Dutch men win three times at Scotty Wood wrestling duals

ALLENTOWN, PA. — Bouncing back on short rest from a tough loss Thursday night, the Central College men’s wrestling team swept a trio of matches at the Scotty Wood Duals hosted by Muhlenberg College (Pa.) Saturday

It’s Central’s third trip to Pennsylvania since 2018. The Dutch are now 11-1, with the only loss coming to No. 10 Johnson & Wales (R.I.) in 2021.

The Dutch opened Saturday’s trip with a 55-0 win over Camden County Community College (N.J.), and then beat Messiah University (Pa.) 32-7 before closing it out with a 27-10 win over Muhlenberg. Individual results from all three matches were not made available.

“We wrestled really well overall,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “Our guys were so resilient. We got done with a dual on Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. We left Pella at 5 a.m. Friday for the airport, practiced here in Allentown at 4 p.m and then competed today. It was pretty gutty by this team”

Sophomore Hayden Hearne (285 pounds, Urbandale) and senior Gage Linahon (197 pounds, Newton) were among the Dutch wrestlers who won all three of their matches.

“Hayden really wrestled well,” Van Kley said. “Gage gave us bonus points in every spot.”

Against Muhlenberg, it was 157-pounder Colby Tool (junior, Reasnor, PCM HS) who came up big for the Dutch.

“Colby changed the momentum of that match” Van Kley said. “He was down early and came back with a tough takedown to go ahead 4-3 and then got a big pin. It was the only pin in that match.”

Central is off for Thanksgiving week and then heads to Rock Island, Illinois for a dual with Augustana College (Ill.) on November 30 at 8 p.m.