Central’s Baldwin knocks off reigning national champion at MSOE Invitational
DECATUR, ILL. — En route to winning the 141-pound title at the MSOE Invitational, Central College men’s wrestling sophomore Pierre Baldwin (sophomore, Carol Stream, Ill., West Chicago HS) knocked off the No. 1 wrestler and reigning Division III champion in the championship bout.
Baldwin went 4-0 Saturday, but it was his victory over Sam Stuhl of Augsburg University (Minn.) that was the most memorable. The sophomore with a 17-1 record not only beat the reigning national champion but hit him with a 12-4 major decision.
“Pierre is a model for the rest of our team,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “He’s working hard and has gotten better every week. He got the lead early in that match and kept building on it.
“When we’re attacking and wrestling that way, we’re a fun team to watch. We’re learning more and more what that looks like.”
Senior 197-pounder Gage Linahon (Newton) also advanced to the title match, starting the competition with four wins. He was pinned by No. 3 Parker Venz of Augsburg to finish second.
“It was a good tournament overall,” Van Kley said. “He just caught in a throw position and took an unfortunate loss. It’s something he can learn from.”
Jason Hermann (junior, Stockton, Ill.) added a fourth-place finish for Central at 165 pounds, finishing the tournament with a 3-2 mark. Hermann was back in the lineup after missing the dual at Augustana College (Ill.) on Thursday.
“He wasn’t able to wrestle in the dual Thursday because he was feeling sick,” Van Kley said. “He bounced back and had a really solid day.”
For the first time this season, Central was in a tournament with team scores and finished sixth of 13 teams. The Dutch were out four starters and only had 10 wrestlers competing.
“We’ve got to get healthy,” Van Kley said. “Our guys that did wrestle, wrestled well.
The next competition for the Dutch will be Saturday, December 16 at the Prairie Wolf Duals in Lincoln, Nebraska, giving the team plenty of time to finish strong in the classroom.
“We’re going to put a major focus on our academics and finals for the next two weeks,” Van Kle said. “We’re excited to compete again after the semester is over.”
