The Aberdeen Central girls’ wrestling team has already had a stellar season with multiple tournament victories, and now the Golden Eagles are gearing up for their biggest event of the season.
Fresh off a team title in the Region 3 tourney, Central heads to the state tournament in Sioux Falls with a lot of confidence and momentum.
“We had almost as good of a region as we hoped for. We try not to focus on the few things that didn’t go our way. At this point, no use crying about what we didn’t get it, we’re going to focus on the nine that we do have,” said Central coach Jake Flakus. “We had five region champs. Last year we only had two and this year we have five, and there was some upsets in there too, so we’re definitely going to try to carry that momentum going into the state tournament.”
The Golden Eagles cleared a hurdle at the region, finishing ahead of Pierre, a state power since girls’ wrestling started a few years ago.
“For a while Pierre kind of seemed untouchable, but after we beat them in a few tournaments this year, our girls kind of looked at each other and realized like man, we can beat them, we can beat other teams,” Flakus said. “I think we just have to have a strong finish. We’ve wrestled really well as of late.”
Coaches in all sports want their teams to peak at the right time of the season, and that appears to be the case for the Golden Eagles.
“It’s definitely a good thing that state’s this weekend, because we are wrestling at our best,” Flakus said. “And that’s really what you hope for your athletes is that when they get to the state tournament they’re wrestling at their best. With all that momentum we had at regions I think its going to help us wrestle well at this state tournament.”
Flakus said the team goal is to finish in the top six, earning a spot on the podium recognizing the top programs in the state. He said individual accomplishments will help to achieve that.
“My goal for each of them individually is that they wrestle to the best of their ability,” Flakus said. “Some of them it might be going and scoring high up on the podium, and for others it might be just scoring one place higher than they’re supposed to.”
The Golden Eagles have put in the time and have recent success they can draw upon. Now it’s a matter of having a good mindset as they head into the state tournament, where unpredictable results are a given, whether positive or negative.
“The other thing I gotta remind them of, there’s going to be ups and downs for the weekend. Some our girls might lose a match that they should win or vise versa. We might win some matches that we weren’t suppose to win, so through all those ups and downs the big key at the state tournament is keeping a steady head,” Flakus said. “Every year there’s a girl who loses a match and then loses another one that they shouldn’t because they’re in their head. So, if I can keep them out of their head, and just focused on wrestling well, I think it will be a good weekend.”
