Youthful lineup earns dual victory in wrestling

Central College

PELLA— Starting a lineup that featured eight freshmen and sophomores, the Central College wrestling team showed off its depth in securing a 52-3 victory over the visitors from the University of the Ozarks Tuesday night.

Coming off a strong outing in its home invitational Saturday, the Central College wrestling team looked strong again Tuesday.

“After a short turnaround from Saturday, it was good to get a dual in on Tuesday,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “It was good to see some of our younger guys get in there tonight.”

Seven of Central’s nine victories on the night belonged to underclassmen. At 165 pounds Freshman Cory McCleary (Linwood, Kan., Basehor-Linwood) made his dual debut with a 16-0 technical fall win in the first period. Zach Moss (sophomore, Winterset), the 174-pounder making his first appearance in a dual this season, made quick work of his opponent with a pin in 40 seconds.

It wasn’t all about youth for the Dutch Tuesday night, however. Senior 184-pounder Jesse Blauw (Pella) closed the night off in fashion, winning by technical fall 19-2 at the 5:25 mark.

“Far and away, Jesse had the highlight of the night,” Van Kley said. “He’s a senior who has paid his dues and he got his chance to wrestle in a home dual. He earned some big bonus points that were important for us tonight.”

A road dual with Iowa Conference foe and 25th-ranked Loras on Thursday now awaits the Dutch. It’s the Iowa Conference opener for the Duhawks and just the second conference match for Central.

“Thursday’s a huge match,” Van Kley said. “Our guys know that for next month that every match is a big one. Loras is a tremendous team. They are nationally ranked and several guys on their team are national qualifiers. We’ve got to bring a great effort. Our guys are excited about it, they want to be in big duals like that. Now we just need to go out there and perform.