Depth runs deep on this year’s Aberdeen Central boys’ wrestling team.

The Golden Eagles not only return seven state qualifiers from a year ago, it has individuals waiting in the wings.

“We also had state qualifiers from the year prior that were on our bench last year,” said Central coach Donnie Bowden. “We have a lot of depth. We have a lot of good kids. We have a lot of roster battles that are going to happen next week for wrestle-offs.”

The squad is led by senior Rayden Zens and junior Mason Schrempp. Both are three-time state place winners and help to set the tone for the Golden Eagles.

“They’re mainstays,” Bowden said. “Statistically, awards-wise, accomplishments, they’re the guys.”

The duo will have plenty of support as the Golden Eagles will feature experienced wrestlers up and down their lineup. There will be plenty of strength in the upperweights.

Senior Bryce Beitelspacher will man the heavyweight position, and seniors Samson Flakus and Ayden Gisi will by vying for the 220-pound spot. Freshman Cole Dunlavy will be at 190. Tate Huff will be a key member in the 130s, and eighth-grader Porter Lozenski is coming off a standout season as a seventh-grader.

Central will not only be able to fill every weight class, but have depth at most.

“We’re going to have a good number two and sometimes a number three at most weights,” Bowden said.

Put it all together and it’s easy to see why expectation are high surrounding the squad this season.

“We’re going to be very competitive,” Bowden said. “We’re just looking to build on what we did last year and just keep going from there.”

What the Golden Eagles did last year was finish sixth in the dual tournament and ninth in the Class A State tournament, a finish that was a bit disappointing to Bowden.

“That was not our best showing,” Bowden said, noting that multiple wrestlers fell just short of placing at the state tourney.

Bowden is hoping that the team can make a deeper run in both the individual and dual tournaments this season. He said a big key is staying healthy. That’s where having quality depth could come in handy.

“The thing is just being healthy when you get to February. We go through quite a grinder of a season,” Bowden said. “We go find good competition, not only in our state, but the tri-state area. We wrestle everybody. That’s the thing, we’re battle-tested by the time we get there, so if we can stay healthy, it’s great, but we have a lot of depth to where we can just plug the next guy in and have some success.”

The Eagles start their season on Saturday, Dec. 2 at a dual tournament in Watertown. Central has three home duals this season (Dec. 12 against Pierre, Dec. 19 against Huron, and Feb. 2 against Brookings) as well as hosting the annual Lee Wolf Tournament on Jan. 27.

Bowden and the Eagles are ready to hit the mats and get going.

“It’s going to be a group effort. We’re excited. We’re ready to get going. I think we’ve picked up from where we left off. I don’t think we’ve taken a step back,” Bowden said. “The biggest thing is just getting the weights figured out here next week at wrestle-offs and we’ll understand who our starters are, and we’ll just build on that as we go.”