By BRIAN ROSENER ~ DAR Sports Editor

It's been two weeks since Poplar Bluff's last match so when the Mules open the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 tournament today will they'll be rested or rusty?

"Every coach says something different," Mules coach Brian Wisdom said. "The way I see it, I think it makes them more hungry."

A snow storm last week canceled a double dual for the Mules, who last faced an opponent on Jan. 26. Poplar Bluff will be one of 13 teams at Farmington trying to qualify for the state championships.

"I think it makes us hungry for a match hopefully," senior Paul Swesey said. "We'll go up there and be ready to wrestle."

Added sophomore Zach Surque: "As long as you're doing your work in practice I don't think it's going to matter."

Swesey and Surque are among the five Mules seeded in the top four at their weight class -- the top four wrestlers in each division advance to the state tournament next week in Columbia.

Ethan Swingle, a 103-pound freshman, 125-pound junior Brandon Bounds and 135-pound junior Jordan Henningson each enter the district as the fourth seed. Swesey and Surque are seeded second.

Surque, Swesey and Bounds each advanced to the state tournament last year with Swesey earning a sixth-place medal in his third trip to Columbia.

"It's a blast seeing who can make it and who can't," Swesey said of this weekend. "That's why I like it."

Wisdom wouldn't pin down which of his wrestlers have the best chance of advancing out of the district but he does think his team is ready.

"All I can say is we're going to wrestle our best, wrestle with heart, wrestle for six minutes (and) whoever comes out comes out," Wisdom said.

The district features two teams -- Farmington and Washington -- which are ranked in the top 10 of Class 3 by missouriwrestling.com and six weight divisions feature three ranked wrestlers.

Swesey (24-3) is the only ranked Poplar Bluff wrestler at sixth in his 189-pound division. He has pinned 17 opponents while two of his three losses have been decided by a total of 11 points. Tim Waltenberge of Windsor is the only person to have beaten Swesey in the district, taking a 6-2 decision.

Swesey won the district title last year at 171 pounds.

"None of this is going to be handed to him this weekend," Wisdom said. "We have a lot of good chances in a lot of different weight classes. If our kids wrestle good we have the potential to take big numbers (to state)."

Bounds (32-11) last lost to top-ranked Bradley Wisdom of Farmington with a pin in the second period but the 125-pound junior enters the district having won seven straight and has 20 pins this season.

Surque (33-10) has 12 pins this season at 112 pounds while Swingle (34-8) has been pinned just once at 103 and has 13 pins of his own. Henningson (25-15)

Kelton Thompson (31-14) is 0-4 against the three ranked opponents in his 215 pound weight class this season but one was a 3-1 loss to Rockwood Summit's Chris Jennings and another was a third-period pin by De Soto's Dakota Smith.

Dylan Janes (11-4) missed much of the season with an injury but has a 10-7 win over Sikeston's Robert Madison, who kept Janes from advancing to state last year.

Thompson and Janes were among the five Mules who missed the state cut by a single win last year.

Storm McClure (22-16) faces a 130-pound bracket that features three ranked wrestlers as does Dallas Berry (26-18) at 145, Colton Woodsmall (17-21) at 119 and Vince Faraone (11-9) at 140. Brent Wagner (17-23) will be at 152 pounds in his first district appearance while Brennan Moore, 12-23 at 171 pounds, and Chance Berry, 2-8 at 160, will get fresh starts to their season.

"We've got a bunch of people that can make it up to state," Bounds said. "If we do what we did in De Soto and wrestle with our heart and what we know about, and don't give up anything, we should do really good.

"It's not really hard unless you think it is."