Four Dutch wrestlers advance to national meet
Central College
DUBUQUE — It was another step forward for the Central College wrestling program Sunday at the NCAA Division III Central Regional as the Dutch qualified four wrestlers for the NCAA Division III Championships.
Central continued its steak of sending wrestlers to the national meet, it’s the sixth season the Dutch have accomplished that feat. What makes this year different is that the Dutch will send four wrestlers for the first time since 1995.
“The bottom line is that momentum continues to grow for Central wrestling,” Van Kley said. “It was a team effort. It wasn’t just the four who made it to nationals. It’s every other member of our team who battled today. I’m extremely proud of their efforts.”
Central finished sixth in the team standings with 70 points, its best finish in the four-year history of the regional format. Wartburg took the crown with 160 points.
“On one hand, we have four guys going to nationals,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “But it was a team of 34 guys who made this happen. There was a tremendous amount of support and enthusiasm by everybody. It was a very fun day for Central wrestling.”
C.J. Pestano (sophomore, Torrance, Calif.) hadn’t wrestled competitively in over a month leading up to the regional meet. Pestano won his first two matches by narrow margins, including an overtime victory in the semifinals to guarantee himself a spot at the national meet.
“I thought he showed a lot of grit and toughness,” Van Kley said. “He had a really hard fought win in the semifinals to punch his ticket to nationals.”
Back on January 23, Central’s 184-pounder A.J. McBroom (junior, Runnells, Iowa, Southeast Polk) fell to Wartburg’s Bryan Levsen 5-2. McBroom avenged that loss to the fifth ranked Levsen with a 2-1 decision in the semifinals.
“There wasn’t anybody from Central that thought it was an upset,” Van Kley said. “McBroom felt that if he wrestled a smart match that he could beat him. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t pretty, but he grinded it out.”
Pestano and McBroom both came up short in the first-place match but will still be marching on to Cedar Rapids on March 11-12 with second-place finishes.
At 165 pounds, Central’s Ryan Vandall (junior, Phoenix, Ariz., Moon Valley HS) had to take a different route to qualify. After losing a tight semifinal match, Vandall battled back and won the third-place match to punch his ticket.
“He kept his poise coming through the backside,” Van Kley said. “Ryan put in a tremendous amount of work in the last year to put himself in position to make it to nationals and we couldn’t be happier for him.”
Also taking an unlikely path was Matt Seabold (junior, Burlington) at 197 pounds. Seabold was pinned in the quarterfinals by Augustana’s Thomas Reyhons and sent to the consolation bracket. He would work his back and beat Reyhons in the third-place match to secure a spot at the national meet.
“Matt did a great job of keeping his focus and taking matches one at a time on the back side,” Van Kley said. “It was very sweet for him to avenge that earlier loss.”
In addition to the success of the wrestlers on the mat, Central’s coaching staff was also recognized Sunday. Eric Van Kley and assistant coach Kevin Donahue were honored as the Central Regional Coach and Assistant Coach of the Year, respectively.
“It’s not one person or one guy that makes this program go.” Van Kley said. “It’s every single person on our staff and all 34 guys on our team that make it happen. It’s neat to see Kevin get that recognition. He’s done a tremendous job, I really appreciate his loyalty and work ethic.”
With two weeks to prepare for the national meet, the Dutch quartet will take some time off before getting back to work.
“The biggest thing we need to do now is physically and mentally reload.” Van Kley said. “We’ll take a couple of days to get recharged, but we’re excited for all four of them.”
