A wrestler’s journey

CEDAR RAPIDS - For many high school athletes, being able to participate in the state wrestling tournament in Des Moines can be a very beneficial learning experience to improve their overall game or strategy and to give them an idea of what they can work on in the off-season.

While everyone wants to come out on top, there can only be one true champion, leaving many disappointed competitors to reflect upon what their season could have been.

On Feb. 19, third ranked Clint Lembeck of Cedar Rapids Xavier faced second-ranked Paul Glynn of Bettendorf High School in the first round of the 2015 state wrestling tournament at Wells Fargo Arena. It was a very difficult pairing for the Saints junior, but he was determined to overcome the unfavorable circumstances to secure a crucial first-round victory. In the end, however, Glynn ended up winning a hard-fought match, 8-6. Lembeck's dreams of finally capturing a state title vanished away in the blink of an eye.

'After the loss, my goal that I had all season long was no longer achievable,” Lembeck said. 'My weight class was said by many to be the toughest bracket of the tournament, and I knew the road back to third wasn't going to be easy.”

Lembeck has exhibited a resilient attitude throughout the season, and this quality shined brightly after his heartbreaking, first-round defeat. The 132-pounder saw his chance to prove he truly was a championship-caliber wrestler and did just that. Over his next five matches, Lembeck accumulated three technical falls and outscored his opponents by a combined 62-5 to claim a spot on the podium in third place. These were not your ordinary wrestlers, either. Two of his victories came against the fourth- and sixth-ranked wrestlers.

His result this year also was an improvement upon his fourth-place finish in 2014.

'The next five wins were all attributed to the first loss and the new mind-set it brought me,” Lembeck said. 'I wanted to prove to myself and show I was better than my first performance and achieved this by scoring the most points in the entire tournament.”

His journey to Wells Fargo Arena began just a week earlier in the district meet at Prairie High School. Lembeck (40-2) beat Prairie's Seth Wennermark, 11-4, in the 132 finals to make his third career trip to Des Moines. His teammate, Jeff Vipond, narrowly missed a state berth for the second consecutive year, losing a 6-2 decision to Marcus England of Prairie in the 106-pound weight class.

'I am so excited to have Clint and Jeff as senior leaders as well as Josh Gerke,” Head Coach Ryan Chambers said. 'They have been wrestling together for the past 10 years and have the ability to make deep runs in the state tournament next year.”

With his 'three amigos” hungry to keep improving, the expectations for next season already are very promising for the Xavier wrestling team.