Reid Imeran Jan. 17, 2009

Two place for Central in own tourney

PELLA—Ben Davis (freshman, Clay Center, Kan.) and Tommy Van Renterghem (freshman, Oskaloosa) each captured fourth-place finishes for Central College in Saturday’s Central Invitational wrestling tournament.

No team scores were kept in the tourney which attracted 16 schools from five states.

Van Renterghem and Davis each posted 4-2 marks at 165 and 184 pounds, respectively.

“Both Tommy and Ben are turning the corner as college wrestlers,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “Their mental toughness gets better every week. They’re learning how to win the hard-fought matches. That’s true not only for them, but for the entire team. I thought we made real good strides with that today.”

The young Dutch also got two wins each from Zach Beekman (freshman, Pocahontas) at 149 pounds, Reid Imerman (freshman, Guthrie Center) at 157 pounds and Ivan Gaeta (freshman, Bremerton, Wash., Olympic HS).

“Our main goal this year was to learn how to compete,” Van Kley said. “One of the things I’m proudest of is that Nick Johnsonwe competed not only in the matches we won but in the matches we were losing, even though we came up short. The guys are growing as a team and the hard work is starting to pay off.”

The Dutch are on the road for dual meet action the remainder of the regular season. Central travels to Northfield, Minn. to take on St. Olaf College (Minn.) Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Oles were 35-9 winners in a dual at Central last year. St. Olaf is 0-5 this season.