Dutch men finish strong at national wrestling duals
Central takes 18th in program's first appearance
Cedar Falls, IA (01/13/2025) — In its first appearance at the NWCA National Duals, the Central College men's wrestling team finished in 18th place after splitting another pair of matches Saturday.
Central (6-3) started the day with a 24-13 victory against the University of Dubuque (5-3). Cornell College (12-5) defeated the Dutch 19-18 in the final match of the weekend.
"It was a good day two performance," coach Landon Williams said. "We like the matchups we had against both of those programs. Our point scoring was good, but we need to finish matches. Wrestling hard for seven minutes is how you win in toss-up matches."
Three Dutch wrestlers completed the weekend 4-0 with two more wins Saturday. Carter Martinson (sophomore, 165 pounds, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) picked up major decision wins in both matches to spearhead the Central lineup.
Also finishing the weekend unblemished, Pierre Baldwin (junior, 141 pounds, Carol Stream, Ill., West Chicago HS) won a 4-1 decision against Dubuque and recorded a technical fall against Cornell. Carson Martinson (sophomore, 165 pounds, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) was also victorious by decision twice.
"Those are guys we lean on to set the tone," Williams said. "They are getting to their attacks and making guys open up and wrestle them."
In his only match of the day, Kyler Hall (sophomore, Boone, Ames HS) ended the weekend with a pin in the 285-pound bout against Cornell. Sam West (junior, Burlington, Notre Dame HS) also won by fall at 184 pounds against Dubuque
"Kyler capitalized on what we've been talking about," Williams said. "We've challenged him to utilize what he's good at and he's becoming the wrestler we want him to be."
A tough stretch of matches continues for the Dutch as they host #13 Loras College in an American Rivers Conference dual on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. inside P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium.