Two Central wrestlers prep for national championships
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA—A pair of Central College wrestlers are headed to Roanoke, Virginia this weekend for the NCAA Division III Championships where Cam Timok (senior, 125 pounds, Glen Allen, Va., Hermitage HS) will end his career back in his home state.
Chase Petty (senior, 133 pounds, Pella) will make his debut on the national scene.
Both wrestlers qualified by finishing in the top three at the NCAA Division III Lower Midwest Regional. Timok won the title at 125 pounds while Petty won the third-place match.
Central has sent multiple wrestlers to the national meet five years in a row. The Dutch finished 34th in the team standings last year, but also have a pair of top-20 finishes in the last five years.
Timok comes home — There are six wrestlers who call the state of Virginia home in the 180-wrestler field. Timok (23-3) is the only one who is making a 900-mile trip to Salem in order to compete.
“Cam’s a Virginia-boy, born and raised,” Van Kley said. “It’s going to be extremely special for him and his family to watch him wrestle his last tournament two hours away from home.”
Starting the season at 133 pounds, Timok won 12 of his first 13 matches before dropping down to 125 in January. He’s gone 11-2 since then, including a 2-1 mark against Brady Kyner (Wartburg College) and Eron Haynes (Nebraska Wesleyan University) who are also in the field. He’ll open with Dylan Nuttall (14-10) of York College (Pa.) in the first round.
“In looking at the bracket, there are quite a few guys who dropped down to 125 after spending most of the season at 133,” Van Kley said. “York is traditionally a strong program that I’m very familiar with. We definitely need to be ready and have all of our focus on the first match.”
Timok, a 2017 All-American at 133 pounds, is seeded No. 5 at the start of the tournament.
“It’s always nice to draw a seed,” Van Kley said. “It’s a recognition of what you’ve done during the year and having a great regional tournament. He’s earned it. He knows we need to be ready for the first match and he will be.”
Transformation nearly complete for Petty— Petty’s junior season ended with a runner-up finish in the 149-pound bracket at the Duhawk Open on January 27, 2018. He compiled a 10-12 record that season, making him 28-34 for his career.
Friday’s opening round will represent 405 days since that day in Dubuque and ultimately the start of Petty’s turnaround. He’s 18-8 this year, now wrestling two weight classes lower at 133 pounds.
“He’s made a tremendous year-long commitment both physically and mentally,” Van Kley said. “He wanted to have a special senior year and I give him all the credit in the world. He’s reaping the rewards of a year’s worth of hard work. I think it shows not only on the wrestling mat, but also in the classroom and as a person.”
An offensive mindset has been key to Petty’s success. He’s recorded 50 takedowns in season, earning a 14-2 mark in matches where he has at least two takedowns.
“I think that’s where things really changed for his career,” Van Kley said. “He’s made to be a very offensive wrestler. He has tremendous conditioning and a lot of offense. When he opens it up and picks the pace of a match up, he’s got a good shot against anybody.”
Petty opens with a first-round match against the No. 7 seed Ben Volsters (26-3) from the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point.
“There are no easy matches, but we like where we are at,” Van Kley said. “Chase is going to be ready to go and fire off a lot offens.”
Starting at the bottom—Timok continues an impressive streak for Central in the 125-pound weight class. The Dutch have now sent a 125-pounder to seven straight national meets, including All-Americans the last four years.
Assistant coach Daniel Page started the streak in 2013 and went three straight years, earning All-American status with a seventh-place finish in 2015. Student assistant coach C.J. Pestano continued the streak with a trio of All-American performances in 2016 (second place), 2017 (fourth place) and 2018 (sixth place). Assistant coach Matt Diehl was also an All-American for Central at 118 pounds in 1987.
“It’s no coincidence we have qualifiers at the two lightest weights,” Van Kley said. “The trend of success at 125 pounds is a credit to those three. It’s a unique opportunity for Cam and Chase to have three All-Americans in the room coaching them.”
The first session of wrestling is Friday morning at 11 a.m. local time in Roanoke.
