LUMBERTON — On a night that the Lumberton wrestling program was already honoring its seniors, one of the three made his night even more special by hitting an individual milestone.

Makya Kerns celebrated by earning his 100th career win, accomplished in a shorter-than-typical high school career, providing the most conspicuous triumph on a night the Pirates did what they do often — win — with a 60-24 victory over Seventy-First.

All 13 individual matches which were wrestled resulted in pins, many of which came in the first round, with 10 by the Pirates and three by the Falcons; Seventy-First also won one match by forfeit.

“Seventy-First, they’re very athletic, very strong,” Lumberton coach James Bell said. “We’ve just got to wrestle them. You could see that from the pin-or-be-pinned scenarios we got put into.”

Kerns wrestled in the second matchup, after Lumberton’s Damicquen Powell pinned Dyego Maldonado in the opener at 106 pounds. Kerns’ second-round pin over Jazten Hall at 113 gave Lumberton a 12-0 lead in the match.

“I went out, I got a couple takedowns in, and I finished the first period on top,” Kerns said. “The second period, I knew I had the advantage on my feet so I went neutral, so I took him to his back and got the pin. A big six points for the team.”

His 100th win comes in just three varsity seasons, with the current season still incomplete and his sophomore year consisting of only about 20 matches due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That’s a testament to how hard Makya works,” Bell said. “That just gives you an idea of the time and effort and work he’s put in in these two full seasons, to get those 80 more matches (the last two years).”

“I came in and honestly I’m just a product of the room I’m in,” Kerns said. “I have great coaches, great practice partners, and this is more a testament to them than it is to me, really.”

Lumberton’s other two seniors wrestled later in the evening; Tristan Rodriguez pinned Jamar McLoud at 160 and Ben Peterson pinned Jovani Cuadra at 195. This was part of a stretch of six Lumberton pins in the last seven matches to turn a 24-18 win into its 60-24 win.

“These guys have been big parts of our lineup for the past couple of years, or however long they’ve been with us, so this is a special night to honor them like this and to get their wins like they did,” Bell said. “It’s a culmination of the work they’ve put in in however many years they’ve been in the program.”

Lumberton also got pins from Brayden Hunt, who beat Rylee Molten at 126; Anderson Brayboy, who defeated Kalen Lucas at 138; Matthew Foil, who topped Daniel Edmonds at 152; James Ellison, who beat Marquaa Wolokolie at 170; Jackson Buck, who defeated Deondre Jackson at 182; and Casey Hardin, who topped Zymeir McPhaul at 285 with just 12 seconds left in the match.

Seventy-First got match wins from Joshua Adu-Offel, who beat the Pirates’ Lathan Hunt by pin at 132; Dakari Johnson, who pinned Aiden Truax at 145; and Donavan Frederick, who beat Avery McNeil at 220. The Falcons’ Ramir Hall won by forfeit at 120.

The Pirates, who are 6-0 in the United-8 Conference after Wednesday’s win, will wrestle at the Boneyard Bash at Jack Britt Friday and Saturday before facing Purnell Swett and St. Pauls in the Robeson County Championship tri-meet to conclude the regular season. Lumberton will host the United-8 Conference tournament on Jan. 21.

“We have the individual conference tournament coming up,” Kerns said. “Of course I want to win that, I want to go out in my last year as a conference champ. Postseason’s coming up; I want to win regionals and be regional champ, and going to states, I want to place at states and get the state championship, obviously.”

Purnell Swett falls to Douglas Byrd

The Purnell Swett wrestling team suffered a 41-24 setback against Douglas Byrd in a United-8 Conference dual meet Wednesday.

Purnell Swett got wins from David Oxendine, who pinned Cameron Davila at 160 and Delanteae Smith, who pinned Giezi Morales at 182. Hailey Brigman at 126 and Christian Steen at 195 each won by forfeit.

Douglas Byrd pins included Justin Richardson, who beat Jachriston Kline at 138; William Sullivan, who defeated Isaac Vargas at 145; Robert Belbeck, who topped Braylen Hunt at 170; and Braudy Barcena Gil, who beat Jahzir McLean at 285. The Eagles’ Cristian Rothrock beat Devon Connor by technical fall at 132. Cristian Romoz at 152 and Kemuel Williams at 220 each won by forfeit.

The 106, 113, and 120 classifications each saw double forfeits.