DECORAH — Winning close matches when they mattered most, the No. 18 Central College men's wrestling team took a 23-15 road victory at No. 19 Luther College Thursday night.

The Dutch (10-3 overall, 5-2 American Rivers Conference) won three of the first four matches against the Norse (12-6 overall, 4-3 conference), including a first-period fall by Pierre Baldwin (junior, Carol Stream, Ill., West Chicago HS) at 141 pounds and a 20-2 technical fall at 149 pounds by Cade Siebrecht (sophomore, Lisbon).

"For them to go back-to-back with a pin and technical fall, that's a difference maker," coach Landon Williams said. "I like the way they got to their offense and got their turns."

The first win of the night came at 133 pounds when Carter West (freshman, Burlington, Notre Dame HS) registered a 5-3 decision.

"Carter got to his offense right way," Williams said. "He wrestled a smart match against a dangerous opponent,"

At intermission, The Dutch lead 14-6 before rattling off three straight wins. Carson Martinson (sophomore, Altoona, Southeast Polk HS) got it started with an 11-4 decision at 165 pounds.

A reversal in the final 30 seconds by Jason Hermann (senior, Stockton, Ill.) gave the senior a 2-1 win at 174 pounds. Sam West (junior, Burlington, Notre Dame HS) had a takedown in the waning moments at 184 pounds to put the match out of reach with a 5-2 victory

"Winning the close matches is how you win big time duals," Williams said. "Good things will happen when you give it all you've got and wrestle for seven minutes."

The final dual of the season for the Dutch men is next Thursday at 7 p.m.in P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium against Simpson College.

"I'm glad we wrestle again next week because we can learn from what we saw here tonight and have a great match leading into the regional tournament at the end of February," "Every dual meet in our conference is important and Simpson is the next one."