WATERTOWN – Aberdeen Central reversed its doubles fortunes on the way to a fifth place finish at the Eastern South Dakota Conference tennis tournament on Tuesday.

The Golden Eagles finished with 123 points and in the middle of the pack of the nine-team tournament.

“On paper we were probably picked to finish fifth judging by our dual record throughout the year. Right where we finished,” said Central coach Trent Kurtz. “We played really well today, obviously going 6-0 in doubles was really good.”

That was a big difference from Monday’s opening round when the Golden Eagles went 0-3 in doubles.

“We finished kind of where we should have. We kind of had to fight for it today. We made it kind of tough on ourselves with our first round of doubles,” Kurtz said. “You take out the one hour from the two days and we had a really good two days, but that one hour kind of cost us a little bit.”

Central’s highest finish on the day came at flight four singles where Gustavo Carrara lost in the championship match, finishing second.

Kurtz said Carrara’s win in the semifinal featured his typical style.

“He just finds another gear midway through the match,” Kurtz said.

Carrara then played a solid finals match, trailing 6-7 with a deuce point to level the match before his opponent from Harrisburg finished off the victory.

“He played unbelievable in the finals,” Kurtz said of Carrara. “That kid he played in the championship, he won ESD and got fifth at state at number two last year. And now he’s playing four. … It was a great match.”

All of Central’s doubles teams won two matches on Tuesday and finished in fifth.

“We played really well,” Kurtz said, “especially in doubles today.”

The Golden Eagles will now have a nine-day break before competing in the State AA Tournament May 22-23 in Sioux Falls. They will go there with some momentum gained at the ESD.

“I’m happy for them. Our whole thing today was going to be our mind frame. … The kids were ready to go,” Kurtz said. “They really competed well today. That was the best part of it.”

Team Points: Harrisburg 441, Yankton 244, Mitchell 207, Brandon Valley 148, Aberdeen Central 123, Watertown 94.5, Huron 14, Brookings 9.5, Pierre 6.5.

SINGLES

First Flight

AJ PREHN: lost to Alexander Rallis, Harrisburg, 10-1; lost to Eli Woidyla, Brandon Valley, 8-1. FOURTH PLACE.

Second Flight

MASON LIGON: def. Say Poe, Huron, 8-2; def. Braylon Peters, Brookings, 8-3. FIFTH PLACE.

Third Flight

DAWSON PEDERSON: lost to Robert Rallis, Harrisburg, 10-0; lost to Asher Dannenbring, Mitchell, 8-3. FOURTH PLACE.

Fourth Flight

GUSTAVO CARRARA: def. Cooper Star, Mitchell, 10-4; lost to Maverik Ragon, Harrisburg, 10-6. SECOND PLACE.

Fifth Flight

ARIC TENNANT: def. Andrew Hahn, Brookings, 8-0; lost to Sanders Anshutz, Brandon Valley, 8-4. SIXTH PLACE.

Sixth Flight

MIKA DANNEN: lost to Sutton Thompson, Mitchell, 10-4; lost to Patrick Kralicek, Yankton, 8-1. FOURTH PLACE.

DOUBLES

First Flight

AJ PREHN-GUSTAVO CARRARA: def. Thin-Htoo, Huron, 8-4; def. Hight-Leiferman, Pierre, 8-3. FIFTH PLACE.

Second Flight

MASON LIGON-DAWSON PEDERSON: def. Poe-Zan, Huron, 8-2; def. Stone-McKeown, Brandon Valley, 8-6. FIFTH PLACE.

Third Flight

ARIC TENNANT-MIKA DANNEN:  def. Anshutz-Gross, Brandon Valley, 8-4; def. Hahn-St. Pierre, Brookings, 8-0. FIFTH PLACE.