Athletics > Wrestling > Season Outlook

2009-10 preseason information

Reid Imerman

All-time NCAA Division III top-10 team finishes: 7
Individual national champions: 4
All-Americans: 42
2008-09 letterwinners lost: 7
2008-09 letterwinners returning: 11

2009-10 season outlook
The calculated transformation of the Central College wrestling program devised by coach Eric Van Kley should become more visible in 2009-10.

Close observers saw signs of a resurgency in the program already last year, but it wasn’t often evident on the scoreboard. That should begin to change as Van Kley, who built an NAIA contender from scratch at the Univ. of Great Falls (Mont.), enters his third season with the Dutch.

Van Kley inherited a squad with as many as five open weight classes and endured a 0-15-1 debut season. The Dutch made it to 3-12 last year and envision moving closer to .500 in the 2009-10 campaign which opened with the Knox Invitational in Galesburg, Ill. Nov. 14.

“We should be a lot more competitive if for no other reason than we can fill all the weights now,” Van Kley said. “We’ve got some decent guys at every weight, which will make us more competitive in duals and tournaments. The flip side is, it’s very hard for a team as young as we have to compete in the Iowa Conference. But that experience will eventually pay dividends.”

Another deep and talented recruiting class has brought 16 newcomers to the Dutch practice room, joining 11 returning letterwinners for Central’s largest squad in six years. Thirteen of the newcomers were high school state tourney qualifiers, with six state placewinners and two state champions. Van Kley is already seeing big improvement.

“That’s a direct credit to the kids,” he said. “Through their work in the strength and conditioning program, we’ve made huge strides forward. It’s certainly been a few years since we’ve had depth like this in the room. These are names and faces we’ll be seeing for the next three or four years. That’s exciting to see.”

125-133
Improvement will be most obvious at 125 pounds as the Dutch were open at the weight in 2008-09. Junior college transfer Justin Marx of Dike should provide immediate help.

“We’re extremely excited about having him here,” Van Kley said. “He brings a level of maturity that we were lacking and has a great work ethic. It will be nice to have a veteran at that weight instead of always starting the night with a freshman.”

But Van Kley is high on rookie Jacob Eisheid of Waukee as well as freshman 133-pounder Chris Kilgannon of Huntersville, N.C., a North Carolina state high school finalist. Marx and Eisheid will also see action at 133 pounds.

“All three of them are working hard this fall and should get some time on the mat,” he said. “We’ll probably alternate a lot.”

141
Junior Curtis Hobbs is a two-time letterwinner at 141 pounds but moves up to 149 this year. That leaves 141 to be contested between sophomore letterwinner Eric Wilkerson, who was 4-15 primarily at 133 pounds last season after starting the year at 125, and sophomore transfer Josh Atwell. Van Kley said Atwell, a former high school state placewinner, is an intriguing prospect. He’s back in school at age 27, several years after first enrolling at Iowa Central.

“It will be a competitive weight,” Van Kley said. “I feel good about what Eric and Josh bring to the table.”

149
Hobbs, slowed again by injury in the preseason, joins a crowded picture at 149. Senior Nick Johnson, a three-time letterwinner, was 4-13 last year at 149 while sophomore Zach Beekman was 9-16. Also competing are freshmen Jake Schubert of Shenandoah and Joseph Atwell of Jamaica, a graduate of Panorama High School. Both were state qualifiers and Atwell was a placewinner.

Hobbs was 15-17 at 141, placing at four tournaments and securing a seventh-place finish at the conference meet.

“Curtis (Hobbs) has had two very successful seasons cut short by injury,” Van Kley said. “But he’s shown he can win big matches.

Beekman received the team Coaches’ Award last season.
“Zach (Beekman) has an outstanding work ethic,” Van Kley said. “By the end of the year, he was very competitive with Curtis and got some valuable varsity time.

“I’ve also been very pleased with Nick (Johnson) and Jake (Schubert) this fall. They’ve shown great work ethics.

“And Joseph was a high school state finalist who is still growing. He’s a tall, lanky wrestler who is going to help us.”

157
The 157-pound class is a bit less congested. Sophomore Jared Hermann returns after a 4-13 baptismal season and will compete against freshman Palmer Scott of Hudson.

“Jared (Hermann) is a guy we think has a lot of talent upside,” Van Kley said. “He got a late start last year because he was playing football and needed some extra mat time. This year his focus is on wrestling and I think that will really benefit him.”

165-174
Two of last year’s top freshmen will likely be part of a rotation at 165 pounds. Sophomore Reid Imerman was 15-14 at 157 pounds and received the team’s Lawrence Award for outstanding work ethic and the team’s Academic Award. Sophomore Tommy Van Renterghem was the team’s Most Valuable Freshman Award winner and its winningest wrestler, posting a 20-13 mark at 165 pounds. He finished sixth at the conference tournament and was fourth at the Central invitational.

They could also be used at 174 pounds, where they’ll join sophomore Ivan Gaeta, who is coming off a 5-14 campaign at 165 pounds.
               
“Tommy (Van Renterghem) had a great off-season and will benefit from his experience in the conference tournament,” Van Kley said. “And Reid and Ivan are two of our best workers.
“At different times, we’ll rely on all three of them. They’ve really emerged as three of our leaders.”

184
Sophomore Bobby Vineis and freshman AJ Crone of Burlington, a state high school qualifier, will duel at 184 pounds. Vineis was 4-14 but finished first at 174 pounds at the conference junior varsity tournament.

“They’ll both compete,” Van Kley said. “They have very different styles. Bobby is really muscular and stocky while AJ is taller and will still fill out as he grows. They’ll push each other and make each other better.”

197
There are four options at 197 pounds and they’re all freshmen. Brian Johnson of Altoona will report late because of football. He’ll join Adam Leuer of Emmetsburg, Theron Stewart of Marshalltown and Treaver Willis of Muscatine. Each was a state high school qualifier.

“On any given day, any one of them could be first and another fourth and a day later it could be the opposite,” Van Kley said. “They’re all strong, aggressive guys who bring some athletic ability, which will help them develop.”

285
Central’s most abundant weight class is 285 and it could also be the best. Junior Ted Dirkx is a two-time letterwinner. He was 11-16 last year, placing eighth at the league tournament. He’ll report late because of football. Also back is sophomore Nathan Rouse, who was 4-5 last year. But three newcomers will give an immediate boost to the team’s talent level. Freshman Jake Crawford of Altoona is a former high school state finalist and will have an early advantage. Then joining the team late because of football are two state champs. Brandon Burrell was a Class 3A winner for Washington High School in Cedar Rapids while Holden Blythe, who didn’t compete last year, is joining the squad after capturing the 215-pound state crown two years ago at Williamsburg.

“Brandon is a very athletic big guy who’s still improving and relatively new to the sport,” Van Kley said.  “He possesses a great work ethic and attitude.

“Holden is extremely competitive and that shows on the mat and on the football field. He’s a very exciting big man to watch wrestle.”

The 285-pounders are exactly what Van Kley is looking for as the program makes its steady push toward the top.

“This is a model of what we want to see in our room at every weight,” Van Kley said. “We’ve got five quality guys there. It’s by far our deepest weight. We’re excited about getting them in the room. Having quality workout partners will make them better.

“Whomever we put out there in a red singlet, we expect big things from because the four guys behind him can do it also.”

Van Kley emphasized that despite the high numbers, each of the five will see action.

“They’re all going to be wrestling,” he said. “In order to get better, we need to get them matches and we will. It should be an exciting year.”

The Iowa Conference and beyond
The Iowa Conference remains Division III wrestling’s best. So strong, in fact, that a significantly improved Central squad could still end up in ninth place at the league tourney.

“The Iowa Conference is as good as it’s ever been,” Van Kley said. “The league could easily have five or six teams in the top 15-20 in the nation. We’re going to improve, but I’m not sure where that will put us in the conference.”

Consequently, Van Kley has scheduled some out-of-state competition to better gauge his team’s progress. The Dutch are at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) tourney Dec. 5, wrestle twice in Minnesota and have a Christmas break trip to Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“That trip should be fun for both our kids and our fans,” Van Kley said. “When we wrestle outside the state of Iowa, we’ll be very competitive with teams,”

Central hasn’t advanced an individual to the NCAA Division III tournament since 2004, a drought the Dutch are eager to end.

“One of our goals we have this year is to be wrestling in March,” Van Kley said. “We don’t look at this as an individual goal but a team goal. We know it’s not going to be easy, but we think it’s an achievable thing.”

While getting beyond the conference tournament is daunting, Van Kley insists there’s an upside to competing against the nation’s titans on a weekly basis.

“That’s going to be a very positive thing,” he said. “If we can get through the conference, we’ve got as good of a chance as anybody.”