Dutch wrestlers fall in first dual of the season

Central Dutch Athletics

Central Dutch Athletics

PELLA — In the first American Rivers Conference dual of the season, the 19th-ranked Central College wrestling team fell to No. 9 Coe College 19-16 on Thursday night.

It was the first dual of the season for either program, leaving Central 0-1 (0-1 conference) on the season and Coe 1-0 (1-0 conference).

“Overall as a team, I thought we did a lot of good things tonight,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “We tip our hats to Coe, they’ve got a solid team. At the same time, we’ve got to keep working hard and improving.”

Thursday night’s dual was the third meeting in a row where the two teams were ranked in the top-25 nationally. Central won 20-12 in 2016 and Coe was victorious 23-16 in 2017.

“It’s a great atmosphere,” Van Kley said. “It’s a fun dual every year because of how fiercely competitive it is.”

Endearing himself to the home crowd in his debut, freshman Rob Areyano (Selma, Calif.) pulled out a 5-4 decision at 149 pounds thanks to two minutes of riding time for the bonus point.

“We think he’s got a lot of potential,” Van Kley said. “He just loves to compete, which is a hard thing to teach. For his first dual in front of this crowd, I thought he did an excellent job.”

Daniel Radcliffe (junior, Homer Glen, Ill., Lockport Township HS) bagged a 15-5 major decision at 141 pounds to help put Central ahead 7-6 through four bouts.

“He’s a leader of our team and I think he showed it tonight,” Van Kley said. “He just kept scoring points and attacking. He got to his offense in all three periods and built on his lead.”

Central got a late push from its two heaviest wrestlers with wins at 197 and 285 pounds. Gavin Babcock (sophomore, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) won 10-4 over Taylor Mehmen at 197 pounds and Duncan Lee (junior, Newton) closed out the night with a 4-1 win at 285 against Brennan Koerperich.

“We feel like we are pretty balanced all the way through,” Van Kley said. “They’ve both wrestled in big matches before, and they know they’ve also got to get better.”

The vast majority of Central’s varsity lineup will be headed to Allentown, Pennsylvania for the Scotty Wood Duals hosted by Muhlenberg College on Saturday. The rest of the squad will travel to Minnesota for the Augusburg-Adidas Open on the same day.

Posted by on Nov 16 2018. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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