RAPID CITY – Aberdeen Central still has nine wrestlers competing, including three in the semifinals, after the opening day of the Rapid City Invitational on Friday.

The Golden Eagles are currently in 11th place with 70 team points.

“We’re almost right there in the top third,” said Central coach Donnie Bowden. “We’re just on the outside.”

Rayden Zens and Mason Schrempp both advanced to the semis in the boys’ division, while Autumn Gauer made it to the semifinal round for the Central girls. Zens and Schrempp both went 3-0 on the day.

“Rayden and Mason just keep going on their winning ways,” Bowden said. “They just keep finding a way to push forward and dominantly.”

Tate Huff and Brock Martin are still competing in the consolation bracket after both went 3-1 on the day.

“Tate and Brock ended up dropping a match, but they still came back and won three to push themselves to be in the top eight,” Bowden said.

He said it takes a lot to be able to place in a tournament the size of the one taking place this weekend. There are 12 mats spread across the floor of The Monument.

“It takes a lot of focus and just being dialed in and withstanding round after round and time in between rounds,” Bowden said. “It’s quite a feat.”

Meanwhile there are four girls for Central who will be competing in today’s consolation round. The are Eva Hinkle, Madyson Gillen and Ally Brunmaier who all went 2-1, and Katrina Gibson who went 1-1.

Bowden said there were 16-person brackets for the girls, including some that featured bigger draws.

“Just to have enough girls to make these pools bigger is just awesome,” he said.

Bowden said the large tourney is a good way for wrestlers to find out where they’re at as they get their seasons underway.

“To get in and to place out of this tournament is good. It’s a really good measuring stick to kind of see where you are at the beginning of the year,” he said. “It’s not the end. It’s not the only determinant of where you’re going to end, but it’s good to see where you matchup at the beginning for the year to see if you’re at the right weight and see what the potential could be.”

To complete Aberdeen Central results, click on the following link:

http://www.trackwrestling.com/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=640695132&userType=viewer&pageName=TeamResults.jsp;teamBox=205810140:fontSizeBox=10:patternBox=1000