Wrestlers fall to Central in IIAC Dual Finals

PELLA, Iowa – The Simpson wrestling team scored three major decisions but fell to Central, 36-12 in the Iowa Conference Dual Finals on Friday night.

Taylor Witzel, Jacob Mize and Brett Roberts all earned wins for the Storm (3-14, 0-7 Iowa Conference), who finished eighth place in the standings with the result.

The Dutch (7-10, 1-6) got four pins to take seventh in the standings.

Simpson got out to a strong start in the dual as Witzel scored a 15-4 major decision over David Demmer at 184. That turned out to be Simpson's last win until 165, when Mize blanked Zach Moss 8-0. Roberts closed the night by beating Sam Apland 11-3 at 174.

Tyler Lowy (197), AJ Pestano (133), TJ Peretti (149) and Ryan Vandall (157) all won by fall for Central.

Colby Vlieger nearly had Simpson's fourth win of the night, but the 285-pounder was taken down near the end of the third period, losing 3-2 to Edwin Etienne.

Simpson returns to action next Saturday, March 1 when it travels to Dubuque for the NCAA Regional Championships. The regional competition serves as a national qualifier with the top three finishers at each weight punching his ticket to nationals.