Simpson College and Central College to Host Iowa Conference Duals

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Jaimie McNab (USA Wrestling)
01/25/2002


 The Iowa Conference, a powerhouse in Div. III wrestling, will compete this Saturday, Jan. 26, in their annual conference duals at Simpson College Cowles Fieldhouse in Indianola, Iowa and Central College Kuyper Fieldhouse in Pella, Iowa.        The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference splits the annual duals between two sites.  This year Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa will host half of the conference and Central College of Pella, Iowa will play host to the other half.        Central will host two teams that ranked in the most recent adidas/BRUTE Division III Top 30 Coaches poll. The teams attending will be second-ranked Wartburg College, sixth-ranked Upper Iowa University, Central College, Cornell College and the University of Dubuque.       This half of the duals will feature some key match-ups between top ranked wrestlers and teams. For example, Wartburg will try to keep their 62-dual Iowa Conference winning streak alive. Both Wartburg and Upper Iowa have tough line-ups going into this weekend.      Upper Iowa will feature two first-ranked seeds in the tournament. They include Jesus Wilson (Cuba/Upper Iowa) and Jorge Borgen (Miami, Fla./Upper Iowa). Wilson, an international competitor, captured sixth place at the 1993 World Championships as a former member of the Cuban team. He will face third-ranked Will Kelly (Dubuque, Iowa/Wartburg), who is 7-4 in competition this year, at 141 lbs. Borgen is expected to compete at 165 lbs.      Other key matches for Wartburg and Upper Iowa include pitting second-ranked Alain Djoumessi (Cameroon, Africa/Wartburg) against third-ranked Cliff Thompson (Randleman, N.C./Upper Iowa) at 197 lbs. Djoumessi, who was a transfer from Idaho Community College, has turned out be a great asset to the team. In the 133-pound division, third-ranked Joe Havig (Osage, Iowa/Wartburg) will face off with fifth-ranked Ralph Acosta (Orlando, Fla./Upper Iowa). Havig has an 11-8 record after dropping some tough matches to top-ranked Augsburg.  Rounding out the battles for these schools will be fifth-ranked Sonny Alvarez (Aledo, Ill./Wartburg) grappling with seventh-ranked Brent Myers (Postville, Iowa/Upper Iowa) at 184 lbs.       Other featured wrestlers for Wartburg are all ranked fourth in their respective weight classes. Tony Ganas (Des Plaines, Ill./Wartburg) at 149 lbs., Kevin Bratland (Dakota City, Iowa/Wartburg) at 157 lbs. and LeRoy Gardner (Golden Valley, Minn./Wartburg) at 285 lbs. Bratland has won 16 matches in a row including eight major decisions, two pins, and a technical fall going into this weekend's duals.      Simpson will be hosting the other five teams, all ranked in the most recent adidas/BRUTE Division III Top 30 Coaches poll. The teams include seventh-ranked Buena Vista University, eighth-ranked Loras College, tenth-ranked Luther College, sixteenth-ranked Coe College and ninetenth-ranked Simpson College. There will be a steller field of individuals and teams fighting it out on this side of the duals.       There will be some key match-ups between Buena Vista, Coe and Luther. This includes a match at 157 lbs. with fifth-ranked Jessie Reyerson (Glennville, Minn./Luther) batteling against sixth-ranked Aaron Lowens (Papillion, Neb./Buena Vista). Also, at 141 lbs. sixth-ranked Tony Sweating (Riverside, Iowa/Coe) will be pitted against seventh-ranked Tyler Wood (Chariton, Iowa/Buena Vista). At 285 lbs., seventh-ranked Dax Doran (Harlan, Iowa/Buena Vista) will try to fend off eighth-ranked Drew Duff (Winterset, Iowa/Coe).      Other nationally ranked participants include top-ranked Garrett Kurth (Waukon, Iowa/Luther), who is the defending Div. III national champion with a record of 19-5, competing at 149 lbs. Third-ranked Jamie Taxted (Duncombe, Iowa/Buena Vista) is listed at 125 lbs. Taxted posts a 9-2 record in competition and has won five matches by a major decision. Sixth-ranked Paul Cleary (El Paso, Ill./Loras) is projected at 184 lbs., and rounding out the field, seventh-ranked Richard Schroeder (LeMars, Iowa/Loras) will compete at 165 lbs.       This season is the first time Simpson is starting six freshmen. One of those talented stars includes Clint Manny (Peru, Iowa/Simpson) at 149 lbs. Manny currently leads Simpson with 26 wins and is currently tied for fifth place on the list for most wins in the latest NCAA Div. III Wrestling Coaches Assoc. Statistics Report.        With the teams in this side of the bracket all ranked in the top thirty nationally, there are sure to be many good matches with many great wrestlers. This level of team and individual talent is an excellent indicator that this years Iowa Conference Duals will prove to be one of the toughest ever.