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Central girls have solid start, area wrestlers move into semis

Aberdeen Central’s Ula Martin, left, looks for an opening as she faces off with Brookings’ Makenna Hudy, right, during their 120 pound match earlier this season at the Golden Eagles Arena. Martin had a key opening round win at the State Individual Wresting Tournament in Sioux Falls on Thursday. Photo by John Davis taken 2/1/2024

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.”

Groton’s Liza Krueger, left, works to pin McLaughlin’s Claire O’Leary during their 100-pound match at the Groton Wrestling Tournament earlier this season. Krueger won two matches Thursday at the State Individual Wrestling Tournament in Sioux Falls to move into the semifinals. Photo by John Davis taken 1/27/2024

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

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