DECORAH — The daunting American Rivers Conference slate continued Thursday for the Central College wrestling team with a 27-10 loss against No. 9 Luther College.

Luther (13-5, 4-3 American Rivers Conference) is the third ranked team Central (5-5, 3-4 conference) has wrestled in its last four duals.

"This is a great conference and you've got to show up ready to go every night," coach Eric Van Kley said. "There were just too many spots where we didn't win the tough positions. Give Luther credit, they are a really good team."

Gage Linahon (junior, 197 pounds, Newton) gave Central four points near the end of the match with a 16-5 major decision.

"He does so many things right," Van Kley said. "We know that he's going to give us best effort every time and he did it again tonight."

Putting Central on the board in the third bout, Pierre Baldwin (freshman, 141 pounds, Carol Stream, Ill., West Chicago HS) scored a 9-2 decision.

"He has a tremendous work ethic and has grown as a wrestler throughout the season," Van Kley said. "He really got to his offense tonight."

Austin Roos (sophomore, 174 pounds, Atkins, Benton HS) picked up his third American Rivers Conference dual win of the season with an 8-3 decision.

"He's very coachable," Van Kley said. "He's committed to improving and getting better. I was excited to see him have some success."
           
Central hosts William Penn University on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Dutch also host Simpson College on Thursday night for a dual and the Central Last Chance Invitational Friday.

"We've got to bounce back quickly," Van Kley said. "We're excited to get back to the drawing board and keep working hard at improving."