Solid showing for Dutch wrestlers at Augsburg
Central College
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. — Four Central College wrestlers rebounded from first round defeats in the gold brackets at the Augsburg Adidas Open Saturday to rattle off three straight victories on their way to winning consolation side of the brackets.
Coming off Central’s thrilling dual victory against Coe College Thursday, the Dutch ventured to Minnesota to take part in the three-tiered tournament. Central entered 11 wrestlers in the top-level, gold brackets and a combined 12 in the lower-level silver and bronze brackets.
“Overall, I think we showed a lot of grit and toughness,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “We won some close matches that could have gone either way.”
The top finisher for the Dutch in gold bracket action was 165-pounder Jeremy Scheuermann (sophomore, Jefferson, Greene County HS) who took fifth. He was 3-1 on the day and finished with a 5-2 decision over Brady McFarland of Augsburg (Minn.).
“He’s really learning to battle through some tough positions,” Van Kley said. “It’s never going to be pretty, but he really showed some determination on a long day.
At 133 pounds, Cam Timok (sophomore, Glen Allen, Va., Hermitage HS) dropped a heartbreaker 14-12 in sudden victory against Paul Selman of Minnesota State in his opening bout. His offense was on point all day long, as he registered two technical falls and capped off his day with a first period fall in the consolation finals.
“He scored six points in the last 30 second to push that first match to overtime,” Van Kley said. “He was on his back for over a minute in his last match before pinning his opponent.”
Losing by one point in each of their first round matches, both 141-pounder Daniel Radcliffe (freshman, Lockport, Ill., Lockport Township HS) and 157-pounder Jeremy Vester (sophomore, Oak Harbor, Wash.) roared back with three wins to take the consolation title.
Jordan Challen (sophomore, Jefferson, Greene County HS) was pinned in his first match, before he too rattled off a trio of triumphs on his way to a consolation finals victory.
“Our guys really dug deep,” Van Kley said. “Against that level of competition, it’s not always going to be easy. Our guys found a way to win some hard fought matches.”
After taking time away from competition for Thanksgiving break, Central will host St. Olaf College (Minn.) in a dual Wednesday, November 30.
“We’ll use next week to mentally and physically reload,” Van Kley said. “We’ve got some big weeks ahead between Thanksgiving and Christmas that we’re excited for.”
