The Hornets literally worked like stealth bombers at South Rowan High School, sneaking past four opponents to capture the revamped, dual-style Rowan County Tournament.

“I knew we were good, but I honestly didn’t see this coming,” second-year coach Durwood Bynum revealed after Salisbury earned the school’s first championship. “Now my guys, they thought they could do it. But I figured we were a year or two away from today.”

Salisbury defeated each of its four county rivals — including favored East Rowan — and crowned five weight-class champions in a dominating, where’d-that-come-from performance.

“It just goes to show,” said Willie Hosch, a winner at 135 pounds, “that if you work hard, you’ll get good results. We’re not surprised. We have a whole lot of endurance on this team. Don’t ever, ever count Salisbury out.”

That’s unlikely to happen again this winter. Even East senior Steve Fox, who recorded four pins at 160 and was named the tourney’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, was impressed after the Hornets slapped a pivotal 50-24 fourth-round loss on the defending champion Mustangs.

“They wrestled the match of their lives,” he said. “They were so strong, and that’s what gave them the edge over us. They overpowered us.”

Salisbury and East each had won their first two matches and shared first place in the team standings when they squared off in round four. But the Hornets gradually turned it into a mismatch by posting eight pins and winning nine of the 13 bouts.

“It was muscle,” East coach Barry Justus said after the Mustangs finished 2-2. “They wrestled aggressively and took us out of our technique. We wrestled on their terms. And with them, if they get you on your back you’re not gonna get up. They’re that strong.”

Perhaps a defining moment came during the 130 bout between Salisbury’s William Cole and East’s Adam Lambert. Trailing 4-2 in the second period, Cole found an opening and abruptly flipped Lambert to his back for a pin, giving the Hornets an 18-12 lead they never relinquished.

“That set the tone,” said Fox. “It got them up and got us down. From there on they had the momentum.”

It swirled to a feverish pitch when Hosch, Dwayne Coward (145) and Chris Chinaka (171) recorded pins to extend Salisbury’s margin to 39-24. Following a double-disqualification at 189, Salisbury clinched its victory with first-minute falls at 215 and heavyweight.

“It was electrifying,” said teammate Emmanuelle Olavarria, the county champ at 215. “It’s the first time we ever beat East. To do it like that was just electrifying.”

An hour later the Hornets walloped North, 60-19, and made school history.

“Not many people thought we were this good,” Bynum boasted while clutching the championship trophy. “But we are talented and we work very hard every day. It’ll always show sooner or later. What you put in is what you get out.”