Sports
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Xavier High School
Ickes and Lembeck battle at State wrestling The District and State meets wrapped up the wrestling season for the Saints this year. Junior Sean Ickes and freshman Clint Lembeck both qualified for State after great performances at Districts. This is Ickes second consecutive year at State. Districts this year took place at Waverly Shell Rock on Saturday, February 8, and the Saints placed sixth in an eight team meet. Lembeck won his 126-pound weight class in an overtime match, and he also pinned his previous two opponents to reach the district championship. “It felt good to make Xavier history and win my district as a freshman. My team really helped me out during the season, especially Jeff Vipond,” Lembeck said. His performance earned Xavier 24 points. Ickes placed second in the 170-pound weight class, but he lost in the championship. Regardless, the second place finish was enough to qualify for State and earn 16 points for the Saints. Freshman Jeff Vipond and junior Nick
Drahozal just missed qualifying to State. Vipond lost in a 4-5 decision, and Drahozal lost in a sudden death match. However, Vipond earned 14 points for Xavier, and Drahozal picked up 13 points for the team. Ickes and Lembeck wrestled again on February 14 and 15 in Des Moines at the Wells Fargo Arena. Ickes lost both of his matches but is determined to work hard and perform better next year. “Next year my biggest goal is to place in State,” Ickes said. Lembeck, who was under the weather, lost his first match, won his second, and lost his third. Both wrestlers enjoyed their time at State, and they got to participate with the best from Iowa. “It was really cool to see all of the states’ best wrestlers in one place, and we had a lot of fun there this year,” Ickes said. Both Ickes and Lembeck will have a chance to improve and go to State in next year’s wrestling season.
Left: Freshman Clint Lembeck crushes his opponent. Lembeck won one out of his three matches at State.
Below: Junior Sean Ickes scraps with his opponent Megan Gerke Photos
Kyle Dmello Sports Writer
Richardson and Durin triumphant at state
The Iowa boys’ State swimming meet took place last Saturday, February 9 in Marshalltown. John Richardson represented Xavier by swimming in the 200 medley relay, 100 backstroke, and the 400 free relay for Cedar Rapids Kennedy. Nick Durin also took the pride of Xavier to Marshalltown, swimming for Cedar Rapids Washington in the 200 medley relay, the 50 free, the
100 breaststroke, and the 200 free relay. Cedar Rapids Washington won its 50th straight District Title. Richardson placed 11th in the 200 medley relay, swimming the backstroke. The relay broke a 19-year-old school record by .1 seconds. “It feels great to be a part of history at Kennedy. It shows how hard we worked as a team, and is an amazing result to a great career swimming for
Kennedy,” Richardson said. th Richardson finished 17 in the 100 backstroke and in the last race of his high school career, he finished 10th in the 400 free relay. Durin swam the freestyle leg for Washington in the 200 medley relay. The Warriors placed fourth in the event. “The best part of state is just having the whole team go together, like one big family,” Durin said. Durin went on to finish 12th in the 50 free, 16th in the 100 breaststroke, and with the help of his teammates, he finished 8th in the 200 free relay. Muscatine went on to claim the State Title.
Connor Collins Sports Editor Senior John Richardson takes his mark in the 200 Medley relay. Tom Richardson Photo
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