Pierre found the bonus points that Aberdeen Central was looking for Thursday night.
The Governors had three pins, won major decisions, and pulled away for a 37-28 Eastern South Dakota Conference wrestling win at Golden Eagles Arena.
“Hats off to Pierre. They came in here and did what they needed to do. They were the aggressors,” said Central coach Donnie Bowden. “They were out there looking for points. They did everything we wanted to do. Even though that we had other guys in our lineup, that’s our philosophy, next guy up and tonight we weren’t the aggressors. We weren’t the guys out there pushing the pace.”
Not only did the visitors rack up points on the way to lopsided wins, they also won the tight matches as well to help fuel the dual victory.
“You have to win the swing matches. Your horses, they’re going to go out there and always going to get points,” Bowden said. “They’re going to find a way to win. It just depends on how many bonus points they can find, but those swing matches, that’s what it comes down to. You need everyone on your team to contribute if you’re going to win that dual.”
Central did have numerous solid performances throughout the evening.
Ridley Waldo set the tone in his match with an early takedown on the way to a 6-2 win at 144 pounds.
“That’s kind of what, like in my opinion, I think I’m best at, is getting the takedown, securing the two,” Waldo said. “I try to be the first one to shoot and I just kind of go from there.”
Waldo said being the first to score is important because it impacts the remainder of the match.
“I think it’s huge. That’s always my goal is to get the first takedown,” Waldo said. “I think that if I start out on top, my mentality is better for the rest of the match and it’s just easier to win.”
Waldo’s victory excited a vocal crowd watching Central’s home opener.
“It’s awesome. I love the crowd,” Waldo said. “It definitely helps us as wrestlers.”
Tate Huff collected a 14-9 victory at 132 pounds. While the top-rated wrestler in Class A walked off a winner, he was disappointed he didn’t do more.
“My game plan is usually to let him up, take him down, put as many points as I can on the board,” Huff said, “but I don’t think I really did that tonight. I think I could have put more points up.”
Huff is coming off a stellar performance at the six-state Rapid City Invitational where he took second place.
“I think that really shows my potential and what I can do,” Huff said, “and I think that really does boost my confidence a lot.”
Huff has a major goal for the upcoming season after finishing fifth at state last season.
“I want to win state. That’s my main goal,” Huff said. “Top three is nice, but I’m going for that top of the podium.”
Bowden pointed out a pair of other Central victories on the night. Grayden Timm was in total control of his opponent on the way to a 10-0 win at 150 pounds, and Ayden Gisi capped off the dual with a pin at 285 pounds.
“I think Grayden Timm stepped up and did a helluva job. He went out there and he found bonus points and he pushing the pace, and he did exactly what we need to do,” Bowden said. “Ayden Gisi went up to heavyweight and slapped it on him, and did exactly what we expected to do.”
Still, Bowden would like to see more points scored by his wrestlers in other matches across the board.
“If we want to be great that’s what we need to do is find some separation,” Bowden said, “and we need to close the gap in other places.”
Bowden knew that the Pierre dual would be a measuring stick for his squad.
“We mark this on the calendar, because it just tells us where we’re at team-wise,” Bowden said. “We’re going to have to go through them if we think we’re going to get anything done in the state dual tournament.”
The Eagles head to Valley City, N.D. for a tournament on Saturday.
106: Gable Uhrig (PTFR) over Esten Foss (ABCE) (Fall 5:47) 113: Walker West (PTFR) over Paxton Ewing (ABCE) (MD 15-7) 120: Alex Oedekoven (PTFR) over Will Allen (ABCE) (MD 10-1) 126: Rayden Zens (ABCE) over (PTFR) (For.);
132: Tate Huff (ABCE) over Lincoln Schoenhard (PTFR) (Dec 7-3) 138: Tristan Spencer (PTFR) over Porter Lozenski (ABCE) (MD 16-3) 144: Ridley Waldo (ABCE) over Rowdy Menning (PTFR) (Dec 6-2) 150: Grayden Timm (ABCE) over Max Hunsley (PTFR) (MD 10-0) 157: Jaxon Ducheneaux (PTFR) over Elias Biegler (ABCE) (Dec 6-2);
165: Lucas Chamberlin (PTFR) over Noah Kramer (ABCE) (MD 9-1) 175: Trey Lewis (PTFR) over Cordell Rychlik (ABCE) (Fall 1:41) 190: Chance Carda (PTFR) over Beau Price (ABCE) (Fall 1:23) 215: Cole Dunlavy (ABCE) over (PTFR) (For.) 285: Ayden Gisi (ABCE) over Emmit Andersen (PTFR) (Fall 2:54).
