PELLA — With a month-long layover on the horizon, the Central College wrestling team blew past their opponents from Nebraska Wesleyan University Thursday night 42-3.

The triumph gave Central (2-1, 1-1 conference) its first win of the Iowa Conference season.

Juniors Lane Rumelhart (174 pounds, Guthrie Center) and Tristan Clark (141 pounds, Monroe, PCM HS) each secured first-period falls.

"Both of those guys stepped up in a big way today," coach Eric Van Kley said. "They were aggressive and got us bonus points. It's great when guys are given an opportunity and they shine."

Daniel Radcliffe (sophomore, Lockport, Ill., Lockport Township HS) also had a first period fall at 141 pounds while Cam Timok (junior, Glen Allen, Va., Hermitage HS) pinned his opponent just 46 seconds into the second period.

For all of the dominant victories, the Dutch also battled for tight wins. Coming from behind late in the match, 184-pounder Wayne Sommerlot (freshman Duncan Lee (sophomore, Newton), Pocahontas, Pocahontas Area HS) and 197-pounder picked up one-point victories at 3-2 and 6-5, respectively.

"There were some matches when we were pretty dominant tonight," Van Kley said. "I thought Wayne and Duncan coming back was really big. We showed some grit and toughness in some spots."

The next competition for Central will not take place until it hosts the Central Under Armour Invitational on January 6 in H.S. Kuyper Fieldhouse. The season's halfway point has Van Kley optimistic for the spring semester.

"I view our team as a team that's improving and trying to get better every week, which is kind of the theme of our season," he said. "We're a team with a lot of new faces and we need to keep improving each week. I think thus far we've done that.

"Now we've got to reload and do well on finals. Then we'll build for a big second half of the season"