Belzer Leads Central Women at Wrestling Regional

A pair of victories Friday from Esther Belzer allowed the Central College women’s wrestler to advance to the second day of the NCAA Women’s Wrestling Region V Championships. Central is in 14th place of the team standings with 6 points. The University of Iowa leads the way with 85 points.

Belzer won her opening match at 138 pounds against Julia Chambers of Quincy University (Ill.) in a 9-7 decision. After losing by technical fall against the No. 2 seed from Augustana (Ill.), she bounced back by pinning her opponent of Carthage College (Wis.) at the 2:04 mark. She’ll wrestle in Consolation Round Three today against Savannah Freifeld of Buena Vista University. Dakota Cornell gave Central another individual win after pinning her opponent of Carthage College (Wis.) in 31 seconds during the first round of consolations at 160 pounds. Her victory was sandwiched around a pair of losses.

Four other Central wrestlers competed in their first NCAA regional action: Julia Kanne, Gracie Pattison, Cameron Halbur, and Laura Totty all went 0-2 against a talented field of wrestlers from NCAA Divisions I, II and III.

Dutch Baseball Offense Gets Hot in Texas

Making the trip to Abilene, Texas for a three-game series against Hardin-Simmons over the weekend, the Central College baseball team opened with a 10-9 victory in the first game Friday night.

Central’s offense was a force to be reckoned with, putting up 12 hits and 10 runs in the game, two of which came in the top of the ninth to give them a one run lead that ultimately led to the victory. Dom DeLaPaz had a big game at the plate, going 4-5 with two home runs, two doubles, and five RBIs. DeLaPaz also delivered the game-winning two-RBI double in the top of the ninth, scoring Max Steinlage and Brayden Sawyer.

Mark Kenney got the start on the bump for the Dutch and went 5.2 innings while allowing five earned runs. Turner Williams then entered the game in relief, earning the win with 2.1 innings, while recording four earned runs and four strikeouts. Caleb Stewart came in for the bottom of the ninth to secure the save.

The Dutch will look to carry their momentum into today’s doubleheader against the Cowboys, with game one set to start at noon.