified a benchmark achievement for his senior-led squad.

“All week we having been preaching intensity,” said Roundtree. “We have been here before. It is our third year in a row coming down to Union Pines, and we knew that it is a real intense atmosphere in this building with the fans and kids that wrestle here, so we told our guys to be prepared for that.”

For the Cougars, currently ranked fourth in the coaches 3-A dual team poll, the trip from South Brunswick to the Vikings’ Bob Ward Gymnasium takes more than three hours by bus and is approximately 140 miles in distance.

“We had to come out there ready to go and the guys did that,” added Roundtree. “Our six seniors stepped up big time for us tonight, which is what we needed because we knew Union Pines would be tough and they were.

“To come out of this gym with a hard-fought win builds a lot of momentum for our guys as we have to turn around for Thursday’s sectional and regional duals. This was a big step for us as a team and a big notch on our belt as a program.”

Last season, as a wild-card entry, the Cougars were sent home from Cameron after round one, falling 35-27 to eventual dual team state champion Orange High. In 2010 Union Pines took a 43-16 lead over South Brunswick through 12 of 14 bouts before Vike coach Matt Ragsdale chose to forfeit the final two contests, bringing the final tally to 43-28.

The roles were reversed in this year’s rematch, as the Cougars crashed out to a 23-7 lead through six bouts only to extend that lead to a commanding 32-13 edge through nine matches.

An early second-period win via pin fall by Vike senior heavyweight Andreas Berryman did serve to keep hope alive for Union Pines. Directly following Berryman’s clutch performance, Union Pines 106-pounder Billy Hornbaker electrified the home crowd in bout 11.

The Viking senior brought the crowd screaming to its feet twice by nearly managing to score two pins in the final period of a bout he had trailed 10-2 in through two rounds. However, his comeback bid eventually fell just short, as he dropped a 15-12 decision.

After that narrow escape, the Cougars’ lead stood at 35-19 with three bouts remaining.

Union Pines needed a victory by pin or technical fall in the 12th bout to extend the dual. With their regular 113-pound wrestler Samuel Bartram out because of an illness, the weight of Union Pines’ dual team postseason life rested squarely on the shoulders of Mike Fedowitz.

In the end the Vike sophomore put up a valiant effort, in only his 12th bout of the season, to score an 8-7 decision. But the result was not enough as South Brunswick forfeited the final two contests to bring the overall tilt to its final tally.

When discussing his squad’s second-round loss, Union Pines head coach Matt Ragsdale cut straight to the point.

“South Brunswick is a really good team,” said Ragsdale, “and they are a better dual team. They are a little bit more experienced than us and have a lot of returning wrestlers. For them being the third straight time here, this year they had a little bit better of a team and got the win.

“But for us, now we are going to do what we have been waiting to do all season, which is to focus on the regional and state (individual) tournament. That is why I told the guys after the dual that we did this for fun — you know it was accountable competition — but we are not going to talk about it anymore. Instead, we are going to focus on what lies ahead for us, which are two big competitions to go in the regional and state (individual) tournaments.”

The Vikings lost in the second round last year, before going on to finish as the runner-up in the 3-A individual state championships.

All season long, Ragsdale has been emphasizing that Union Pines is a much better tournament team than dual one. In accordance with that belief, the Vikings’ goal all season has been to win a state championship at the individual tournament. As a result Union Pines finishes the season with a dual record of 14-7, having only wrestled 21 duals. Conversely the Vikings have participated in seven tournaments, placing in the top six at each event, including one championship, two runner-up finishes and two third-place showings.

“Right now we will begin fine-tuning when we work in the wrestling room,” said Ragsdale. “We want to find out our best stuff, go with that and, hopefully, fix anything that needs fixing so we come into the regional prepared as best as we possibly can be.

“In my eyes there are five or six teams that can win the state tournament, and we are definitely one of them.”

Union Pines occupies the fourth spot in retrorankings.com’s top 10 3-A tournament team rankings. The Vikings compete in the Mideast regional tournament Feb 17-18 at Morehead High School in Eden.