Lisbon senior Tiernan Boots brought home silver from the state wrestling tournament.

“I’m at peace with myself, knowing that I gave it my all,” Boots said. “There’s not much more that can be done.”

Boots reached the finals for the first time in four trips to Wells Fargo Arena. He lost in the Class 1A 150-pound title match to Corbin Reisz of Logan-Magnolia, 10-3.

“Tiernan wrestled as good as he has all year, he just came up a little short,” Lisbon coach Aaron Helmrich said. “He left it all out on the mat.

“When you do that, it hurts when you don’t meet your goal. But we couldn’t have asked for any more of Tiernan this year.”

Boots finished fifth at state as a freshman and fourth as a junior. He had a costly early loss as a sophomore and did not place.

Still, he got his turn on the biggest stage in high school wrestling Saturday night.

“Representing Lisbon, being in front of the fans, it was awesome,” Boots said. “There was lots of energy.”

Boots is proud of the tradition at Lisbon and wants to see the Lions back on top.

“We have high standards for everything we do, not just wrestling,” Boots said.

Lisbon finished 16th in the team race with 55 points. Don Bosco dominated with 225.5 points, followed by Alburnett with 144.5.

The Lions had two other wrestlers on the podium. Sophomore Cael Stricker was sixth at 113 pounds, and Lisbon’s Tiernan Boots tries to escape from Chance Hoyt in the Class 1A 150-pound division at the state wrestling tournament. Lisbon’s Cale Stricker tries to work an opponent to the mat at the Class 1A 113-pound division. Lisbon’s Gage Holub tries to maneuver an opponent to the mat in the Class 1A 165-pound division. senior Wesley Sadler was seventh at 120 pounds.

“Cael had a great weekend; he beat the No. 1 seed,” Helmrich said.

Stricker lost in the semifinals to Hendrix Schwab of Don Bosco – famously, the son of former Iowa wrestler and UNI Coach Doug Schwab.

His brother, Hayden Schwab, beat Sadler in the quarterfinals.

“Those Schwab boys,” Helmrich said. “They are something else.”

Lisbon had eight wrestlers make the trip to state after qualifying six last year.

Helmrich said he was excited to see senior Jacob Waerius (215), who came back out this year after two years away from wrestling, get a win at state.

Four of the eight graduate, but Helmrich is excited about the foundation for 2026.

“I feel really good about the program,” Helmrichs aid. “We’ve got some great guys coming back, and we’ve got some great guys waiting in the wings. We’re heading in the right direction and look promising for years to come.”

Boots plans to compete next year, maybe in wrestling, maybe in football, maybe in track. He hasn’t decided, yet.