I said in my preview on Thursday that Lisbon Wrestling was chasing history at State. Well, I would say that the Lisbon Lions caught history by running away with the 1A State Wrestling title. Lisbon had the title wrapped up after the consolation round and won the team title with 97.5 points to second place Don Bosco at 76 and third place Sibley-Ocheyedan with 75 points.
Lisbon was led by a dominating performance by Cael Happel at 113 lbs. Happel scored a fall in the first round and then won by a tech fall in the quarters and semis, but saved his best for last. In the finals, Happel destroyed fifth ranked Devon Meeker of Wapello. Happel was ahead 13-4 in the first period? He finished the match off with a tech fall at 21-6 in 4:11. I have never seen a bigger mismatch in the state finals. Happel finished the year at 57-3.
I was pretty sure of this statement after watching Happel at Districts last weekend, but of course I had to see what happened at state. I have seen all of the Lisbon legends as freshman going back to Jim Lord as a freshman in 1975. Cael Happel is the best freshman in the history of Lisbon wrestling. I do not feel as though it is all that close, either. What a great future Cael Happel has in front of him.
I am not sure what the criteria was, but how did Cael Happel not get the MVP of 1A? He was ahead 13-4 in the first period. I have never seen such a thrashing in the state finals. A fall and three tech falls including the most lopsided state finals match that I have ever seen. Bad call by whoever votes on that award.
Cobe Siebrecht dropped a hard fought 5-2 decision to Adam Allard of West Sioux in the finals to place second at 106. Siebrecht had a great run to the finals with two pins before he defeated Jaymus Wilson of Alburnett in the semifinals, 10-6. Siebrecht had to be the most improved Lisbon wrestler this year. Only a sophomore, Siebrecht has a lot of great wrestling in front of him.
A trio of juniors placed for the Lions. Cooper Siebrecht had a very good tournament in placing third at 132, Kaden Kilberg placed fourth at 152, and Bryce Werderman placed sixth at 170. What a great core of seniors for next season to go along with State qualifiers Jake Jennett at 195 and Logan O’Connor at 220. Senior Chase McLaughlin won his first round match and then was eliminated at 138. McLaughlin will wrestle at Grand View University next year. Sophomore Ryne Mohrfeld at 120 placed sixth and had a great tournament. Mohrfeld may be the best example of what the Lisbon wrestling program is all about. Mohrfeld entered the state tournament with a 38-16 record. Lisbon’s tough schedule and the influence of the Lisbon wrestling room and program found Mohrfeld in the state semifinals. Look for more success stories like that at State in the future for Lisbon wrestling.
Now, on to the history. This was the first title for Lisbon since 1993 and it marks the fifteenth title in school history. This leaves Lisbon just two short of the all-time record of seventeen state titles won by Waterloo West. This also marked the eleventh state title won by coach Brad Smith that puts him in a tie with Bob Siddens of Waterloo West. The title of being the most successful wrestling coach in Iowa high school history should go to a Lisbon coach that won a national wrestling title at Iowa for Gable and Kurdelmeier. For those of us that know Brad Smith, he is not about a tie. Coach Smith is a win or lose type of guy. I can still hear him saying that either you get your hand raised or you don’t. He wants that next title to be alone at the top. I started writing about Coach Smith needing one more title to tie the record on my blog last May:
https://iowawrestlingblog.com/2016/05/coach-smith-is-making-and-chasing-history/
I will start on the push to break the record now in February. If my math and memory are correct, Coach Smith will be 63 years old in just over a week. When you look at how many points Lisbon lost from last year’s team in four-time state champ Carter Happel, two-time state champ Nick Williams, and place winner Hunter Robinson, to win a state title and by this type of margin may have been Coach Smith’s best coaching yet. He’s still getting better. The organization from top to bottom and the coaching staff is set. I will repeat what I had in my blog on Thursday:
Maybe the best coaching Smith has done is his coaching staff. Five assistant coaches on the Lisbon coaching staff all wrestled for and won a state title for Smith at Lisbon. Those five coaches won ten state titles: Shane Light (4X), Dean Happel (3X), and Greg Butteris, Brian Hall, and Jeff Clark all won one state title. That is an amazing stat in itself. To have that many former wrestlers that grew up under Coach Smith now back home to bring the glory days back to Lisbon Wrestling is a great example of what Lisbon Wrestling and Lisbon, Iowa truly is.
In a recent interview, I asked Coach Smith how he felt the success of his wrestlers the last several years will influence the next generation of Lisbon wrestlers:
Coach Smith: We have a great group of people down below that are doing a great job for our program. Jeff Clark in the junior high. Brian Hall. former head coach, he volunteers all of his time for the high school and junior high program. We have people in the elementary level with our Mat Pack club that are consistently getting these kids involved. The Mat Pack feeds into the junior high, the junior high feeds into the high high school. We have probably one of our better freshman classes coming in next year. The future looks good.
It sounds as though Lisbon has a very strong junior high team that we will see next year with a deep freshman class coming in. For starters, Lisbon should have a full lineup and some good competition for varsity spots next year. And yes, there is another Happel on the way that is in 7th grade, and he is good. It looks as though Lisbon should be real strong for at least the next three years.
Why am I looking ahead for the next three years? With fifteen state titles won, Lisbon is second only to Waterloo West for the all time total of seventeen. That would be a great record to break.
I know Brad Smith and I guarantee you he is already at work on next year’s team. This is the youngest team that I have ever seen win a state team title. Lisbon will have to replace only two points of the 97.5 points that won them a title this year. The 2017-2018 edition of Lisbon Wrestling has the potential to be one of the all-time great Lisbon teams. Of course that all depends on the off season. Coach Smith talked about all of the work put in the weight room, freestyle circuit, and at camps that led to this year’s success. Should all of that happen again and the Lisbon wrestlers improve like they did last year, along with a great freshman class, look out. Lisbon just swept the Dual Meet and State titles by a sound margin, and they have the potential to be much better next year.
This title will bring up stories about wrestlers and teams from the past. Handing down that tradition and history is priceless. Those that are new to Lisbon and the young people should be hearing stories about Al ”Coach” Baxter. They should know who Doug Lord and Jim Bennett, two members of what I call the “Big 3” (along with 2X champ Doug Englert) that started the Lisbon dynasty with team titles in 1973 and ‘74, are when they see them at a Lisbon wrestling meet. Maybe I need to start writing some Lisbon wrestling history blogs to do my part.
In closing, a thank you to all of those involved in Lisbon wrestling. What great entertainment, none better. As I mentioned Thursday, there is something special about the identity of being know for wrestling. Iowa is a wrestling state, Lisbon is a wrestling town and Lisbon Community School is a wrestling school. Thank you to the wrestlers and coaches that brought back the title of being known as the best small town wrestling town in the state of Iowa back home to Lisbon. Where is belongs.
Now let’s get to work on next year and chase down some more history. Go Lions!
