Ted Dirkx Oct. 28, 2008

Central turnaround begins under Van Kley

It’s more than just talk.

Skeptics still need to see it on the mat, but there’s already solid evidence of the resurgence in the Central College wrestling program that coach Eric Van Kley confidently promised when he took the job a year ago.

Winners of four Iowa Conference team titles, Central posted 10 NCAA Division III top-20 team finishes prior to 1995, placing second in 1985. But the Dutch have enjoyed just one dual-meet season above .500 since 1995 and haven’t won a dual since 2006. The small but diligent squad Van Kley inherited for 2007-08 wrestled with as many as five open weight classes at times and endured a 0-15-1 season. Attempting to turn things around while competing in indisputably the nation’s toughest Division III wrestling conference is a stunt with a degree of difficulty even an Olympic gymnast might shy away from.

But Van Kley, who started the wrestling program at the Univ. of Great Falls (Mont.) and turned it into an NAIA power in just three seasons, is undeterred. He and assistant Jason Zastrow scoured the Midwest and beyond for wrestlers up for a challenge. Only seven wrestlers return from last year’s undersized squad but Van Kley’s recruiting haul is one of the school’s best ever. There are 19 newcomers, including 13 high school state qualifiers, eight state placewinners and three state finalists.

“We’ve got guys who came to Central excited to be part of a program that is on the upswing and climbing pretty rapidly,” Van Kley said.

Yet even as he works feverishly to bring in an even stronger class next year, Van Kley is trying to keep expectations for 2008-09 at a reasonable level.

“If we put eight freshmen on the mat against an Iowa Conference team, there aren’t going to be a lot of opponents shaking in their shoes,” he said, noting that even a significantly improved club could still land in ninth place at the league tournament.

But Van Kley speaks matter-of-factly about Central’s eventual return to national prominence and notes that the first step was not the recruitment of this year’s newcomers but what was accomplished by last year’s hearty squad. It was a winless season but Van Kley didn’t spend it marking days off the calendar.

“The nice thing about last year is that we were able to reestablish the work ethic and commitment level we need,” he said. “I really credit the team for embracing that. That’s why they’re our leaders this year. I can’t applaud them enough for the effort they put forth in really tough conditions.”

Learning to compete is the next step, Van Kley said.

“With this team, what’s different than last year is I think we’ll be in a lot of matches,” he said. “We want to stress competing and wrestling all 7 minutes of each match. We may not have the experience to win a lot of duals or tournaments, but we want to compete with higher caliber opposition.

“I hope we show a lot of improvement. I think we’ll look a lot better in the second semester than we do in the first semester.”

But it will not be a bump-free ride.

“Our biggest challenge will be keeping the guys positive,” Van Kley said. “This freshman group was very successful in high school. They’re used to winning and excelling. Freshman year in college wrestling is going to be a pretty big wake-up call. We just need to keep them believing in themselves and knowing that with the system we have in place, they’ll keep developing.”           

125
With last year’s 125-pounder, Brandon Rose, moving to 133, the lowest weight class will belong to freshman Eric Wilkerson, a state placewinner at South Tama High School.

"Eric’s a great worker who is passionate about wrestling,” Van Kley said.

133
Rose, a sophomore who was 2-10 in 2007-08, will compete with freshman Alex May of Grinnell at 133.

“They’re two good workers,” Van Kley said. “I expect they will both get varsity time.”

Curtis Hobbs141
Sophomore Curtis Hobbs was one of Central’s most promising wrestlers a year ago. He was 11-13, placing fourth at the Central Invitational.

“Curtis had a very solid freshman year that was cut short by injury,” Van Kley said. “He’ll be one of our leaders on the mat and off. He had a good fall and has high goals for the season.”

Hobbs will be challenged by sophomore transfer Jesse Martin of Fairfield.

“Jesse will get some time also,” Van Kley said.

 

149
Junior Nick Johnson is joined by a host of new faces, making 149 one of Central’s deepest weight classes.

Johnson, 5-22 a year ago, will compete with a pair of state high school finalists, freshmen ZachBeekman of Pocahontas and Christopher Reilof Guthrie Center. Freshmen Scott Riedel of Victor and Logan Stoss of Hutchinson, Kan. are also battling for a spot.

“It’s wide open,” Van Kley said. “We’ve got a lot of young, talented guys.”

157
A state high school placewinner, freshman Reid Imerman of Guthrie Center, will be alone at 157 until freshman Jared Hermann of Stockton, Ill. joins the squad following football season.

“Reid has looked outstanding in fall workouts,” Van Kley said.

 

165
Freshmen Ivan Gaeta of Bremerton, Wash. and Tommy Van Renterghem of Oskaloosa were each high school state placewinners and Van Kley can also call on freshman Bobby Vineis of Perkasie, Pa.

“We’re deep but young there,” Van Kley said.

174
Sophomore Kyle Ray wrestled part of last season, compiling a 12-13 record at 157 pounds and winning the Bronze Pool at the season-opening Augsburg (Minn.) Invitational. He’s moved up two weight classes to go against junior letterwinner Kevin Yeoman, 1-22 last year.

“Kyle has really filled out nicely,” Van Kley said.

184
There’s potential at 184 as well. Freshman Ben Davis of Clay Center, Kan. was a state high school finalist while sophomore transfer Nate Fell of Avoca was a state placewinner.

“They both look good,” Van Kley said.

 

197
Sophomore Chris Keeran will return to 197 and share time with freshman state qualifier Kyle Patterson of Collins-Maxwell-Baxter.

“Both are persevering and showing nice improvement,” Van Kley said.

 

285
Sophomore Ted Dirkx is back at 285 after earning Central’s only Iowa Conference place finish, taking eighth last year and finishing 5-11. He was also fifth at the Briar Cliff Open.

“Teddy made very big improvement,” Van Kley said. “He had his best performance at the conference tournament and hopefully will be able to feed off of that.”

Dirkx will be challenged by freshmen Dennis Richards of Oskaloosa and Nathan Rouse of Ankeny.

The schedule
Van Kley figures up to seven Iowa Conference teams could finish in the top 15 in Division III. Breaking into that group is an enormous challenge but one that Van Kley welcomes.

“The league is so far superior to the rest of the country, it’s not even close,” he said. “It’s pretty daunting when you have a team as young as we do. But as we grow, competing in the Iowa Conference will become one of our biggest assets.”

However Van Kley added some meets in Illinois and Wisconsin to the schedule, giving the Dutch a taste of Division III outside of the bruising league. He’s hopeful that his inexperienced club will begin tasting  some collegiate success as the season progresses.

“I don’t want to put unrealistic expectations on our freshmen,” he said. “There are not a lot of places where you win with freshmen. But we’re going to develop. We just want to be patient and keep improving week-in and week-out.”