The numbers are up and so are expectations for the Aberdeen Central girls’ wrestling squad this season.

The Golden Eagles have a school record 32 girls out for the sport, nearly three times last year’s amount. Included in that group are three returning state place winners and four returning state-qualifiers.

“I’m definitely expecting our team to do well,” said Central coach Jake Flakus. “We want to shoot for that top six spot. That would be placing at the state tournament as a team. So that top six is where we want to be.”

The Golden Eagles were fourth last year at state, so the upper echelon appears to be a realistic goal.

“We’re hoping to move up. We’re hoping to again be known as one of the top 10 teams in the state,” Flakus said. “We want to let people know that Aberdeen knows how to wrestle.”

The Golden Eagles will be led by returning state place winners Lilly Nelson, Lin Paw Jone, and Jasmin Maas, as well as state qualifiers Avery Bendewald, Allison Neitzel, Rakyrah Wallace, and Grace Roeszler.

“We got a good group of girls that know what they’re doing,” Flakus said, “and some of the new girls, some of them have wrestled before and some have never wrestled before, so we got kind of a good mix.”

Central opens its season on Friday at a tournament in Watertown, and the girls are ready, according to Flakus.

“Last week we had our simulation matches and it was good getting them a match,” Flakus said, “but now I think they’re ready to beat up on a girl from another school. Luckily, we get a chance to do that on Friday in Watertown.”

Look for the Golden Eagles to be aggressive every time they step on the mat this season.

“We’re very aggressive,” Flakus said. “We like to go out swinging and if it doesn’t go our way, that’s OK, but we’re going out swinging.”

Flakus said the girls have not only set goals for the upcoming season, a pair of wrestlers have even taken the matter a step farther.

“Two of the leaders on our team said that they want to set goals, and they want to place them in their locker so that they can see them every day. That was a good addition that we’re going to try,” Flakus said. “We want to set the goal right away so that we can think of it all season long, and if we’re not heading towards our goal we can adjust and figure out why, and then recalculate and get where we need to be.”

Something new this season will be region tournaments for girls. In the past, girls were chosen to compete for the state tournament based on regular-season ratings. Now, they will need to qualify through a region tourney.

“It will be very exciting. Previously, you had to be ranked in the top 16 girls to make it to state, but now there’s a regional qualifier, so if you place in the top four in your region you make it state,” Flakus said. “It doesn’t matter what happened in the year before that.”

Aberdeen put in a bid to host a regional and was awarded the tournament, which will take place the week before the state tournament in February.

Flakus is in favor of the new region format.

“I’m just glad it gives girls an opportunity to punch their ticket to the state tournament, instead of relying on luck,” Flakus said.

First up is the season-opening tourney on Friday, which has Flakus and the wrestlers excited and ready for action.

“I’m looking forward to Friday when we can see if our hard work has paid off, and more than that we just want to build a legacy of wrestling at Aberdeen Central,” Flakus said. “The boys have been good for a lot of years and now it’s time for the girls to make a spot on the wall and make their name known.”

Flakus said it is a process.

“It starts with getting girls out and getting them matches, and teaching them the sport of wrestling,” he said. “It’s a very new sport for girls, but the girls that have gone out and tried it, loved it, and I think that’s why it’s the fastest growing girls’ sport.”