Kevin Yeoman Nov. 29, 2007

Coe handles Central in league opener

CEDAR RAPIDS—The Central College wrestling team could not overcome its powerful opponent as No. 7-rated Coe shutout the Dutch 57-0 Thursday in the Iowa Conference opener for both squads.  

Central (0-4 overall, 0-1 conference) ran into unbeaten Coe squad (5-0 overall, 1-0 conference) that finished third last year in the Iowa Conference during the regular season and 11th in the NCAA Division III championships.

“Coe’s one of the better teams in the conference and in the country,” said head coach Eric Van Kley. “They’re more talented and more experienced.”

Despite what the scoreboard indicated, Van Kley was optimistic.

“The guys had great effort which was very good,” he said. “We continue to improve everyday.”

Van Kley was especially pleased with the performances of Kyle Ray (freshman, Greenfield, Nodaway Valley HS) at 157 and Curtis Hobbs (freshman, Grinnell) at 141.

“They both had very solid matches and battled the whole way,” he said. “They fought and gave maximum effort. They came out strong in the third period and closed the gap and had good chances to score points. Those two epitomize the type of effort we need.”

The Dutch return when they make the short trip to Indianola on Saturday to compete in the Simpson Invitational which begins at 9 a.m. 

 Coe 54, Central 0
125-Clayton Rush (C) won by forfeit.
133-Gannon Hjerleid (C) won by forfeit.
141-Niles Mercer (C) def. Curtis Hobbs, 22-10.
149-Tyler Baker (C) def Lance Jones, 15-9.
157-Bryon Grothus (C) def. Kyle Ray, 18-1.
165-Tyler Burkle (C) pinned Kevin Yeoman, 0:36.
174-Tyler Jentz (C) pinned Josh Stutting, 1:32.
184-Greg Lalla (C) pinned Anthony Rollins,     1:36.                                                                        
197-Rob Kramer (C) won by forfeit.
285-Jared Carder (C) pinned Nick Merical, 0:42.