Saints’ Vipond picks up 100th career win

CEDAR RAPIDS - Strength cannot be measured by size.

For the Xavier wrestling team, the lightweight scrappy wrestlers are the ones opponents have to look out for. At 138 pounds and lower, these wrestlers have been effectively overpowering opponents in the first part of the wrestling season.

The Saints are led by seniors Jeff Vipond at 113 pounds and Clint Lembeck at 138 pounds. They also are getting help from sophomore Keegan Schultschik at 120 pounds and freshman Patrick Chambers at 126.

The Saints made headlines at the Independence tournament Dec. 5 with another strong performance. At 145 pounds, junior Josh Gerke placed second. Lembeck continued his domination by winning at 138. Vipond finished third and reached a milestone few have reached in Xavier history.

Vipond recorded the 100th win of his high school career. Vipond is the fourth wrestler to achieve this mark, joining Xavier wrestling legends David Drahozal, Nick Drahozal and teammate Clint Lembeck.

'The 100th career win was a very special one for me because it's nice to be rewarded for all the hard work I've put in these last four years,” Vipond said. 'I would attribute my success to the coaches, my teammates and most importantly God.”

At the first home meet of the season against Iowa City West, the lightweights dominated the first part of the match - starting with a Vipond pin. He only needed 1:32 in the first period to get the pin. This was followed by Schultschik also pinning his opponent with 7.6 seconds left in the first period.

'I have wrestled this kid since middle school and I was able to get his head and knee together to turn him over and get the pin,” Schultschik said.

Chambers completed the hat trick of pins with the fastest pin of the night, 28 seconds. Lembeck finished off the lightweights' strong run by winning 16-1 by technical fall. That was the end of Xavier's success for the night, however, and they lost the dual, 53-23.

The Saints traveled up the street for the battle of 42nd Street against Kennedy on Dec. 10. Vipond won by major decision, 12-0. Lembeck and Gerke both pinned their opponents. Lembeck made quick work of his opponent, pinning him in 33 seconds. Schultschik won by tech fall. However, Kennedy overcame the Saints and defeated them, 48-30.

At the Mount Vernon tournament, Vipond won his first individual title and Lembeck won his second. Gerke finished second in his weight class. Xavier finished fifth overall.