Poplar Bluff seniors, from left, Dylan Janes, Kelton Thompson, Aaron Ellis, Jordan Henningson, Dallas Berry and Brandon Bounds won't be alone this season on the wrestling team. The poplularity of mixed martial arts may have brought more kids out to wrestle. (Brian Rosener/DAR)

By BRIAN ROSENER ~ DAR Sports Editor

Not too long ago there was plenty of room to work out during a Poplar Bluff wrestling practice. Now, the Annex building is packed each day after school.

"We had 18 kids when I first took over and eight finished the season," Mules coach Brian Wisdom said. "Last year, we finished with 32.

"Wrestling has been booming the last three years and this year is the biggest."

There were over 60 names on the preseason signup sheet and about 45 are currently out for the team with just as many eighth graders wrestling at the junior high.

Wisdom thinks the sudden explosion in kids wanting to wrestle has to do with the rising popularity of mixed martial arts or MMA.

Brock Lesnar's win last weekend to claim the Ultimate Fighting Championship's heavyweight title was the latest example of a former wrestling having success in MMA. Lesnar, an NCAA champion at Minnesota, beat another former wrestler in Randy Couture.

"I think wrestling has become a bigger deal because a lot of the guys winning have high school and college backgrounds in wrestling and they're the ones dominating the UFC circuit," Wisdom said.

Austin Goodrich, a freshman, said he came out for the Mules wrestling team because he's a fan of the UFC and MMA.

"A lot of people in the UFC, the main thing, they all wrestled in high school and that's just like a good stepping stone to it," Goodrich said. "It's good to learn the basics like ground control and take-down defense and things like that."

Goodrich said he wrestled when he was younger and also played basketball before becoming a fan of UFC. MMA features a variety of fighting styles but having a background in wrestling is key for when opponents take the fight to the mat.

"I just like how technical it is and the skill you have to have like all the combinations and submissions," Goodrich added.

Two-time state qualifier and senior Brandon Bounds is happy to see so many guys coming out to wrestle for the team.

"If you work hard, you're going to get rewarded," Bounds said. "Me, freshman year, I worked hard, made varsity spot (and) could have went to state.

"If they work hard at it, they're going to get rewarded."

Unlike team sports, wrestlers are responsible for their own actions, Wisdom said.

"You fight for your spot on the team," he added. "If you lose, it's your own fault. That means you just have to work harder and I think that's the best teaching method for everybody."

It's also a total-body workout, which can help prepare athletes for other sports, Wisdom said, adding that a six-minute match is like playing three football games.

"I don't want it to be easy," Goodrich said. "I want it to be hard."

With the influx of new wrestlers, Wisdom hopes to add to the schedule next season with more junior varsity tournaments and more matches with teams from St. Louis, which have larger teams than those in Southeast Missouri.

The Mules, who open the season at home against Dexter on Dec. 11, will host their own varsity tournament Jan. 31 at Peters Gym.

"It's hard to build a new tournament but I'm hoping by next year having to rent out the (Black River) Coliseum and have a big tournament right before districts," Wisdom said.

Poplar Bluff's recent success at the district and state level has also raised the bar for the incoming wrestlers.

The Mules have had at least one wrestler bring home a state medal in each of the last three years. Jesse Rogers reached the state championship match in 2006, finishing second, while Paul Swesey was sixth in 2007 and third last winter.

Bounds, Kelton Thompson and Zach Surque also qualified for the state tournament last year.

"I tell the kids your record is your bragging rights but if you go to state and place, it doesn't matter if you were 1-50," Wisdom said. "It doesn't really matter as long as we're ready by the state tournament and we excel to get better."