Lisbon primed for run at state dual wrestling 3-peat

LISBON, N.D. — Lisbon’s Averey Dick has been waiting all year for this weekend. He finally gets to see what he can do at the state tournament.

The senior 195-pound wrestler suffered a dislocated elbow in the championship match of the Class B, Region 1 wrestling tournament last year.

He missed his opportunity to see where he stacked up as an individual. He had to sit and watch while his teammates went out and claimed the program’s fourth consecutive team state championship and its second consecutive dual state title, he was stuck on the sidelines.

But the senior is back and ready to make his run at a 195-pound title at the North Dakota Class B state wrestling tournament, which begins Thursday at the Fargodome.

“I’ve been looking forward to this since last year before state when I got hurt,” Dick said. “I’ve just been waiting and waiting for that chance to compete at state.”

Dick enters the state tournament as the No. 3 seed at 195 pounds with a 21-2 record. In order to win a state title, he’ll likely have to avenge a loss to No. 1 seed Nathan Schauer (18-0) of South Border.

“Last year’s bad luck, hopefully means good luck this year,” Lisbon wrestling coach Richard Lacina said. “He qualified for state last year and never got to wrestle at state. He takes these young kids under his wing and tries to show them the right ways. With these seniors, it makes the job easy for a coach.”

The Broncos bring in a stacked lineup from 106 up to 285 as they take aim at their third straight dual title. They’ve got six seniors, two undefeated state champions — Boeden Greenley and Jordan Sours — and have wrestlers seeded in the Top 12 in 12 of 14 weight classes with four either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed.

“The whole team’s feeling confident right now,” Lisbon 160-pounder Jaden Schmidt said. “I don’t think there’s much more we could do to prepare at this point. We’re ready. We just want to hit the road and get up to Fargo at this point.”

Perhaps the biggest hurdle standing between the top-seeded Broncos and their dual three-peat is No. 3 South Border. Lisbon split a pair of regular-season duals with the Mustangs, losing 34-30 early in the season, but bouncing back to beat them 37-24 at the Class B, Region 1 dual championships on Jan. 23.

“(South Border) Coach (Josh) Hoffman always has a good team,” Lacina said. “They’re always mentally ready. We had some kids that were hungry and ready to wrestle. Maybe the loss was a blessing in disguise. It awoke a sleeping giant. Our guys hadn’t experienced much losing.”

The Broncos made some noise on Jan. 12 when they defeated Class A East Region No. 1 seed Valley City 39-31. They weathered the storm through the lower weights and then dominated the upper weights, taking six of the final seven matches. Lisbon wrestlers had five pins over Hi-Liner opponents.

“We’ve been lucky to have a good rivalry with Valley City — we’ve always been able to get them to dual with us,” Lacina said. “They have a really solid lineup this year. Once we got up into those heavier weights, that’s the clinch of our lineups. We were able to stem the tide and then go take it.”

Lisbon 170-pound senior Jordan Sours (26-0) is looking to win his fourth state championship.

He hasn’t lost a match since last season’s Region 1 championship, when he lost to Jake Herr of South Border. He ran the table in the state tournament, beating Herr in the state title match, and hasn’t lost since.

He won the state championship at 145 pounds in 2018, at 152 in 2019 and at 160 in 2020.

“The way he is — he’s so humble about everything,” Lacina said. “You’ve had to talk to him for a long time before he tells you that he won even one state title. As a coach, you feel like they become your own kid. It’s hard to imagine a better guy to get that kind of chance. It would be fitting for a kid like that who does all the right things to go out that way.”

Greenley (28-0), a 152-pound sophomore, is looking for his third state title after claiming the crown at 138 last year and at 106 in 2019. The last time he lost was early in the 2018-19 season.

Greenley has gone out of his way to face the best competition this year. He went up a weight class and beat No. 1 160-pounder Garrett Hebl of LaMoure at the Region 1 dual tournament. He's no stranger to doing so. In eighth grade, Greenley bumped up a weight class from 106 to 113 to face Bismarck’s Wilfried Tanefeu — then a sophomore — at the Valley City Holiday Tournament. Tanefeu won the Class A state title at 113 that year and went on to win a 16u freestyle national title. Wilfried and his twin brother Christian are both committed to wrestle at Michigan.

Greenley has a fall over the No. 2 seed in his weight class, Cole Ibach of Des Lacs-Burlington-Lewis and Clark.

“When he’s at practice, he’s going to go hard and make sure he’s working,” Lacina said. “When he gets on the mat, it’s a complete motor.

“He wants a challenge any time he can. He knows it might be tough, but he’s not afraid of anything. You can go a long way with kids like that.”

Lisbon senior Jaden Schmidt (23-1) is the No. 2 seed at 160 pounds. His only loss of the season was against Hebl 6-3 at the Napoleon Last Chance Tournament on Jan. 29. Schmidt was third at 152 pounds last year.

“I'm feeling really good,” Schmidt said. “I’ve just got to go into that tournament with confidence. I’ve got to be confident and go out there and win.”

Broncos freshman Blaze Reinke (26-3) is the No. 2 seed at 120 pounds. He hasn’t wrestled top-seeded Peyton Tuhy of Hettinger-Scranton (20-5) this season.

The other seeded wrestlers for Lisbon are No. 10 106 Kashdon Wadesson (25-3), No. 11 126 Carter Wallner (19-11), No. 5 132 Mike Nelson (24-6), No. 9 145 Simon Sveum (20-9), No. 7 182 Hunter Schultz (26-6), No. 12 220 Granger Dick (6-4) and No. 4 285 Josh Shearer (17-0).