After spotting visiting Wilson Beddingfield an early 9-0 lead, the Panthers surprised coach Mike Wickham, as well as the Bruins, posting 10 consecutive individual victories for a convincing 55-15 non-conference triumph Wednesday night.

Included in those victories were six pins, two technical falls and a forfeit, as the Panthers of the Carolina 1-A Conference improved to 4-0 with their 13 consecutive regular-season dual meet triumph.

"I was surprised," Wickham said. "I saw them [Bruins] wrestle against Hunt, and I thought they would give us a run for our money."

But despite the overwhelming final margin, Wickham said the team score was deceiving.

"Some of the matches were very competitive," Wickham said. "So the final score doesn't look quite as close as the matches really were."

Even Beddingfield's initial match win, a 13-8 decision by Chris Winship over Travis Braswell was closer than the final tally indicated.

Winship jumped out to a 9-3 first period lead, but Braswell bounced back to pull within 9-8 entering the final stanza.

But Winship scored a reversal with 42 seconds left in the bout, and added a 3-point near fall, giving Beddingfield of the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference a 9-0 team lead.

That's when the Panthers took over, winning 10 of the next 11 matches in building a 55-9 cushion.

Roger Willoughby got the Panthers rolling, rallying from an early 2-0 deficit to register the first Panthers pin of the night with eight seconds left in the first period.

Daniel Munoz, who flipped weight classes with Travis Phipps, tied the meet with a hard-fought, 5-0 win over Troy Cashion at 140 pounds, scoring a 3-point near fall midway through the final period to seal the win.

Phipps then toyed with Alfredo Salgago in their 145-pound match, building an 8-2 lead before posting a stoppage in 2:53.

Following Kody Barbour's forfeit victory at 152 pounds, Glenwood Watson narrowly missed a pin at 160, rolling up an 18-1 lead for a technical victory that was not realized until referee Bob Hudkins slapped the mat 10 seconds later for an apparent pin.

But the 15-point margin had been achieved on a reversal and 3-point near fall, before a spectacular throw by Watson planted Hunter Baker's shoulders to the mat.

Trailing 26-9, Beddingfield appeared on the verge of getting back into the match when Aaron Webb took Colt Burns to his back in the early moments of their 171-pound bout.

To his Credit, Burns survived the predicament and scored a reversal with 52 seconds left in the opening period, cutting his deficit to 5-2.

After Webb escaped to build his margin to 6-2, Burns returned the favor of the opening seconds, taking the Bruins grappler to his back, but secured the fall one with 1.2 seconds left in the period.

"Roger Willoughby is strong at 135, and Travis [Phipps] is strong at 140," Wickham said, "But we decided to switch them up tonight.

"Colt was practically pinned in his bout, but he dug down deep and came back to win - give him credit for that."

Jacob Lewis clinched the meet with a second period pin after dominating Victor Perez throughout their 189-pound bout.

After that, the Panthers received pins from 215-pounder Wayne Johnson and 112-pounder James Napier while 285-pounder Marshon Shoulars rolled to a 15-0, technical fall win.

"These guys keep surprising me," Wickham said. "They wrestle better and better each time we go out - and we just keep going."

The Panthers backed up their solid dual performance with a seventh place finish in the 20-team Eagle Invitational at Rosewood on Saturday, despite fielding only seven wrestlers because of injuries and illnesses. Munoz (140) and Lewis (189) finished second in their weight classes for North, while Wayne Johnson took third.

Jacksonville White Oak won the tournament, with Fayetteville Pine Forest in second.