DUBUQUE —A historic trip to the NCAA Division III Region VI Championships finished Saturday with a trio of Central College men's wrestlers earning the right to compete at the national meet.
Central finished fourth as a team with 143 points. It's Central's first top four finish since 2019. For the first time in the regional era, dating back to 2013, Central had all 10 of its wrestlers finish in the top eight and earn a spot on the podium. The Dutch are also sending three to the NCAA Division III Championships for the first time since 2022. Wartburg was the regional champion with 210.5 points.
Cade Siebrecht (senior, Lisbon) took the most direct route to the national meet by winning the regional crown at 149 pounds. He beat the University of Dubuque's Ashton Hayhurst in the semifinals with a 4-1 decision after a late takedown. In the championship bout, he won in sudden victory 4-1 over Chase Fiser of Loras College.
Pierre Baldwin (senior, Chicago, Ill., West Chicago HS) started Saturday by suffering his second loss of the season, a 13-4 major decision against Coe College's Dresden Grimm. He rallied with consecutive technical falls to win the third-place match and secure a return trip to the NCAA meet.
At 197 pounds,
SamWest (senior, Burlington, Notre Dame HS) was edged by Wartburg College's Cal Dorota in a 4-2 decision in his semifinal match. He rallied to pin Kevin Shaw of Huntingdon College (Ala.) in the consolation semifinal and then punched his ticket with a 4-2 decision over Jackson Brinker of Cornell College.
Both
Carter West (sophomore, Burlington, Notre Dame HS) and
Christian Stanek (junior, Cedar Rapids, Xavier HS) were one match away from a spot at the national meet but were defeated in the third-place matches. West fell in an 18-5 major decision against Aiden Gruenenfelder (Loras) at 125 pounds while Stanek dropped a 2-1 nail-bitter in overtime to Dubuque's Colton Weiler at 157 pounds.
Abe Bushong (freshman, Pleasant Hill, Southeast Polk HS) was fifth at 174 pounds and
Jamal Neeway (freshman, Waukee) was sixth at 285 pounds.
CJ Davis (freshman, 133 pounds, West Burlington, Notre Dame HS), Shane Hanford (freshman, 165 pounds, Melbourne, West Marshall HS) and
Cole Martin (freshman, 184 pounds, Nevada, Ames HS) all finished seventh in their respective weight classes.
The NCAA Division III Championships will take place March 13 and 14 at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids.
