Clash of ranked wrestling foes goes against Central
Central Dutch Athletics
Clash of ranked wrestling foes goes against Central
CEDAR RAPIDS — Traveling to take on No. 15 Coe College, the No. 13 Central College wrestling team fell 25-13 to their Iowa Conference rivals in their first dual action of the season.
The Dutch (0-1, 0-1 conference) beat the Kohawks (1-0, 1-0 conference) last year 20-12 but could not pick up a second straight win.
“It was a hard-fought dual between two teams,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “There were some critical positions that we’ve got to win that we did not tonight. Overall I was pleased with the effort.”
Central trailed 17-9 heading into the final three matches of the night when newcomer Wayne Sommerlot (freshman, Pocahontas, Pocahontas Area HS) at 184 pounds and sophomore Duncan Lee (Newton) picked up key wins to tighten the margin to 17-15.
“Those were really big wins,” Van Kley said. “Those were definitely two of the highlights from the night. It was really good effort from both of them.”
A pin with four seconds remaining in the match at 285 pounds pushed the margin to 23-15. The two teams each won five of 10 bouts, but four of the Kohawk victories were for bonus points while all of Central’s were just three-point decisions.
“The bonus-points decided the dual,” Van Kley said. “We’ve got to correct some things as a coaching staff. We need to be smarter and improve in some of those critical positions that relate to bonus points.”
The lightweight duo of C.J. Pestano (senior, Torrance, Calif.) and Cam Timok (junior, Glen Allen, Va., Hermitage HS) gave Central a 6-0 edge to start the match with each winning by decision. Jeremy Vester (junior, Oak Harbor, Wash.) also took a 13-7 decision at 165 pounds.
“Jeremy had won of his better matches since he’s been at Central,” Van Kley said. “It was a hard-fought win against one of their best guys.”
The final contest for the Dutch before Thanksgiving break is this Saturday at the Augsburg-Adidas Open in Minneapolis.
“It’s a great tournament,” Van Kley said. “We’ll primarily take our younger guys. It’s a great chance to focus on them and give them the opportunity to compete against some great competition.”
