Central men’s wrestling team starts 2025 strong at home invitational
PELLA – In its first action of the new year, the Central College men’s wrestling team piled up 17 place winners at the Under Armour Invitational Saturday.
The 22 brackets featured 260 wrestlers from 16 different programs from the NCAA Divisions II and III and NAIA. There were no team scores kept.
In the silver brackets for predominantly underclassmen, three Central freshmen had big days. Dominick Marre (freshman, Bartlett, Ill., Glenbard North HS) was 4-0 with three falls for the 125-pound title while classmates Carter West (Burlington, Notre Dame HS) and Ethan Skoglund (freshman, Sergeant Bluff, Sergeant Bluff-Luton HS) each were 3-0 and shared the 133-pound crown.
On the other end of the lineup, Hayden Hearne (junior, Urbandale) and Kyler Hall (sophomore, Boones, Ames HS, 285 pounds) shared third place in the 285-pound Gold bracket..
“I like what our bookends did,” coach Landon Williams said. “It was a mix of some young guys and some guys with experience.”
Other place finishers for Central in the gold brackets were David Vukobratovich (junior, Homer Glen, Ill., Lockport Township HS) in fourth place at 125 pounds, Damion Clark (freshman, Oskaloosa, Pella HS) in sixth place at 133 pounds, Jason Hermann (senior, Stockton, Ill.) in
fourth place at 174 pounds, Colby Tool (senior, Reasnor, PCM HS) in fifth place at 174 pounds and Justin Dallas (junior, Dixon, Ill.) in sixth place at 197 pounds
Sophomore Luke Spaur (Knoxville) added a title in the Silver 141-pound bracket by beating three unattached wrestlers from Grand View University.
“He was really taking what we’ve been working on about getting to his offense and wrestling through positions,” Williams said. “It helped as the tournament went on. He was in some tight matches and kept firing off his attacks and wrestling through his offense and it came out good in those matches.”
Additional bracket champions were Nathan Rosas (junior, Harvard, Ill.) in the Silver 184-bracket and Jonathan Gressett (sophomore, University Place, Wash., Curtis HS) in the bronze 285-pound division
The Dutch will make their first-ever appearance at the NWCA National Duals next Friday and Saturday in Cedar Falls. Central’s first opponent will be determined when the 24-team bracket is released.
“It’s a good opportunity for this team to wrestle at the national level,” Williams said. “We’re excited to showcase our program and show the level we want to be at.”
