Falls critical to Dutch effort at Loras wrestling tournament
Central Dutch Athletics
DUBUQUE — A largely underclassmen contingent of 18 Central College wrestlers racked up the bonus point victories in the Duhawk Open Saturday.
The Dutch bagged nine victories by pin and added four technical falls.
“The biggest thing is we got back to wrestling the way we are capable of,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “Our guys were aggressive and wrestled with some toughness.”
149-pounder Chase Petty (junior, Pella) had the best finish for the Dutch, taking second place with a 3-1 record. His only loss came in the title bout against Ryan Liesure, an unattached wrestler from Iowa State University.
“It was a real solid tournament for him,” Van Kley said. “I thought he strung a couple of matches together to get in the finals. He really did a good job of getting on his offense and being aggressive.”
Central had a wealth of success at 149 pounds. Noah Gregorovic (freshman, Peoria, Ariz., Liberty HS) finished in third place, his only loss coming against Petty. Tying for fifth place, Jahleel Vester (senior, Oak Harbor, Wash.) and Kendall Foster (sophomore, China Valley, Ariz.) each had two victories by pin.
“I thought Noah had a break-out tournament” Van Kley said. “He’s been working hard all year and it really paid off for him today. I was proud of his effort.”
At 141 pounds, Tristan Clark (junior, Prairie City, PCM HS) had a win by technical fall, an overtime decision and won the third-place match by injury default.
Gavin Babcock (freshman, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) also had two falls and finished in sixth place with a 3-2 record. Van Kley is happy with the development he has seen from the 197-pounder so far this season.
“The fun thing with Gavin is he has done it while moving up a weight class,” he said. “He’s learning how to be a college wrestler and I think part of that was getting him at the right spot.”
The season continues with a non-conference dual between the Dutch (3-4) and William Penn University (2-8) Tuesday night in P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium at 7 p.m.
