Poplar Bluff spoils Sikeston’s senior night

Poplar Bluff traveled to Sikeston and spoiled their senior night by sweeping the tri-meet on Tuesday in the Sikeston Field House.

The Mules whipped out West Plains 48-24 and sacked Sikeston 43-29.

“We needed this,” Poplar Bluff head coach Kelton Thompson said. we needed this duel win and there are a lot of ways we could have come over here and lost this. I know we had to have some guys step up and win those key rubber matches, We would like to see some more bonus points in some of those matches, but that stuff will iron out.”

Poplar started the meet with a forfeit in the 120 weight class, but Sikeston won three straight bouts to go up 17-6.

The Mules kicked back a pair of wins of their own, including an 11-1 major victory by senior Lucas Robertson in the 150-pound bout.

The meet really turned for the Mules when sophomore Kayden Walker defeated Jax Lancaster in a sudden victory, pulling Poplar Bluff within 1, at 17-16.

“That was key,” Thompson said. “That was probably the decision maker, made the duel go a completely different way. We knew that was gonna be a contested match. Walker, we talked to him about that before, it’s time to step up. It’s his first year in varsity. It’s time to step up and go get a big win for the team and he did that tonight.”

With momentum completely on their side, the Mules went the rest of the duel without losing a match, with the exception of forfeits.

Poplar Bluff struggled in the lighter weights against West Plains but dominated in the heavier bouts.

Robertson, Walker, Logan Hite, and Jack Ernest win both of their matches. The Mules will take on rivals Jackson and Sikeston in the SEMO Conference Tournament in a couple of weeks.

“Well, it’s big,” Thompson said. The SEMO Conference is the second biggest date on our calendar outside the districts and state. So this gets us in the right direction for what we call the second half sprint.”