Asked before he left Cary on Feb. 5 if his team had enough to get by New Bern in the first round of the NCHSAA 4-A dual team tournament, Green Hope wrestling coach Chip Bunn said he wasn’t sure.

With three starters out and one just recently cleared to wrestle after recovering from a concussion, the Falcons entered the tournament shorthanded.

But they proved they had just enough to get by the Bears and then proved they were among the top teams in the state.

After beating New Bern 26-25 and Leesville Road 46-22 in Fayetteville, the Falcons upended Chapel Hill 35-28 in the regional semifinal Thursday in Cary to earn a berth in the regional finals.

Green Hope ran out of steam in that match against Tri-Eight rival and eventual state champion Cary, 39-28, closing the book on the Falcons’ best season to date. They went 40-5 in dual matches this year, their best record in the school’s 10-year history.

“It feels extremely good,” said Green Hope senior Miles Shaw, clutching the regional runner-up trophy. “Our whole entire senior class worked extremely hard. We’ve being doing this since our freshman year. … We worked hard, so yeah, we deserve this.”

Shaw was among the reasons Green Hope made it as far is it did. Wrestling up a weight class to 171 pounds, Shaw won all four of his matches last week, two by pin and two by decision.

As satisfying as the dual tournament was for Green Hope, its run nearly ended before it got started.

The New Bern match Feb. 5 at Cape Fear High in Fayetteville wasn’t decided until the final bout. After falling down 25-12, Green Hope won three straight matches to close the gap to 25-23 and gave 140-pounder Brett Farina the chance to extend the Falcons’ season.

Farina fell behind New Bern’s Justin Rice 2-0 in the first period, but Farina scored two points for a reverse to even the match 2-2 going into the second. Starting down, he escaped then took down Rice to lead 5-2. Farina rode the advantage to the match-clinching win.

“I just fought through,” Farina said. “Even though he got the first two, you’ve just got to keep on fighting for the points.”

The Pride won five of the first seven matches and led 22-10 with six matches to go in the second match of the night at Cape Fear.

But the Falcons rallied again and won all remaining six bouts.

Green Hope won the first four — Chris Godfrey pin at 112, Matt Gardner 7-5 decision at 119, Kenny Buchanan pin at 125, Mikail Mannan 6-5 decision at 130 and Pedram Rahmatabadi pin at 135 — and Leesville forfeited the final two, punching the Falcons’ ticket to the regionals for the first time since 2003.

“I asked the kids to step up, and they did,” Bunn said. “The kids just focused in and did a great job. I’m amazed.”

Against Chapel Hill in the regional semifinal, the Falcons jumped out to a 13-4 lead through four matches, but the Tigers pinned at 152 and 160 to take a 16-13 lead.

Shaw snatched the lead right back when he pinned Scott Smith in 18 seconds at 171. The Falcons never trailed again, but it was close until the final bout.

Green Hope 103-pounder Arjun Aravindan pinned Ryan Mumper late in the first period to push the Falcons’ lead to 32-19, but Chapel Hill answered with a major decision at 112 and a technical fall at 119 to close the gap to 32-28.

For the second time in two days, Green Hope’s season came down to one match. Mannan took the mat knowing a win or loss by less than eight points would do it for the Falcons.

“After all our hard work, I wasn’t going to let one match ruin it,” Mannan said. “So I knew I had to win. I went out there and gave it my all from the start.”

Mannan dispatched Devin Solow 5-2, sending Green Hope on to the regional final.

“I told the guys yesterday, just go for it,” Bunn said. “I thought we were going to have a hard time with Chapel Hill, and we did. We had a few guys come through in some weight classes that put us into the finals. I told them for Cary, don’t worry about the scoreboard. Don’t worry about anything. Just go out there and wrestle hard. And everybody did.”