Pinecrest split matches with Seventy-First in Mid-Southeastern Conference wrestling Wednesday evening, with each team taking seven bouts. But seven and seven added up to a 40-39 loss for the Patriots who slipped to 2-4 in the league and 12-11 overall.

Glen Holmes posted the first team points for the Pats, easily dispatching Falcon 189-pounder Joe Gorman in the first round and boosting his record to 38-1 as he took another step toward a 40-win season.

It was a case of dj vu for Falcon 103-pounder Derrick Newkirk who lost to Sam Ransdell by a 12-7 decision. Ransdell beat Newkirk 12 days earlier by a 4-2 decision at the Boneyard Bash.

Kevin Brown reaped the rewards of a Falcon forfeit at 112, capturing six points for the team and claiming win number 40 for a 40-6 season tally.

Falcon 112-pounder Kamal Richards bumped up a class to 119 dodging a confrontation with Brown, but ran into more than he could handle against Justin Crawford. Richards trailed from the start after Crawford grabbed the first takedown, then built a 7-3 advantage before extracting the pin with two ticks left on the clock in the second period.

Trevor Capp (145) took advantage of his six minutes, building a 6-3 lead over Falcon Chris Harris before tightening the screws and pinning Harris with just 12 seconds remaining.

Trailing 40-33 as the final match got underway, there was nothing the Patriots could do to squeeze more than six points out of the contest, but that didn't restrain Brad McKeever in the final matchup at 160 against Seventy-First's Devin Richard-son.

McKeever spotted Richardson a takedown and nearfall in the first period before turning the tables with a reversal and half a dozen back points to surge ahead 8-5 in the first two minutes.

Second period choice gave McKeever the defensive start in the second round, setting up another reversal that the Pinecrest junior used to score the pin fall and close the team gap to 40-39.

Pinecrest will complete its calendar on the road, traveling to Terry Sanford High School for a quad meet tonight, then wrapping up the regular season with a conference meeting at Douglas Byrd. Post-season competition gets underway on February 3 with the Mid-Southeastern Conference Tournament.

Seventy First 40, Pinecrest 39

103 Sam Ransdell (P) decision Derrick Newkirk (SF) 12-7; 112 Kevin Brown (P) won by forfeit; 119 Justin Crawford (P) pinned Kamal Richards (SF) 3:58; 125 Philip Shepherd (SF) pinned Zane Excell (P) 1:34; 130 Larnell Egerton (SF) pinned Sean Kaiser (P) 5:08; 135 Andy Sivak (SF) pinned Nick Benton (P) 0:53; 140 John Miller (SF) pinned Kevin Bounds (P) 1:29; 145 Trevor Capp (P) pinned Chris Harris (SF) 5:48; 152 Mike Evans (P) won by forfeit; 160 Brad McKeever (P) pinned Devin Richardson (SF) 3:07; 171 Josh Yates (SF) pinned Ronell Howard (P) 2:37; 189 Glen Holmes (P) pinned Joe Gorman (SF) 1:42; 215 John Amstutz (SF) major decision Daniel Keith (P) 10-1; 285 Pat Quinn (SF) pinned Andrew Pugsley (P) 0:44.