Central wrestling squad soars to No. 13 in rankings

Central College

PELLA— Following a team title at the Milwaukee School of Engineering Invitational and a sound defeat of previously ranked Augustana (Ill.) in dual action, the Central College wrestling team climbed to No. 13 in this week’s National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Division III rankings.

It’s the highest position in the poll for the Dutch since being No. 14 in December of 2012.

Two Dutch wrestlers also made the individual rankings this week as 197 pounder Matt Seabold (junior, Burlington) stayed pat at No. 3 and Ryan Vandall (junior, Phoenix, Ariz., Moon Valley HS) was slotted at No. 10 at 165 pounds.

Seabold made his season debut in the Augustana dual, recording a 17-2 technical fall win. He’s 5-0 on the season after winning all four of his matches at the Milwaukee School of Engineering Invitational on his way to a first-place finish.

Vandall’s 13 wins are best on the team this season. His lone loss is a 5-3 decision against No. 1 Farai Sewara of Coe, last year’s national champion. He has won tournament titles at the Wis.-Platteville Invitational, the Auggie Adidas Open and the Milwaukee School of Engineering Invitational.

Central is one of four conference schools in the rankings. Wartburg is No. 1 and Coe jumped a spot to No. 10, while Luther fell nine spots to No. 17. Also in the Central Region, Cornell jumped up to take the No. 8 slot. In total, 15 conference wrestlers are listed amongst the top-10 at their weight classes.

Central travels to Northfield, Minnesota on Thursday, December 10 for a dual against St. Olaf in a 7 p.m. match.