Reid Imerman Dec. 31, 2008

Central flies to California tourney

 PELLA—Escaping a monotonous week of winter break training on campus, the Central College wrestling team travels to California for the Menlo (Calif.) Invitational.    

The 14-team tourney starts at 11 a.m. (Iowa time) Sunday in Atherton, Calif. The Dutch depart Thursday morning and return Wednesday.

The field features a cross section of NCAA Division I, II and III schools along with NAIA and junior college opposition and isn’t necessarily a break from the competition level the Dutch encounter in the powerful Iowa Conference. Host Menlo College, which competes in the NCAA Division III in some sports, is ranked No. 8 in the NAIA national poll. Also in the field

are No. 11 Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), No. 17 Simon Fraser (B.C.), Division I Stanford, UC Davis and Cal State-Bakersfield, as well as Douglas (B.C.), Southern Oregon, San Francisco State, St. Cloud State (Minn.), San Jose State and Fresno Pacific (Calif.).

Coach Eric Van Kley took his Great Falls (Mont.) squad to the Menlo tourney during the 2005-06 season.

“The thing I really like is going against teams we haven’t seen all year and probably won’t see again,” he said. “So our guys just need to focus on wrestling each match.

“At the same time, it’s very good competition. We’ll find out what we’re doing well coming out of the break and what we need to improve on.”

It’s the first visit ever to Menlo by a Dutch athletics team. Central’s only head-to-head meeting with the Oaks came in the first round of the NCAA Division III football playoffs in Pella in 1987.

The Dutch will remain in the Bay area for a few days of sightseeing as well as some intense training.

“We want to get a lot of good training at this time of year but you don’t want the kids getting stagnant,” Van Kley said. “This helps avoid that. It’s a new adventure for them.”

Central hasn’t competed since the taking fifth in the 12-team Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) Invitational Dec. 6. But Van Kley likes the strides made by Central’s freshman-dominated lineup.

“I think we’re right on track,” he said. “As young as we are, you really want to balance keeping the expectation level high but still being patient. We’ve made a lot of progress. There’s definitely a big learning curve but I’m pleased with the work ethic they’ve shown.”

Central’s most successful wrestler in the early going, 141-pounder Curtis Hobbs (sophomore, Grinnell), is the only one listed as questionable for Sunday’s tournament. He’s 10-5 but was injured at the Milwaukee tourney.

Two other Dutch wrestlers sport winning marks. Tommy Van Reterghem (freshman, Oskaloosa) is 5-4 at 165 pounds and Kyle Ray (sophomore, Greenfield,  Nodaway Valley HS) is 8-7 at 174. Among those at the .500 mark are Reid Imerman (freshman, Guthrie Center), who is 6-6 at 157 pounds; Jared Hermann (Stockton, Ill.), 3-3 at 157; and Ted Dirkx (sophomore, Alleman, North Polk HS), 3-3 at 285.

Complete records and individual statistics are on the Central athletics Web site at

http://www.central.edu/athletics/wrestling/statistics/teamstat.htm

 After returning to Iowa next week, the Dutch are back on the road Jan. 10 for the Knox College Duals at Galesburg, Ill.