YANKTON – Aberdeen Central juggled and shuffled and manipulated its lineup multiple ways Thursday night and, for its efforts, came away with a pair of Eastern South Dakota Conference wrestling victories. The Golden Eagles claimed a 51-24 win over Yankton and a 39-25 victory over Brandon Valley in a triangular affair in Yankton.

With some regulars in the lineup out for various reasons, the Golden Eagles were forced to make adjustments in both duals, moving guys up in the lineup as needed to fill spots.

Central coach Donnie Bowden said it was exactly the sort of hard-fought night his team needed.

“Tonight, I think we really pulled together,” he said. “I think it brought the guys together, galvanized them a little bit. I think we were looking for a dual or a weekend like that where we had to get tough and do some different things to get it done, and the guys really leaned into each other.“

The juggling act worked to the tune of a 14-point win over Brandon Valley. Central won three of the last four matches in that contest to seal the win.

“The Brandon Valley dual was a big win,” Bowden said. “A big team win. Guys had to do some different things, we bumped some guys up, inserted some guys, some guys had to hold off bonus points, some guys had to go get ‘em. It was just a good team win.”

Central also claimed a comparatively routine win over Yankton, which was fueled by a long stretch of Golden Eagle victories through the heart of the lineup. Bowden said he liked the way his guys stepped up in both duals, adopting the next-man-up mentality.

“Just being able to be there when it’s your time, stepping up and doing it,” Bowden said. “We compete against each other in the room all week, now we have an opportunity to go out there and do it against someone else.”

Central will head to Harrisburg on Saturday for a 5-dual day.

Aberdeen Central (AC) 51.0 Yankton (YANK) 24.0

285: Drace Gaskins (YANK) over (AC) (For.)

106: Colton Archer (YANK) over Henry Gillen (AC) (Dec 7-6)

113: Paxton Ewing (AC) over Damian Janish (YANK) (Fall 1:27)

120: Esten Foss (AC) over Brooks DeLozier (YANK) (Fall 1:22)

126: Ethan Smith (YANK) over Landon Schaffner (AC) (Dec 10-5)

132: Logan Heier (AC) over Evan Jackman (YANK) (Fall 1:24)

138: Will Allen (AC) over Benjamin Pavlish (YANK) (Fall 0:16)

144: Jude Sumner (AC) over Caden Janssen (YANK) (MD 10-1)

150: Porter Lozenski (AC) over Nathan Bohlmann (YANK) (Fall 1:19)

157: Ridley Waldo (AC) over Zane Portillo (YANK) (Fall 3:49)

165: Shayce Platt (YANK) over Kaylor Swenson (AC) (Fall 3:39)

175: Grayden Timm (AC) over CorBin Sayler (YANK) (TF 16-0 4:14)

190: Owen Ward (AC) over Kamden Needham (YANK) (Fall 1:52)

215: Peyton Eustace (YANK) over Hunter Herceg (AC) (Fall 1:12)

Aberdeen Central (AC) 39.0 Brandon Valley (BV) 25.0

215: Owen Ward (AC) over Cody Lindekugel (BV) (TF 17-2 4:40)

285: Elijah Schunke (BV) over Max Borns (AC) (Fall 0:50)

106: Henry Gillen (AC) over Jagger Rehorst (BV) (Dec 6-1)

113: Paxton Ewing (AC) over Isaac Weerhein (BV) (Dec 12-9)

120: Brendon Oehme (BV) over Landon Schaffner (AC) (Fall 1:08)

126: Beckett Rehorst (BV) over Esten Foss (AC) (TF 21-5 3:42)

132: Logan Heier (AC) over Gunnar Deffenbaugh (BV) (MD 12-3)

138: Will Allen (AC) over Braylon Bach (BV) (Dec 7-1)

144: Jude Sumner (AC) over Aaron Tucker (BV) (Fall 5:13)

150: Braden Shoemaker (BV) over Hunter Opitz (AC) (TF 17-2 4:31)

157: Porter Lozenski (AC) over Garrett VanDusen (BV) (Fall 1:51)

165: Ridley Waldo (AC) over Harmon Kramer (BV) (Dec 7-0)

175: Levi Veskrna (BV) over Kaylor Swenson (AC) (Dec 11-5)

190: Grayden Timm (AC) over Anneyso Ahmed (BV) (Fall 3:44)