On a day designed to honor seniors, it was only fitting that a pair of them from Aberdeen Central won by fall to help power a dual victory over Mitchell Thursday afternoon.

Central picked up five pins on the way to a 66-10 Eastern South Dakota Conference wrestling win at Golden Eagles Arena.

“That’s what we’ve been preaching,” said Central coach Donnie Bowden of the bonus points, “just find ways to score points and keep widening the gap.”

Among those who won by fall were seniors Jacob Krenz and Jacob Bellefeuielle. What made the wins a bit more special was the fact that the dual was Central’s only home event of the season outside of the annual Lee Wolf Tournament at the end of January.

“I had a lot of family come down. I know a lot of other people had family come down. It was just great to see them in the stands,” Krenz said. “I saw some students even here cheering even though it’s Christmas break, taking time out of their day. It was awesome.”

Bellefeuielle was also motivated by the partisan spectators.

“It’s our last time wrestling here in front of the crowd,” Bellefeuielle said, “so you just have to go out there and give it your best, knowing it’s your last time.”

Bellefeuille was his usual ball of energy from the opening whistle. He said that’s always been his style.

“Ever since I can remember, I just go out there, and I try to score as many points as possible,” Bellefeuille said. “I try to put kids on their back any chance I can get.”

Bellefeuille had racked up a 10-3 lead before recording a pin in the closing seconds of the first period in his match at 138 pounds. The fall was a perfect ending to his last regular-season home dual match.

“It’s a really good feeling going out here for the last time in front of our home crowd, pinning someone,” he said.

Krenz got off to a unique start in his match at 285 pounds. Both he and his opponent found themselves balancing on one foot at different times after each lifted the other’s up early in the first period.

“I don’t know how he got my ankle, but I knew he couldn’t take me down,” Krenz said. “I could just feel it.”

Soon, the shoe was on the other foot and off the ground as Krenz got a shot in on his foe. However, he was also unable to take advantage of it.

“I saw he was trying to get out, so I just tried to pull his leg back in,” Krenz said, “but it’s not the easiest thing to do with big guys.”

It was just a matter of time before Krenz gained the upper hand and recorded a pin five seconds before the end of the first period.

Krenz is in just his second full year of wrestling. After competing in third grade he returned to the sport last season.

“They didn’t have a heavyweight,” Krenz said. “They were like, ‘Do you want to be in wrestling?’ And I was like, might as well try it. I showed up and everybody was awesome, really accepting.”

Krenz said some of the moves came back to him, but that there are always new things to learn.

“The learning gap is still there,” he said. “Every day I learn a new thing and have to try new things to get more leverage on my opponents, but it’s such a great experience. I’m so glad I came out.”

The Golden Eagles also received pins from Rayden Zens at 126 pounds, Mason Schrempp at 145 pounds, and Bryce Beitelspacher at 220 pounds.

Other Central wrestlers who won contested matches included Porter Lozenski at 113, and Ridley Waldo at 120 as the Eagles recorded their second win over the Kernels with a nearly identical margin of difference to their 70-10 win earlier this month.

“We had a few different matchups than we did the first time around, we had a few different guys here and there and that’s good,” Bowden said. “It just shows the depth of what we have, the caliber of what we have.”

A pair of other seniors, Logan Opitz and Autum Gauer received forfeits so they didn’t get to compete on the day. The Central boys took advantage of five forfeits, while the Central girls claimed three forfeit victories.

Madsyn Gillen helped lead the Central girls to a 24-15 win over the Kernels. She recorded a pin in just 20 seconds.

Bowden was pleased with his team’s performances after a nearly 10-day break.

“I think the effort is good, the effort is there,” Bowden said. “We just need to keep finding new ways to score points. I think we just have to keep improving, keep evolving.”

The Eagles will get another chance to do that Saturday when they head to a tournament in Webster.

Aberdeen Central 66, Mitchell 10
106: Kale Hofer (MITC) over Esten Foss (ABCE) (Fall 5:37) 113: Porter Lozenski (ABCE) over Cruze Allhiser (MITC) (Dec 9-4) 120: Ridley Waldo (ABCE) over Van Johnson (MITC) (Dec 3-1) 126: Rayden Zens (ABCE) over Penn Long (MITC) (Fall 0:59);

132: Tate Huff (ABCE) over (MITC) (For.) 138: Jacob Bellefeuille (ABCE) over Kaiden Allen (MITC) (Fall 1:54) 145: Mason Schrempp (ABCE) over Kellan Odell (MITC) (Fall 1:57) 152: Jagger Tyler (MITC) over Elias Biegler (ABCE) (MD 12-1) 160: Cordell Rychlik (ABCE) over (MITC) (For.);

170: Logan Opitz (ABCE) over (MITC) (For.) 182: Cole Dunlavy (ABCE) over (MITC) (For.) 195: Samson Flakus (ABCE) over (MITC) (For.) 220: Bryce Beitelspacher (ABCE) over Connor Degen (MITC) (Fall 3:57) 285: Jacob Krenz (ABCE) over Carson Podhradsky (MITC) (Fall 1:56).

GIRLS

Aberdeen Central 24, Mitchell 15

106: Frankie Kranz (MITC) over Avery Bendewald (ABCE) (Dec 11-9) 113: Madyson Gillen (ABCE) over Emma Trode (MITC) (Fall 0:21) 120: Allison Neitzel (ABCE) over (MITC) (For.) 126: Danny Borja (MITC) over Ula Martin (ABCE) (Fall 3:29) 132: Double Forfeit;

142: Bobbi Jo Middendorp (MITC) over (ABCE) (For.) 154: Katrina Gibson (ABCE) over (MITC) (For.) 170: Double Forfeit 190: Double Forfeit 285: Autum Gauer (ABCE) over (MITC) (For.).