SIOUX FALLS – It was a solid start for the Aberdeen Central girls wrestling team on the opening day of the Class A State Individual Wrestling Tournament at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.
Central won six of its 10 opening round matches, which included a key win for Ula Martin in the 120-pound division in which she pinned Canton’s Jayrn Warejcka just less than a minute and a half into the match, while several other girls also won by pinning their opponents.
Overall, coach Jake Flakus was satisfied with how his team performed.
“We had a pretty decent opening round,” Flakus said. “Ula Martin had a good kind of an upset there, and then all of the other girls that won did their part by getting pins, so that first round was good.”
However, the quarterfinal round was not as kind to the Golden Eagles as only Katrina Gibson was able to wrestle her way to the semifinal round in the 165-pound weight class. Flakus described the round as a “struggle” for his team.
“We had some ups and downs, a couple of matches we were winning, but couldn’t quite hang on,” Flakus said.
Gibson completed the first two rounds by pinning both of her opponents, and Flakus said despite being ill, the senior performed to her ability.
“Her first match, she did what she needed to do. She did what she does best. She gets them down on the mat and she kept working until she got her pinned,” Flakus said. “And then in her quarterfinal, she just went out scoring points. I think she threw the girl like three times and was just always on the attack, always looking for points, and eventually when we got her to her back, we finished the match.”
Central is tied for fifth in team points following the opening day.
As Central enters day two of the tournament, Flakus says the team will need to battle back one match at a time and look to finish as high as possible.
“It’s easy to look up through the bracket when you just got to focus on the match in front of you,” Flakus said. “If everyone does their part, we should be sitting fine as a team.”
A quartet of area wrestlers also advanced to today’s semifinal round. That group includes Liza Krueger of Groton at 100 pounds, Sophie Knittel of Ipswich-Bowdle at 126, Brooke Grajcyzk of Webster at 138, and Reganne Miles of Doland at 152.
Aberdeen Central results
107: Madyson Gillen
Champ. Round 1 – Madyson Gillen (Aberdeen Central) over Essah Syverson (Custer) (Fall 0:16)
Quarterfinals – Akane Metcalfe (Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes) over Madyson Gillen (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 5:19)
114: Avery Bendewald
Champ. Round 1 – Hadley Bryant (Harrisburg) over Avery Bendewald (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 3:28)
120: Ula Martin
Champ. Round 1 – Ula Martin (Aberdeen Central) over Jayrn Warejcka (Canton) (Fall 1:28)
Quarterfinals – Danny Borja (Mitchell) over Ula Martin (Aberdeen Central) (MD 14-6)
126: Allison Neitzel
Champ. Round 1 – Sophia Knittel (Ipswich/Bowdle) over Allison Neitzel (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 2:36)
132: jasmine Maas
Champ. Round 1 – jasmine Maas (Aberdeen Central) over Brenna Reker (Brandon Valley) (Fall 3:59)
Quarterfinals – Kezrey Benning (Pierre T.F. Riggs) over jasmine Maas (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 5:58)
138: Rakyrah Wallace
Champ. Round 1 – Brooke Grajczyk (Webster Area) over Rakyrah Wallace (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 5-1)
145: Lin Paw Jone
Champ. Round 1 – Lin Paw Jone (Aberdeen Central) over Nevaeh Schanbeck (Watertown) (Fall 1:46)
Quarterfinals – Sammie Reil (Harrisburg) over Lin Paw Jone (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 3-2)
165: Katrina Gibson
Champ. Round 1 – Katrina Gibson (Aberdeen Central) over Blair Merkwan (Vermillion) (Fall 4:33)
Quarterfinals – Katrina Gibson (Aberdeen Central) over Brittney Hanson (Hill City) (Fall 4:35)
185: Lilly Nelson
Champ. Round 1 – Lilly Nelson (Aberdeen Central) over Josie Becker (Dell Rapids) (Fall 5:45)
Quarterfinals – Lilian Hamner (Brandon Valley) over Lilly Nelson (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 4:57)
250: Nina Howard
Champ. Round 1 – Destiny Triplet (Douglas/Rapid City Christian/New Underwood) over Nina Howard (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 2:46)
Cons. Round 1 – Nina Howard (Aberdeen Central) received a bye
To see complete tournament results, click on the following link:
https://www.trackwrestling.com/tw/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=771081132
Volleyball
Volleyball Roundup
Volleyball
Cavaliers fall to Dell Rapids in SoDak 16
Cross Country
Traphagen excels in three sports in same season
Cross Country
LRC runners have big day at Region 1B cross country meet
Purchase a Photo
Browse By Category
- Auto Racing (105)
- Baseball (508)
- Basketball (252)
- BMX (1)
- Bowling (70)
- Boys Basketball (697)
- Boys' Hockey (94)
- Columns (52)
- Cross Country (210)
- Curling (1)
- Football (472)
- Galleries (995)
- General (177)
- Girls Basketball (618)
- Girls' Hockey (99)
- Golf (371)
- Gymnastics (69)
- Hockey (139)
- Looking Back (195)
- Men's Basketball (26)
- Men's Basketball (37)
- Mixed Martial Arts (2)
- Podcasts (52)
- Polls (60)
- Powerlifting (2)
- Rodeo (2)
- Roundups (287)
- Running (10)
- Soccer (260)
- Softball (95)
- Special Moments (44)
- State B Notebooks (6)
- Swimming (69)
- Tennis (326)
- Track and Field (493)
- Trapshooting (20)
- Volleyball (792)
- Women's Basketball (53)
- Wrestling (284)
Browse By Month
- November 2024
- October 2024
- September 2024
- August 2024
- July 2024
- June 2024
- May 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021