An 'eye opener' for Mules

By BRIAN ROSENER/ DAR Sports Editor

SIKESTON -- Zach Fears could taste victory Tuesday night, leading his 145-pound match by double digits. But the Poplar Bluff senior was nearly pinned in the final 30 seconds.

"I was just beat and kind of got sick," said Fears, who held on for an 11-6 win.

The close call against Sikeston senior Logan Berry was an eye opener for Fears, who spent his summer at camps working on technique.

"I think my conditioning is not at it's best right now," Fears said. "A lot of it is just early season. The first couple of matches are the hardest and once you get past those, you're in pretty good shape."

The Mules, who won the match 57-18, were in pretty good shape from the start with Sikeston conceding five matches.

Eric Lundstrom won his 152-pound match with a pin in 43 seconds while fellow senior Matt Boyers won at 215 with a pin in 2:26. Brandon Bounds, a 125-pound sophomore, won with a pin in 51 seconds while freshman Storm McClure won at 119 with a pin in 59 seconds.

"We're still a little bit out of shape," Mules coach Brian Wisdom said. "I can tell you who's been working hard and who hasn't.

"It's a good eye opener for me."

Poplar Bluff's only open spots were at 103 and 171 pounds because the Mules couldn't certify to wrestle until later this week under MSHSAA's new weight management program.

Zach Surque, a freshman who's expected to end up at 103 pounds, was pinned at the 3:36 mark by Sikeston freshman Nick De La Rosa in the 112-pound match.

Dylan Janes, a sophomore who wrestled his first varsity heavyweight match, was pinned at 1:13 after trading takedowns with junior Josh Northern.

"Sometimes when you want something so bad, you try too hard," Wisdom said. "He didn't wait for his time, just tried to take it."

Fears wasted little time in his first match, picking up a pair of takedowns in the first period then picking up a near fall in the second.

A takedown to start the third period and a 3-point near fall with a minute to go put the Poplar Bluff senior ahead 11-1 but 15 seconds later he was on his back.

"About halfway through the second period, I just gave out and tried to ride him out basically," Fears said.

Berry's reverse set up a near fall with 30 seconds to go but Fears wiggled free and used the clock to his advantage.

"You can never stop wrestling," Wisdom said. "If you stop, they're liable to catch up.

"Thank goodness we had the points."

Jordan Henningsen (130), Cameron West (135), Josh Parkin (140), David Gaebler (160) and Kelton Thompson (189) won by forfeit for the Mules, who host Dexter on Dec. 7.

Notes: In the junior varsity match, the Mules won 54-9 splitting the only two matches of the night. Craig Cassinger won by pin at 2:15 while Dallas Berry suffered an 11-9 loss after tying the match with three seconds left to force overtime. … In the eighthgrade matches, the Mules won 36-12. Ethan Swingle (103 pounds) won by pin at 1:06 as did Ryan Henningsen (103) in 21 seconds. Josh Townsend (120) won at 1:58 with a pin as did Aaron Boner (128) at 1:36, Tommy Schuler (128) in 57 seconds and Chance Berry (130) in 1:25.