Nov. 15, 2006

Rocky debut for young Dutch squad

PELLA -Relying on a lineup with only one returnee from last year's squad, the young Central College wrestling team absorbed some hard lessons in its season opener Wednesday, falling to Morningside 49-0 and Truman State ( Mo. ) 38-9.  

The lone winners for the Dutch were Jess Welu (freshman, Dubuque , Hempstead HS) , the recipient of a forfeit at 184 pounds and Max Davis (freshman, Des Moines , Roosevelt HS) , who used a takedown in the final 20 seconds for a 5-4 decision at 197 pounds against Truman State .

Seven Central freshmen made their debut and two of the upperclassmen hadn't competed in two years. The Dutch hope to regain the services of senior 149-pounder Ryan De Vriendt ( Sherrard , Ill. ) next month following his recovery from injury.

"We've got so many freshmen who haven't had any upperclassmen to work out with and that showed," coach Eric Reed said. "It's a fairly raw group. But I thought for the most part they fought better in the second match than in the first one. We saw a few good things out of most of them. If we were still wrestling this way in two months, we'd have issues, but we'll get better. We've just got to keep progressing every week and keep working on the little things."

The Dutch pick up some more experience Saturday at the non-scored Augsburg ( Minn. ) Open. The Auggies are ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division III preseason poll. Wrestlers are split into pools, with most of the younger wrestlers in the same bracket.

"It's a good starting tournament for us," Reed said. "It will be good for our guys to get some matches against some other freshmen."