CEDAR RAPIDS – After winning their semifinal match at the NCAA Division III Lower Midwest Regional, both Pierre Baldwin (sophomore, 141 pounds, Carol Stream, Ill., West Chicago HS) and Gage Linahon (senior, 197 pounds, Newton) will represent the Central College men’s wrestling team at the NCAA Division III Championships. In the team standings, the Dutch finished eighth with 92.5 points. Wartburg College was the team champion with 195.5 points
.
“I’ve never been prouder of a team,” coach Eric Van Kley said. “For everything they did today and everything they’ve done all year.” Baldwin avenged his only loss of the regular season against Dresden Grimm of Coe College in the semifinal. Baldwin took a 3-0 lead into the third period, in which he earned an escape within 10 seconds to go up 4-0. He recorded another takedown with 36 seconds left and turned Grimm for a fall at the 6:38 mark.
“That’s a huge win, especially beating the only person who beat him entering the tournament” Van Kley said. “He had an outstanding tournament and it’s a credit to his hard work and commitment.” In his semifinal, Linahon completed two of his three takedowns in the third period and had nearly two minutes of riding time for a 10-3 decision over Mathieu Arsenault of Coe College.
“The thing that gets missed on Gage is that he’s dominating guys he’s wrestled multiple times,” Van Kley said. “He’s the model of consistency for our program in everything he’s done.” Baldwin and Linahon would both suffer defeat in their title bouts to finish in second place. Sam West (sophomore, Burlington, Notre Dame HS) and Austin Roos (junior, Atkins, Benton HS) were each 1-2 on the day, finishing in sixth place at 184 and 174 pounds, respectively. West needed a takedown with three second left to beat Nicholas Brashear of Huntingdon College (Ala.) in his first consolation match. Roos also had a third period takedown in his win over Cornell College’s Brian Petry.
“That’s probably the best Austin has wrestled in his career,” Van Kley said. “Sam was a place winner in the first regional tournament of his career.” After losing their opening matches of the day, Brock Beck (senior, 133 pounds, Grinnell) and Cael Cox (junior, Ankeny) both ended their season with a win and a seventh-place finish. Beck was a 13-8 winner over Trevor Hedges of Eureka College (Ill.) and Cox took a medical forfeit against Michael Macias of Augustana College (Ill.)
“Brock was down 6-1 and grinded out a win in his last match,” Van Kley said. “He’s been battling through adversity and that was a good way for him to close out the season.” David Vukobratovich (sophomore, 125 pounds, Homer Glen, Ill., Lockport Township HS) lost both of his consolation matches and finished eighth. The NCAA Division III Championships are set for Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16 in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
