By BRIAN ROSENER ~ DAR Sports Editor

PARK HILLS -- Following a second-place finish over the weekend in which they missed the tournament title by eight points, the Poplar Bluff Mules returned Tuesday night to Park Hills Central.

The Mules, who took six matches by forfeit, got four pins and a technical fall to win 65-15.

"We wrestled well, we just need to pick up our intensity and wrestle more confident," Mules coach Brian Wisdom said. "Hopefully, we hit that peak at districts."

Central won three matches, two by pins.

Poplar Bluff's Brandon Bounds (130 pounds) needed just 52 seconds for a pin while Dallas Berry (145) got his pin in 1:18. Brent Wagner (152) got a pin at 3:55 while Kelton Thompson (215) was a minute quicker with his pin.

Jordan Henningson (140) beat Central's Levi Flieg 18-2.

Storm McClure (125) lost his match 6-5 while J Darby Smothers (135) was pinned at 3:02 and Chance Berry (160) was pinned at 1:32.

"I'm seeing a lot of good things," Wisdom said. "It's just that it's such a long Christmas break, we're just now getting back into it."

At the Rebel Invitational on Saturday, the Mules won four matches against Hancock, Sullivan, Dexter and St. Clair by an average margin of 36 points.

DeSoto pinned seven Mules to win 42-34.

"DeSoto beat us by intensity," Wisdom said. "By the time we figured out we could beat them, it was too late."

Ethan Swingle (103), Paul Swesey (189) and Berry (145) each finished the day unbeaten to lead the Mules.

Against DeSoto, Swingle won 12-4, Berry won 4-3 and Swesey, ranked fourth in the state for his weight class by missouriwrestling.com, got a pin at 1:32. McClure got a pin in 54 seconds while Zach Surque and Bounds won by forfeit.

Swingle, Surque, Bounds, Smothers, Henningson, Swesey, Thompson ,Brent Wagner (152) and Brennan Moore (171) each got pins in a 60-21 win against Dexter.

Swesey and Surque picked up pins against Sullivan in a 63-18 win while Swesey and Moore earned pins against St. Clair in a 45-25 win.

Colton Woodsmall (119), Swingle, Wagner got pins in a 55-15 win against Hancock while Swesey, Thompson, Tony Hinton (heavyweight), Dallas Berry and Chance Berry each picked up major decisions.

"We need to be at an intense level at all times so people have to wrestle to our intensity," Wisdom said. "That's the swing we need to make those close matches like this weekend."

The Mules travel Friday and Saturday to Rockwood Summit in St. Louis for another tournament.