Central Athletics News January 29
Central College
Central wrestlers win two in league duals
DUBUQUE—Central College scored a pair of victories in the Iowa Conference Duals for the second straight year.
Luther (8-8) controlled the Dutch in Saturday’s opener at Loras College, 28-10. Central rebounded with a 24-12 victory over Loras (8-11) and a 36-7 triumph over Buena Vista (3-7) before No. 13 Cornell (13-7-1) rolled up a 43-6 decision to finish the day.
Central (9-9) also defeated Loras and Buena Vista last year but it’s just the program’s second victory over Loras since 1995 and only the third win over Buena Vista since 1989.
Tommy Van Renterghem (junior, Oskaloosa) improved to 24-9 with a 3-1 day at 174 pounds while Joe Atwell (sophomore, Jamaica, Panorama HS) was 3-1 at 149 pounds. He’s 21-11. Van Renterghem has reached a new career high in season victories while Atwell has matched his 21 wins of 2009-10.
Central trailed Loras 12-9 heading into the 174-pound match, but Van Renterghem scored a 2-1 overtime victory, Greg Barner (sophomore, Audubon) followed with a 2-0 decision at 184 pounds, Theron Stewart (sophomore, Marshalltown) sealed the win with a technical fall at 197 and Ted Dirkx (junior, Alleman, North Polk HS) closed with a 3-2 overtime victory at 285.
Van Kley also cited Eric Wilkerson (junior, Toledo, South Tama HS) who split a pair of matches at 141 pounds, rolling up a 15-4 decision against Buena Vista.
“The kids battled hard today, especially against Loras,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “We won the close matches and that was the difference. For the most part, we competed well.
“We’ll keep scratching and clawing and try to keep closing the gap on the teams above us.”
The Dutch have just a pair of duals remaining before the Feb. 23 Iowa Conference tournament. Central is off next weekend, then travels to Indianola to meet Simpson College Wednesday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. The Dutch were 27-12 winners over Simpson at Pella last year. Simpson is 2-12 this season.
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Nebraska Wesleyan escapes Central in men’s tennis opener
PELLA—The Central College men’s tennis team was a serve away from a season-opening victory but instead is off to a 0-2 start after suffering a 5-4 defeat against Nebraska Wesleyan Univ. and a 9-0 loss to Augustana College (Ill.).
“Obviously we would like to have won both of them but we knew this would be a tough weekend,” coach Steve Tyler said.
Central won at Nos. 4, 5 and 6 singles against Nebraska Wesleyan with Kyle Freischlag (freshman, Downers Grove, Ill., South HS), Jacob Dreyer (senior, Cedar Falls) and Zane Hendricks (freshman, Fort Dodge). Freischlag and Hendricks also were winners at No. 3 doubles. But the Dutch dropped two singles matches in super tiebreakers.
“I thought we came out a little tight against Nebraska Wesleyan,” Tyler said. “But Nebraska Wesleyan is much better this year.”
While the Dutch were shut out against Augustana, Tyler said they were competitive. Central dropped a super tiebreaker in singles and a pair of tiebreakers in doubles.
“Up top, it was so nice to see Dan (Bowser) (senior, Fort Dodge) and Seth (Harris) (junior, Waverly, Neb.) push their guys hard,” he said. “And both of their opponents were very good. Dan served much better than he did against Nebraska Wesleyan. That bodes well for us.”
Central is home again next Saturday, taking on Loras College at 9 a.m. and Morningside College at 3 p.m. at H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse. The Dutch defeated Loras twice last year, 9-0 and 7-2, and blanked Morningside, 9-0.
“We need to serve better, we need to return better and we need to keep more balls in play,” Tyler said. “That’s what we’ll work on in practice next week.”
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Three Central wins in season opener
BLOOMINGTON, ILL.—The Central College men’s and women’s track and field squads opened their indoor seasons with strong showings at the Illinois Wesleyan Titan Open Saturday.
The Dutch women captured runner-up honors in an 18-team field with 74.5 points while host Illinois Wesleyan racked up 128.5 points for the win. The Central men were third in a 16-team field with 56 points. The Titans also won the men’s competition with 89 points.
“We looked sharp considering it is still January, “said coach Joe Dunham. “I was happy with the all-around effort that we showed today.”
Darrow, Wilson lead women—Junior transfer Morgan Darrow (Newell, Storm Lake HS) made a big splash in her Central debut, winning the shot put with a throw of 40 feet, 2.25 inches while placing second among collegiate competitors in the weight throw with a toss of 50-4. Meanwhile, Caitlin Wilson (Oakland, Riverside HS) picked up Central’s second victory of the day in the high jump (5-1).
“Morgan is a great competitor,” said Dunham. “She is going to make a lot of noise on the conference and national scenes.”
Other notable performances in the field events include third-place showings by Megan Kittleson (junior, Osage) in the shot put (39-5.25) and Jess Fevold (junior, Iowa Falls, Webster City HS) in the weight throw (47-1.5)
Sophomore Felicia Coleman (Houston, Texas, J. Frank Dobie HS) was second in the 55-meter dash (7.37 seconds), just two-hundredths of a second from her school record, and teamed up with Jill Ziskovsky (senior, Dallas Center, Dallas Center-Grimes HS), Emily Teas (senior, Indianola), and Sam Retz (sophomore, Atkins, Benton HS) to place second in the 4×400 relay (4:00.03).
“Felicia got her year off to a great start again,” said Dunham. “She came out with a bang at this meet last year and did it again today.”
Central’s middle distance women also impressed. The distance medley relay team of Meghann Burt (senior, Slater, Ankeny Christian HS), Eve Reinhold (Collins, Collins-Maxwell HS), Molly Von Holten (Walnut, Ill., Bureau Valley HS), and Amanda Dunkin (freshman, Pella) took second in a time of 13:38.52 while Mel McDermott (sophomore, Britt, West Hancock HS) was third in the Mile run (5:29.68).
Miller takes high jump—Junior Ethan Miller (Seymour) got his 2011 season off to a fast start, winning the high jump with a leap of 6-6.75 in addition to placing second in the 55 hurdles, setting a personal best in the prelims with a time of 7.82 seconds.
“Ethan is a fun guy to watch,” said Dunham. “We can put him in a lot of events and he is a threat to win them all.”
Other notable performances include Kurtis Brondyke (senior, Clinton) and Aaron Fuller (sophomore, Aberdeen, S.D., Roncalli HS) taking third in the high jump (6-4.75) and pole vault (13-0), respectively. Matt Graber (senior, Newton) took runner-up honors in the shot put (50-0.5) while Ben Schornack (sophomore, Urbandale) blew by his previous indoor 800-meter best to place third, crossing the line in 1:56.79. Miller and Brondyke teamed with Kyle Wood (junior, Newton) and Allen Scovel (junior, Runnells, Southeast Polk HS) to take third in the 400 relay (3:25.89).
“Allen Scovel is more of a short sprinter but gave us a great leg on the 4×4,” said Dunham. “We have several candidates for that relay and he is definitely on that list.”
The Dutch travel to Waverly next Saturday for the Wartburg Select Inv.
“We have a lot of things to work on, but today was a good start,” said Dunham. “We need to approach every day with a sense of purpose to get where we want to be.”
