Kelton Thompson takes over a Poplar Bluff wrestling program with plenty of experienced wrestlers looking to make the trip to Columbia in February.
A year after sending six wrestlers to the MSHSAA state championships and finishing fourth in their district, the Mules moved up to Class 4 last season and got only two to state while finishing 10th at district.
"We're not intimidated by that district," Thompson said. "It is the toughest district in the state but we've just got to embrace the challenge and make a name for ourselves this year."
Tanner Dunivan is the lone state qualifier to return for the Mules, having won two matches in three state appearances. Three more -- seniors Josh Lawrinenko and Drew Dugas with sophomore Quentin Bell --missed the state cut by a single match last year.
Five of the top 10 teams in the final standings at the state tournament came from the same district as Poplar Bluff.
"There's some world-class wrestlers in that district, to be honest with you," Thompson said. "Good thing is if you can get through the district you should be on the podium at state. That's our ultimate goal this year, is to get multiple guys on the podium at state."
Thompson, a two-time qualifier for the Mules, placed fifth at state as a senior. To get his wrestlers ready for the postseason, the first-year coach beefed up the schedule starting tonight when the Mules host North County and Chaminade. They will also have a tournament over the weekend at Parkway South and face district opponents Jackson, Mehlville and SLUH over the next 11 days.
Tournament appearances at Lafayette and Francis Howell in January will give the Mules more matches against teams that they will see in the district, which will be held Feb. 9-10 at Lindbergh High School.
"Last year we went into districts blind," Thompson said. "This year we're going to know going into districts who we've got to beat and how we're going to beat them."
The Mules will start the season with a full varsity lineup featuring 10 returning starters and two more that saw varsity matches last season.
Combined, the roster has won 560 career matches.
Dunivan (96-50) is looking for a fourth straight trip to state having finished third at district the last three years. He also won the SEMO Conference title at 170 pounds but will start the season at 182.
Dugas (86-45) placed third in the conference last year at 182 and missed the state cut by a single match for the second straight season. The senior will start at 170 pounds.
Josh Lawrinenko (58-27) also missed advancing to state by a single win each of the last two years. He reached the conference championship match at 138 pounds and will start this year at 145.
John-Henry Smothers, who starts at 160, 138-pounder Garrett McClure, and 132-pounder Kade Richardson, each juniors, missed the state cut by a single win as freshmen in Class 3.
Jake Lawrinenko, who was 25-13 last season as a sophomore, will start at 126 pounds while junior Wyatt Lazalier returns at 195. Junior heavyweight Kendrick Gordon takes over after splitting time with state qualifier Josh Lewis and at 220 while winning 18 matches last season.
Bell was 31-21 as a freshman, missing the state cut by a single match at 113 pounds. He will start this season at 120.
Jacob Aldridge, a sophomore, moves up from 106 to 113 while sophomore Donald Sincup will get the start at 106. Sincup and freshman Austin Barker, who starts the season at 220, are the only non-returning starters.
John Page and Nic Hampton, both seniors, will start the season on the junior varsity lineup with juniors Vince Kelly and Xavier Bartlett. Sophomores include Jackson McGraw, Sabastion Hawkins, Colton Jackson, Cole Christian, Seth Barris, Luke Welborn and Patrick Jarrette while Barker, Page Earls, Josh Casswell and John Martin are the only freshmen.
"Numbers are a little bit down, part of that is we didn't get a huge freshman class this year but we've got real big numbers at the junior high level," Thompson said.
Poplar Bluff went 20-11 in duals last season and finished fourth in the SEMO Conference Tournament, the best showing since 2013, with a pair of individual champions. New Madrid Central will host the conference tournament in January.
"Our biggest emphasis this year has been finish," Thompson said. "Every aspect of wrestling. Finish the match. Finish the takedown. Finish when you're on bottom position because I think that's where we struggle the most. That's been a team goal for us and something I think we're improving on a lot, at least early in the season."