SIOUX FALLS – Aberdeen Central had two wrestlers qualify for the semifinal round during first day action at the State A Wrestling Tournament in Sioux Falls on Thursday.

Ryan Zens at 120 pounds and Mason Schrempp at 126 pounds both won their first two matches for the Golden Eagles.

Zens recorded back-to-back pins to punch his ticket to the semifinals.

“Its hard to get a pin,” said Central coach Donnie Bowden, “and then to get a them a state tournament, that’s pretty cool.”

Schrempp recorded a takedown with one minute left in the final period to win his quarterfinal match.

“That was a very highly-ranked kid, a very quality kid,” Bowden said of Schrempp’s opponent. “It was good for him to come over and get that win over the top him. He went in, stuck to his game plan and ultimately it worked out.”

Bowden noted that Schrempp was in a similiar situation a year ago and ended up losing that match.

“We got beat in the quarters in a tight one against another highly-ranked opponent last year,” Bowden said, “so it was good to get over the hump this year and get in there.”

Samson Flakus bounced back with a pair of victories by fall after an opening round loss and is still competing at 220 pounds. Bowden said Flakus lost in the second-round wrestlebacks a year ago, so it was good to see him medal this season.

Flakus rallied for his second win on the day.

“We were down 5-0 at the end of first period,” Bowden said. “We slapped our headlock on him and pitched into his back, and that was it. It was pretty exciting.”

Central also has two girls still competing, Madyson Gillen and Autum Gauer. Both won twice and lost once on the day.

“Madsyon’s weight class is pretty tough,” Bowden said. “She had two really strong performances.”

Bowden said that Gauer also wrestled well.

“She was very aggressive today,” Bowden said. “She went out to score points. She got two falls.”

Meanwhile, it was a rough day for the other Golden Eagles, all who were eliminated from the tournament.

“Every round was pretty tough,” Bowden said. “We just ran into some buzzsaws, but that’s kind of what you expect when you’re here.”

Central will now try to place as high as it can with the five members it has remaining when action resumes today.

“Whenever you’re at the state tournament, you always want a few more. You always want to score a few more points,” Bowden said. “Moving forward with these guys, we’re going to place up as high as we can. We’re going to climb the ladder as high as we can.”

G-285: Autum Gauer

Champ. Round 1 – Autum Gauer (Aberdeen Central) over Madison Nicolaisen (Hot Springs) (Fall 1:15)

Quarterfinals – Kiara  King (Canton) over Autum Gauer (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 0:54)

Cons. Round 2 – Autum Gauer (Aberdeen Central) over Lilianna Zeigler (Crow Creek) (Fall 1:15)

A-113: Tate Huff

Champ. Round 1 – Tate Huff (Aberdeen Central) over Holden Hight (Sioux Falls O`Gorman) (Dec 4-3)

Quarterfinals – Tegan Zebroski (Sturgis Brown) over Tate Huff (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 8-6)

Cons. Round 2 – Hayden McGuire (Brandon Valley) over Tate Huff (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 12-6)

A-160: Dylan Schaunaman

Champ. Round 1 – Soren Aadland (Harrisburg) over Dylan Schaunaman (Aberdeen Central) (MD 10-2)

Cons. Round 1 – Asher Eidem (Sioux Falls Washington) over Dylan Schaunaman (Aberdeen Central) (TF 17-2 3:28)

A-182: Ryker Meister

Champ. Round 1 – Mac Young (Watertown) over Ryker Meister (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 3:25)

Cons. Round 1 – Riley Kearin (Madison) over Ryker Meister (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 3-2)

G-106: Eva Hinkle

Champ. Round 1 – Sydney Uhrig (Pierre T.F. Riggs) over Eva Hinkle (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 0:24)

Cons. Round 1 – Emma McConniel (Marion/Freeman/Freeman Academy/Canistota/Menno) over Eva Hinkle (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 1:31)

G-113: Madyson Gillen

Champ. Round 1 – Madyson Gillen (Aberdeen Central) over Tayvn  Valder (Beresford/Alcester-Hudson) (Fall 2:56)

Quarterfinals – Britney Rueb (Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon) over Madyson Gillen (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 2:53)

Cons. Round 2 – Madyson Gillen (Aberdeen Central) over Hailey Rodriguez (Belle Fourche) (Dec 6-1)

G-126: Ula Martin

Champ. Round 1 – Hattie Baldwin (Pierre T.F. Riggs) over Ula Martin (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 1:51)

Cons. Round 1 – Ula Martin (Aberdeen Central) over Brynn Mulder (Canton) (Fall 1:56)

Cons. Round 2 – Ariana Gomez (Dakota Valley) over Ula Martin (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 0:46)

G-170: Katrina Gibson

Champ. Round 1 – Stephanie Halouska (Lennox) over Katrina Gibson (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 6-2)

Cons. Round 1 – Katrina Gibson (Aberdeen Central) received a bye

Cons. Round 2 – Fantasia Felcher (Brandon Valley) over Katrina Gibson (Aberdeen Central) (UTB 3-2)

A-120: Rayden Zens

Champ. Round 1 – Rayden Zens (Aberdeen Central) over Eliot Ellenbecker (Sioux Falls Lincoln) (Fall 3:30)

Quarterfinals – Rayden Zens (Aberdeen Central) over Braden Le (Watertown) (Fall 1:56)

A-126: Mason Schrempp

Champ. Round 1 – Mason Schrempp (Aberdeen Central) over Dylan Sloan (Yankton) (Dec 6-0)

Quarterfinals – Mason Schrempp (Aberdeen Central) over Kaden Olson (Sturgis Brown) (Dec 3-1)

A-145: Logan Opitz

Champ. Round 1 – Connor Eimers (Tea Area) over Logan Opitz (Aberdeen Central) (TF 18-2 5:41)

Cons. Round 1 – Perry Ketelsen (Sturgis Brown) over Logan Opitz (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 2:41)

A-152: Cordell Rychlik

Champ. Round 1 – Corter Doney (Rapid City Stevens) over Cordell Rychlik (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 1:16)

Cons. Round 1 – Tucker Vilhauer (Mitchell) over Cordell Rychlik (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 2:38)

A-195: Bryce Beitelspacher

Champ. Round 1 – Damion Schunke (Brandon Valley) over Bryce Beitelspacher (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 2:40)

Cons. Round 1 – Caleb Loehr (Brookings) over Bryce Beitelspacher (Aberdeen Central) (MD 13-2)

A-220: Samson Flakus

Champ. Round 1 – Rocky Wiedman (Todd County) over Samson Flakus (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 9-2)

Cons. Round 1 – Samson Flakus (Aberdeen Central) over Lucas Tonsager (Belle Fourche) (Fall 2:02)

Cons. Round 2 – Samson Flakus (Aberdeen Central) over Elijah Boutchee (Pierre T.F. Riggs) (Fall 1:19)