RAPID CITY – The Aberdeen Central girls’ wrestling squad had seven place winners, including a second-place finish, on the way to taking third as a team during the Rapid City Invitational wrestling tournament on Saturday.
Katrina Gibson led the Golden Eagles with a runner-up finish at 152 pounds. Madysen Gillen was third at 114.
“We went into today with seven and all five won their wrestlebacks and they all got into the placing round,” said Central girls’ coach Jake Flakus. “A couple of them lost some matches that we thought we had a good chance. But if they did that, they were still wrestling hard. Even if they lost, they went out hard and got the next one.”
A case in point was Lilly Nelson, who fought her way to a fourth place finish at 165. She was able to get out of trouble on numerous occasions, according to Flakus.
“She had a really good tournament, probably one of the best and kind of most unexpected one. She just finds ways to win matches,” Flakus said. “She’ll get taken down, put on her back, and she just keeps wrestling, tires girls out, and then when they make a mistake, she’s there to capitalize on it. I think three times she was losing or on her back, and she ended up turning the tide and getting a pin and winning. That was really awesome to see.”
Jasmine Maas finished sixth, Avery Bendewald seventh, and Ula Martin and Lin Paw Jone each took eighth.
The Golden Eagles were able to score bonus points, which assisted with their team total.
“They were getting a lot of pins, which helped us get that third-place finish,” Flakus said. “If you get a lot of pins in a tournament, that really adds up throughout the course of a tournament. Most of the time when they were winning, they were pinning.”
As a result, the Eagles were able gain some confidence, finishing just two spots behind powerhouse Pierre in the final team points.
“I think it was a really good confidence boost to just see that we can hang in there and we can compete with a team like Pierre,” Flakus said.
The Eagles host Pierre in a dual on Tuesday at Golden Eagles Arena. First varsity match is set for 6 p.m.
“They’re going to come and they’re going to bring it,” Flakus said. “They’ve got a lot of good girls.”
107: Avery Bendewald
Cons. Round 4 – Avery Bendewald (Aberdeen Central) over Savannah Rondell (Douglas/Rapid City Christian/New Underwood) (Fall 4:05)
Cons. Round 5 – Mataya Jacobs (Rapid City Central) over Avery Bendewald (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 3:56)
7th Place Match – Avery Bendewald (Aberdeen Central) over Allie Walker (Thunder Basin High School) (Fall 1:25). SEVENTH PLACE.
114: Madyson Gillen
Semifinals – Hadley Bryant (Harrisburg) over Madyson Gillen (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 0:56)
Cons. Semis – Madyson Gillen (Aberdeen Central) over Darla Barnes (Lemmon/McIntosh) (Fall 0:32)
3rd Place Match – Madyson Gillen (Aberdeen Central) over Madelynn Schlup (Spearfish) (Fall 1:31). THIRD PLACE.
120: Ula Martin
Cons. Round 4 – Ula Martin (Aberdeen Central) over Aspen Henry (Thunder Basin High School) (Fall 2:16)
Cons. Round 5 – Kassidi Monroe (Bismarck) over Ula Martin (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 3:49)
7th Place Match – Adali Simmons (Killdeer) over Ula Martin (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 4:09). EIGHTH PLACE.
132: Jasmine Maas
Cons. Round 4 – Jasmine Maas (Aberdeen Central) over Victoria Verhey (St. Thomas More) (Fall 2:33)
Cons. Round 5 – Jasmine Maas (Aberdeen Central) over Rivers Carrell (Worland) (Fall 3:46)
Cons. Semis – Reese Olson (Beresford/Alcester-Hudson) over Jasmine Maas (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 0:39)
5th Place Match – Carlee Roth (Thunder Basin High School) over Jasmine Maas (Aberdeen Central) (MD 12-4). SIXTH PLACE.
145: Lin Paw Jone
Cons. Round 4 – Lin Paw Jone (Aberdeen Central) over Kayeleigh Bowden (Huron) (Fall 1:41)
Cons. Round 5 – Aubrie Overson (Bismarck) over Lin Paw Jone (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 0:47)
7th Place Match – Jamia Cunningham (Dickinson) over Lin Paw Jone (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 2:12). EIGHTH PLACE.
152: Katrina Gibson
Semifinals – Katrina Gibson (Aberdeen Central) over April Peterson (Watertown) (SV-1 5-3)
1st Place Match – Abbigail Lewis (Pierre T.F. Riggs) over Katrina Gibson (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 1:33). SECOND PLACE.
165: Lilly Nelson
Cons. Round 4 – Lilly Nelson (Aberdeen Central) over Jayce Turbiville (Harding County) (Fall 2:33)
Cons. Round 5 – Lilly Nelson (Aberdeen Central) over Victoria Novotny (Mandan) (Fall 2:21)
Cons. Semis – Lilly Nelson (Aberdeen Central) over Lainy Jochim (Mandan) (Fall 4:23)
3rd Place Match – Rhiannen Heimdal (Harrisburg) over Lilly Nelson (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 1:56). FOURTH PLACE.
