Xavier’s Lembeck eyes state wrestling title

CEDAR RAPIDS - After 12 years of wrestling, Xavier senior Clint Lembeck is ready for the state title.

Lembeck, a three-time state qualifier in search of his first state title, has been around wrestling his entire life, hanging around high school wrestlers during practice when his father was the head coach at Lisbon High School.

'Clint doesn't wrestle like any other wrestler in the state, he's real smooth and funky and can score from any situation,” said Saints Coach Kyle Mallie, who has been coaching Lembeck for three years.

This was prevalent when Lembeck outscored his opponents 62-5, after a close loss to Paul Glynn in the first round of the state wrestling tournament last season, earning third place. Lembeck also demonstrated his physicality by winning three out of those five matches by a technical fall.

Lembeck was fired up after that first-round loss and stayed focused for the rest of the tournament in order to be able to stand up on the podium when it was all said and done.

'After that match, I just wanted to score points and do anything I could to score,” he said. 'I didn't care about winning or losing. I just wanted to score.”

This past off season, Lembeck has had to deal with multiple injuries, the first of which was a ruptured appendix that held him out for a month. He then had to have knee surgery, which held him out for another month. In addition to these procedures, he also got his wisdom teeth pulled, which kept him out for two more weeks.

Lembeck has stayed focused on his one goal - to win a state title.

With three trips to state already under his belt, Lembeck has high hopes for his senior year.