Curtis Hobbs Dec. 4, 2008

Dutch fall to No. 18 Dubuque 39-6

PELLA—Sophomores Curtis Hobbs (Grinnell) at 141 poundsand Nate Fell (Avoca, AHST HS) at 184 pounds accounted for the Central College wrestling team’s only victories in a 39-6 loss to the Univ. of Dubuque Thursday night.      

Dubuque, ranked 18th in Division III, was Central’s second top 20 opponent in as many dual matches.

Freshman Eric Wilkerson (Toledo, Iowa, South Tama HS) was edged out 3-2 in the opening match of the night but set the tone for a competitive night for the Dutch.

“Eric (Wilkerson) went out their right away and competed hard,” said Van Kley. “Even though he lost he really got us into the matches from the beginning.”

Hobbs trailed 2-1 after the first period in the 141 pound match but distanced himself from Dubuque’s Ben Watts scoring on a reverse and a takedown in the second period on the way to a 10-6 victory. With the win he improved his record to 8-3 on the season.

At 184 pounds Fell pulled out a win when Dubuque’s Jake Durbin was called for stalling with under a minute remaining to improve his record to 5-3. Van Kley credited both Fell’s and Hobbs’ victories to their conditioning.

“We fought and battled at every weight tonight,” he said. “And our conditioning really showed in the third period of every match, especially for Curtis (Hobbs) and Nate (Fell).”

Central will travel to Milwaukee, Wis. Saturday to compete in the Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) Invitational beginning at 9:30 a.m.