It looked like another pin for Interlake, in what was becoming a tense, close meet. The Saints’ 160-pounder Jacob Marks was ahead by points, 8-12, over Mount Si senior AJ Brevick.

The two-minute bouts felt like an hour to Brevick, who, as the buzzer neared, willed himself to higher intensity in the crucial home match, held Wednesday, Jan. 4, at home.

“We were both dog tired,” Brevick said. But he could feel that Marks had switched from riskier moves to safer ones.

“I had nothing to lose,” said Brevick, who subscribes to the mantra that the first and second rounds of a match go to the most technical, conditioned wrestler. But the third, he says, goes to the one with the most heart.

“I’m not going to lose this match,” thought Brevick, who found an opportunity—Marks’ unguarded leg—and converted it into a cradle, pinning his opponent as the crowd went wild.

“I wanted it more,” he explained.

Brevick’s win, which fired up the team in the midst of an Interlake upper-weight push, helped Mount Si to a 42-35 win.

The meet looked like the Wildcat Show at first. Mount Si’s lighter weights Eli Clure (106), Gunnar Harrison (113) and Ryler Absher (120) pinned their opponents in an early sweep.

“I wrestled my hardest,” said Absher, a sophomore who’s wrestling 20 pounds up from last season.

Then 126-pounder Tanner Stahl and first-time varsity competitor and 132-pound Justin Edens won decisions. At 145, senior Aaron Peterson pinned Interlake’s Joseph Button.

But in the upper weights, Interlake started to turn things their direction. The Saints’ Daniel Montoya pinned his man, Adam Taylor, at 138, and 152-pounder Jacob Wilson pinned Tye Rodne.

At 170, Interlake’s Haines Giseburt won by technical fall over Mount Si’s Cole Palmer. At 182, Saint Tedore Stamolieve pinned Doug Knox in 2:47, and Ernesto Cancilla pinned Mitch Rorem at 195. Saint Chad Peterson pinned Christopher Schlicting at 220. That put it down to one final match for Mount Si to seal the deal or fall.

Luckily for the Wildcats, their man was defending state champion Josh Mitchell.

Against Fine Ngauamo, Mitchell set his own pace, getting comfortable and taking control. He pinned his man in 1:41.

“I’m wrestling my match,” he said afterward.  The senior didn’t worry about the outcome, though he knew Mount Si needed to finish strong. “All my teammates were pushing me,”

• Mount Si next wrestles at Lake Washington, Thursday, Jan. 12. Varsity matches start at 7:30 p.m.

Box score for dual @ Interlake on 01/04/2012.

Mt Si (MTSI) 42.0 Interlake (INTE) 35.0

106: Eli Clure, MTSI, pinned Marcus Kopp, INTE, 4:52. 113: Gunnar Harrison, MTSI, pinned Douglass Mui, INTE, 2:53. 120: Ryley Absher, MTSI, pinned Grant Cole, INTE, 0:35. 126: Tanner Stahl, MTSI, dec. John Harmon, INTE, 7-0. 132: Justin Edens, MTSI, dec. Nathan Jochum, INTE, 10-6. 138: Daniel Montoya, INTE, pinned Adam Taylor, MTSI, 1:47. 145: Aaron Peterson, MTSI, pinned Joseph Button, INTE, 3:29. 152: Jacob Wilson, INTE, pinned Tye Rodne, MTSI, 1:37. 160: AJ Brevick, MTSI, pinned Jacob Marks, INTE, 5:51. 170: Haines Giseburt, INTE, tech. fall Cole Palmer, MTSI, 4:00 16-1. 182: Tedore Stamoliev, INTE, pinned Douglas Knox, MTSI, 2:47. 195: Ernesto Cancilla, INTE, pinned Mitch Rorem, MTSI, 4:34. 220: Chad Peterson, INTE, pinned Christopher Schlicting, MTSI, 1:53. 285: Joshua Mitchell, MTSI, pinned Fine Ngauamo, INTE, 1:41.