DECORAH — A senior-heavy lineup from Luther College was too much for the youthful Central College wrestling team to overcome as the Dutch fell 33-7.
In the matchup of ranked Iowa Conference teams, The No. 11 Norse used their senior experience to defeat the No. 23 Dutch.
"Luther is a good team and we give them a lot of credit," coach Eric Van Kley said. "They're a senior heavy team and have been strong throughout the year."
Central started with a flurry at 125 pounds, courtesy of A.J. Pestano's (senior, Torrance, Calif.) 12-4 major decision over Connor Murphy. Pestano is 9-0 on the season.
"A.J. Pestano is a stud," Van Kley said. "He's battled some injuries the last couple of months. He's still not 100% healthy but he knew we needed him these last couple of weeks. He shows a lot of guts and he did it again tonight.
The Norse (12-5, 5-1 IIAC) rattled off six straight victories before Zach Moss (junior, Winterset)stemmed the tide at 174 pounds with his 7-5 decision over Javier Reyes. Moss (8-7) is returning to form after early season struggles.
"Zach is peaking right now." Van Kley said. "He wrestles well at the end of the year and in the biggest matches. He's put in a great month of training and he really showed that in how he wrestled tonight. The score was not indicative in how much he dominated the match."
Up next on the docket for the Dutch is the Jim Fox Invitational on Saturday at the University of Dubuque.
"We just need more mat time," Van Kley said. "The mat time, especially with our young guys, is an opportunity to see what we're doing right and also what we need to improve on."
