Lisbon rolls to another State Duals wrestling tournament berth

LISBON – Great No. 8. Sweet 16.

Both are accurate ways to describe Lisbon’s return to the State Duals.

Second-ranked Lisbon defeated No. 18 New London, 45-18, in a Class 1A regional dual final Tuesday night at Lisbon, securing the program’s eighth straight State Duals appearance and 16th overall. The Lions will compete in the quarterfinals Feb. 16 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.

The norm is to be in this position.

“We give 100 percent in our room,” Lisbon’s second-ranked 120-pounder Brandon Paez said. “Guys are sacrificing a lot and there’s a lot of hard work. We believe in it. It’s an expectation to be on top.”

The Lions were runners-up last season and champions in 2020. They have been ranked second to No. 1 Don Bosco all season, improving to 16-1 after taking eight of 14 weights against New London.

“We’ve beaten some pretty good teams,” Smith said. “We gave Don Bosco a pretty good run. I believe we have a shot to win it.

“We’ll be right in the thick of things. Some of our guys need to step up a little bit more and battle a little bit more in certain situations. That’s something we can work on.”

Paez said the Lions have a strong bond and they have a chance to match recent finishes.

“We have a lot of guys with a lot of potential on the team,” Paez said. “We have a lot of seniors on the team. We’re just as good as the team before and the year before that. I believe we can get the job done in the finals.”

Paez and 106-pounder Wes Sadler were some of the fortunate ones to get matches in a dual with seven forfeited weights. They were also the only Lions to win a competed bout.

“I would have liked some of our other seniors get matches tonight,” Smith said. “It didn’t work that way.”

Paez opened the dual with dominance. He racked up eight takedowns, pinning Gavin Menke-Bailey in 2:39.

“It’s nice to get my last match in the home town,” Paez said.

Interestingly, New London owned a 5-2 advantage in matches wrestled, including 3-0 edge in ranked matchups. At 126, New London’s top-ranked Marcel Lopez used a first-period takedown, an escape in the second and a third-period ride out for a 3-2 decision over No. 3 Quincy Happel.

New London’s Dominic Lopez, ranked third, scored all of his points in the second, topping No. 4 Lincoln Holub, 3-1. Fifth-ranked 182-pounder Josh Glendening beat No. 6 195-pounder Jamien Moore.

“They’re good kids,” Smith said. “We battled.

“We wanted to see those guys because we wrestle them at districts. I’m glad they put them out there against us.”

New London advanced to the final dual with a 43-30 victory over No. 17 Dyersville Beckman.

AT LISBON

Lisbon 45, New London 18

(Individual takedowns in parentheses)

120 pounds – Brandon Paez (L) pinned Gavin Menke-Bailey, 2:39 (8,0); 126 – Marcel Lopez (NL) dec. Quincy Happel, 3-2 (1,0); 132 – Tiernan Boots (L) won by forfeit; 138 – Cade Siebrecht (L) won by forfeit; 145 – Indy Harbaugh (L) won by forfeit; 152 – Dominic Lopez (NL) dec. Lincoln Holub, 3-1 (1,0); 160 – Junior Krob (L) won by forfeit; 170 – Max Kohl (L) won by forfeit; 182 – Josh Glendening (NL) dec. Jamien Moore, 7-1 (3,0); 195 – Trent Wilkerson (NL) dec. Indy Ferguson, 8-2 (0,0); 220 – Double forfeit; Hwt. – Wyatt Smith (L) won by forfeit; 106 – Wes Sadler (L) dec. Mavy Pope, 4-1 (1,0); 113 – Gage Burden (NL) pinned Lucas Capron, :58 (1,0).

MEET STATISTICS

Takedowns – New London 6, Lisbon 9. Reversals – New London 0, Lisbon 1. Escapes – New London 10, Lisbon 3. Nearfall points – New London 8, Lisbon 0. Penalty points (awarded) – New London 3, Lisbon 0. Total match points – New London 26, Lisbon 30.