Central tripped up in wrestling conference opener
CEDAR RAPIDS — Facing its toughest dual opponent yet, the Central College wrestling team fell to No. 8 Coe College 29-12 Thursday night.
The Dutch (5-1, 0-1 American Rivers Conference) lost to the Kohawks (1-0, 1-0 conference in their first dual of the season. Central won four of 10 bouts, but all four were just three-point decisions. Coe had four technical falls and one pin to widen the margin of victory.
“There were just spots that we’ve got to win and stay in and we just didn’t tonight,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “It led to some bonus points and lopsided team score. They were tougher than us in some positions that we have to be better in.”
The biggest win of the night belonged to Nathan Fritz (senior, Sigourney), who knocked off the No. 6 wrestler in the nation, Josh Edel, at 184 pounds.
“It was a great win for him,” Van Kley said. “He continues to improve and get better. He’s having a lot of fun.”
Daniel Radcliffe (senior, Lockport, Ill., Lockport Township HS) and Rob Areyano (sophomore, Selma, Calif.) won by decisions at 141 pounds and 149 pounds, respectively. Radcliffe edged Riley Wright 11-6 and Areyano clipped Gabe Fiser 8-4.
Central’s fourth win came at 165 pounds from Collin Groleau, (senior, Peru, Ill., LaSalle-Peru Township HS) who defeated Ryker Kurimski 4-1.
“Those three seniors all had nice wins,” Van Kley said.
A busy weekend awaits the Dutch as the team is at two different competitions. The varsity is headed to the Scotty Wood Duals hosted by Mulhenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Duals against Messiah College (Pa.), Wilkes College (Pa.), Muhlenberg and Gettysburg College (Pa.) are on the slate. A group of younger wrestlers will be at the Auggie-Adidas Invitational hosted by Augsburg University (Minn.).
“After the match, we talked about how we are going to back out there in two days,” Van Kley said. “We’ve got to be better then than we were today. We need to learn from some of the things we did wrong and keep doing some of the things we did right.”
