PELLA —Tanner Zimmerman (freshman, Indianola) took fifth place at 184 pounds to pace the small contingent of members on the Central College Wrestling team competing at Saturday's Duhawk Open.

No team scores were kept at the tournament and most of Central's varsity dual lineup did not compete.

"Overall, I'm really pleased with our energy and hustle today," coach Eric Van Kley said. "We wrestled mostly with our younger guys and they really battled against a challenging field. The University of Wisconsin-Madison, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa all had starters present today in addition to a talented crop of Division II and Division III wrestlers."

Zimmerman won by fall in the first period twice in the early rounds before winning the fifth-place match by medical forfeit.
Van Kley also cited 157-pounder Collin Groleau (freshman, Peru, Ill./La Salle-Peru Township HS) and 149-pounder Jordan Challen (sophomore, Jefferson, Greene County HS) who finished just off the podium with three wins apiece.

"Great performance by all three of those guys," Van Kley said. "They all battled and got to their offense."

The final home dual of the season is next Thursday against Luther College in a 6 p.m. start. Central will also host Pella High School and Oskaloosa High School as the two local programs battle at 8 p.m. inside P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium.

"We've got a very big week ahead of us with Luther coming on Thursday," Van Kley said. "It should be a fun night getting to host Pella and Oskaloosa high schools as well."