The Aberdeen Central wrestling teams will be looking to leave their marks on the State Wrestling Tournament when it begins today at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.
For Golden Eagles girls’ coach Jake Flakus, the expectations have not changed all season as the wrestleres head into the tournament.
“We like to pin people. We don’t just want to beat them by points,” Flakus said. “We like to get them on their back and finish the match.”
The goal is to bring home a team trophy, Flakus says, and he has seen the hard work the Eagles have put in to get themselves prepared for a run at a trophy.
“I’ve seen a lot of improvement, especially in the way that some of the new girls who haven’t wrestled before, just the way they’ve been able to take in some of the moves that we show them,” Flakus said. “They hung in there and they won their first match and their first few, and now some of those girls are winning a lot more than they’re losing.”
For the girls that have more experience, Flakus said they have been working on improving in little ways throughout the season.
“They’re fine tuning their skills and they’re finding what works for them,” Flakus said. “They might only have a couple of moves, but those moves that they do, they do really well.”
Two of the more experienced wrestlers representing Central this weekend are Katrina Gibson and Madyson Gillen. Gibson is a defending state champion after winning the 154-pound weight class a year ago, while Gillen is a returning three-time place-winner.
In addition to Gibson and Gillen, Flakus noted there are several other Golden Eagle wrestlers to keep an eye on this weekend, including Lilly Nelson, Jasmine Maas, Allison Neitzel, and Lin Paw Jone.
“All of them have had really good second halves of the season,” Flakus said.
Flakus also said wrestlers such as Ula Martin, Avery Bendewald, and Nina Howard have the potential to pull off upsets, despite being underdogs going into the tournament.
When it comes to the tournament field, Flakus noted that Pierre and Canton will be the favorites in the tournament. Central narrowly defeated the Governors, while narrowly falling to the C-Hawks this season, and Flakus says it was good for his team to experience competing against the best teams during the regular season.
“They’re kind of the benchmark for what wrestling is and that’s what we want Aberdeen to eventually look like is the benchmark,” Flakus said. “So just being able to compete with those teams and hang in there with them, I think it’s a big confidence booster for our girls of just seeing what they can do against the other top teams in the state.”
Flakus says preparing for the state tournament has not been any different than any other tournament or match.
“It’s just another tournament,” Flakus said. “You don’t want to put too much emphasis on it where they get a little nervous or gun shy, but it’s just another tournament and we prepare the way we have been all year.”
Flakus also had one simple message for his team as it enters the tournament.
“Just letting them know that anything can happen,” Flakus said. “For those girls that go in unseeded when their back’s up against the wall, the state tournament is when upsets happen all the time and we beat girls we haven’t beaten all year.”
On the boys’ side, coach Donnie Bowden says the goal entering the state tournament is to finish as high as possible.
“We are always in search of that top six finish, we are always looking to get a trophy,” Bowden said. “We are looking to place as many individuals as possible. We got 14 in and we’re looking to try and find a way to get them all through.”
Bowden says he has seen his wrestlers improve in several ways this season.
“They’re getting better at winning the tighter matches, they’re getting better at navigating the day,” Bowden said. “They’re maturing wrestling-wise, they’re maturing as men. They just understand how to go in and handle their business and going about their day.”
The Golden Eagle boys will be led by senior Rayden Zens and junior Mason Schrempp, both of whom are looking for their fourth time placing at the state tournament. Zens enters the tournament seeded second at 126 pounds, while Schrempp enters the tournament as the top seed at 157 pounds.
However, Central has several other wrestlers that will look to place this weekend, including Porter Lozenski, Tate Huff, and Cole Dunlavy, all of whom placed at last year’s state tournament. Bowden likes what he sees from his team entering the tournament.
“We have multiple guys that are seeded in the top six that are looking for their first placement or second placement,” Bowden said. “We’re hoping we can get back up placing in the double digits as a team.”
Bowden said Sturgis, Pierre, and Brandon Valley will be teams to watch that could compete for team and individual state titles. He noted that by participating in several large tournaments throughout the season, his team is ready to compete at the state’s highest level.
“We’re just really excited to go compete,” Bowden said. “We’ve come this far; we’ve accomplished some great things this year. We’re just hoping to do the same this week. We’re just hoping to get a little bit better from that region week to state tournament and see what happens.”
There are many area wrestlers who will be prime candidates to contend for state championships and spots on the podium.
The following is a list of the top Class B boys’ wrestlers who will be competing this weekend:
106 pounds, Chase Hurd, Miller-Highmore-Harrold (43-8), 113 pounds, Brody Randall, Hamlin-Castlewood (40-0), Jacksen Carter, Wessington Springs-Woonsocket-Wolsey-Wessington (19-1), and Cooper Pommer, Clark-Willow Lake (35-9); 120 pounds, Talon Ping, Miller-Highmore-Harrold (37-8), 138 pounds, Kellen Hurd, Miller-Highmore-Harrold (44-1) and Jaedon Jorgenson, Webster (36-2), 144 pounds, Christian Ehresmann, Groton (35-5) and Teagan Foreman, Miller-Highmore-Harrold (27-3), 150 pounds, Garrett Cramer, Faulkton (28-6), 157 pounds, Korbin Kucker, Groton (24-7), 175 pounds, Dylan Murray, Redfield (22-5), Josh Kannegieter, Clark-Willow Lake (35-5) and Colby Kolda, Miller-Highmore-Harrold (36-8), 190 pounds, Tristen Baloun, Faulkton, (25-9) and Alex Pudwill, Warner-Northwestern (41-4), 215 pounds, Lincoln Dickoff, Faulkton, (35-4) and Holden Havlik, Wessington Springs-Woonsocket-Wolsey-Wessington (23-1), and 28 pounds, Grady Fey, Redfield (45-0) and Parker Bode, Faulkton (37-7).
The following is a list of the top girls’ wrestlers who will be competing this weekend:
100 pounds, Liza Krueger, Groton (27-3), 107 pounds, Dani Batchelor, Clark-Willow Lake (17-5), 126 pounds, Cateri Yellow Hawk, Sully Buttes (27-6) and Sophia Knittel, Ipswich-Bowdle (14-3), 132 pounds, Tahnie Yellow Hawk, Sully Buttes (24-10), 138 pounds, Jasmin Perez, Mobridge-Pollock (18-8) and Brooke Grajczyk, Webster (26-6), 152 pounds, Reganne Miles, Doland (21-5) and Katie Snyder, Webster (15-9).
