MANCHESTER, Mo. -- Poplar Bluff wrestling got its first team title since 1992.
Kendric Gordon won the heavyweight division at the Patriot Classic as Poplar Bluff went 3-0-1 to win the tournament Saturday at Parkway South.
"He scared us a few times in that championship match but he ended up pulling it out and getting a championship win," Poplar Bluff coach Kelton Thompson said for Gordon. "They wrestled really well. It was a good win to get. The guys have been working hard ... it was good to seem them polish some things up."
Another four Mules finished second in Jake Lawrinenko (126 pounds), Quinten Bell (132) Justin Mitchell (160) and Luke Welborn (195). Lawrinenko moved up from 120 to 126 in the tournament, as well.
Bell nearly gave the Mules a second champion. He needed a takedown late in the championship match to take the lead, but ran out of time.
"Justin Mitchell had a really good tournament," Thompson added. "He had a seasoned guy on his back twice. He was in position to win a couple of times."
Kade Richardson (145), Colton Jackson (152), Gavyn Hays (220) and Wyatt Lazalier (220) all finished fourth. Gatlin Taylor (106), Gage Engram (113) and Garrett McClure (138) got fifth and Zach Davidson got sixth.
"The guys were fired up the whole time. I like this tournament because the veterans on the team are able to mentor the JV guys because we are together the entire tournament," Thompson said. "The team chemistry is really kind of coming together right now. the guys are fixing technical mistakes and there are some things we are going to continue to clean up ... We wrestled our style of wrestling this weekend."
The Mules beat Vianny 76-0, getting pins in every match except one. They beat Zumwalt East 47-21, Lee's Summit 54-16 and tied Hhickman 39-39.
"The kids were reluctant to be on bottom with us," Thompson said. "I was happy with our fight and it opened a lot of eyes as far as what we are doing down here."
The JV team had four individual championships and won all their duals. The champions were Vince Kelley (138), Riley Sater (182), Desmond Howell (195) and Nick Palma (heavyweight).
The Mules hit the mats again at 5 p.m. Tuesday when they host McCracken County (Kent.)