RAPID CITY – Despite mounting injuries – a byproduct of having qualified all 14 varsity wrestlers for the individual competition at the Class A state tournament – and coming in as the No. 8 seed, the Aberdeen Central wrestling program returned home with a sixth place finish in the state duals competition Saturday in Rapid City.

The Golden Eagles used a handful of alternates in their three duals and nearly pulled off the upset in their opening dual against top-seeded Brandon Valley. Trailing 25-6, the Golden Eagles pulled off four straight pins to take a 30-25 lead.

The Lynx, however, responded and closed out the dual with three straight pins of their own for a 43-30 win.

“We had a lot of confidence going in,” said Central coach Donnie Bowden. “We closed the gap from where we were mid-season when we dualed them earlier.”

Central’s next foe was fourth-seeded West Central and the Golden Eagles again used a run of four straight pins to take control of the match, eventually winning by a 43-24 count.

But the injuries took their toll by the end, as the Golden Eagles had two open weights in a 42-24 loss to Harrisburg in the consolation final.

“Where we were healthy, we competed well,” Bowden said. “The alternates we had in there competed really hard. The injuries just caught up to us and we ran out of bodies by the end of that third dual.”

Mason Schrempp finished the day with three wins for the Golden Eagles, including pins in the final two duals. Tate Huff, Samson Flakus, Bryce Bietelspacher and Jacob Krenz each won two matches.

“We expected a little more on the individual side, so to end with a team placement and with the way our health was, coming home with a placement was good,” Bowden said.

Championship Bracket

Brandon Valley defeated Aberdeen Central 43-30

120 – Landon Walker (Brandon Valley) over Porter Lozenski (Aberdeen Central) Dec 8-1

126 – Ridley Waldo (Aberdeen Central) over Aaron Tucker (Brandon Valley) Dec 4-0

132 – Jordon Oehme (Brandon Valley) over Tate Huff (Aberdeen Central) Maj 20-7

138 – Alex Mentzer (Brandon Valley) over Jacob Bellefeuille (Aberdeen Central) Fall 0:47

145 – Trason Oehme (Brandon Valley) over Noah Kramer (Aberdeen Central) Fall 1:46

152 – Mason Schrempp (Aberdeen Central) over Levi Veskrna (Brandon Valley) Dec 4-0

160 – Gavin Chapman (Brandon Valley) over Elias Biegler (Aberdeen Central) Fall 2:45

170 – Logan Opitz (Aberdeen Central) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

182 – Cole Dunlavy (Aberdeen Central) over Elijah Schunke (Brandon Valley) Fall 2:00

195 – Samson Flakus (Aberdeen Central) over Noah Bailous (Brandon Valley) Fall 3:29

220 – Bryce Beitelspacher (Aberdeen Central) over DelVoun Spears-Witte (Brandon Valley) Fall 1:50

285 – Navarro Schunke (Brandon Valley) over Jacob Krenz (Aberdeen Central) Fall 5:27

106 – Brendon Oehme (Brandon Valley) over Will Allen (Aberdeen Central) Fall 3:11

113 – Trevon Oehme (Brandon Valley) over Paxton Ewing (Aberdeen Central) Fall 0:14

Consolation Bracket

Aberdeen Central defeated West Central 43-24

126 – Orlando Whiting (West Central) over Ridley Waldo (Aberdeen Central) Dec 7-2

132 – Tate Huff (Aberdeen Central) over Jesse Jost (West Central) Dec 10-8

138 – Connor Siemonsma (West Central) over Brody Aesoph (Aberdeen Central) Dec 7-2

145 – Mason Schrempp (Aberdeen Central) over Rayce Whiting (West Central) Fall 2:37

152 – Elias Biegler (Aberdeen Central) over Chandler Carda (West Central) Fall 2:43

160 – Justin Zirpel (West Central) over Logan Opitz (Aberdeen Central) SV-1 9-7

170 – Ayden Gisi (Aberdeen Central) over Jude Jarding (West Central) Maj 13-1

182 – Chet Carda (West Central) over Cole Dunlavy (Aberdeen Central) Inj 0:51

195 – Samson Flakus (Aberdeen Central) over Gabe Gebhard (West Central) Fall 4:58

220 – Bryce Beitelspacher (Aberdeen Central) over Cody Opitz (West Central) Fall 1:00

285 – Jacob Krenz (Aberdeen Central) over Gavin Pischke (West Central) Fall 1:13

106 – Will Allen (Aberdeen Central) over Alex Siemonsma (West Central) Fall 4:47

113 – Karson Vessells (West Central) over Paxton Ewing (Aberdeen Central) Fall 3:32

120 – Langdon Klinkhammer (West Central) over Porter Lozenski (Aberdeen Central) Dec 6-3

5th Place Match

Harrisburg defeated Aberdeen Central 42-24

132 – Tate Huff (Aberdeen Central) over Lincoln Peters (Harrisburg) Dec 14-12

138 – Dylan O`Connor (Harrisburg) over Jacob Bellefeuille (Aberdeen Central) Maj 14-2

145 – Mason Schrempp (Aberdeen Central) over Chris Simunek (Harrisburg) Fall 1:57

152 – Peyton Tryon (Harrisburg) over Elias Biegler (Aberdeen Central) Fall 3:44

160 – Logan O`Connor (Harrisburg) over Logan Opitz (Aberdeen Central) Maj 9-0

170 – Soren Aadland (Harrisburg) over Ayden Gisi (Aberdeen Central) Fall 0:39

182 – Ryker Meister (Aberdeen Central) over Brandon Simunek (Harrisburg) Fall 5:22

195 – Jack Detert (Harrisburg) over Samson Flakus (Aberdeen Central) Maj 8-0

220 – Aiden Schroeder (Harrisburg) over Bryce Beitelspacher (Aberdeen Central) Dec 2-1

285 – Jacob Krenz (Aberdeen Central) over Gueibondy Doelue (Harrisburg) Fall 2:52

106 – Griffin Felder (Harrisburg) over Will Allen (Aberdeen Central) Dec 4-3

113 – Porter Lozenski (Aberdeen Central) over Steven Lamont (Harrisburg) Dec 7-5

120 – Emory Johnson (Harrisburg) won by forfeit.

126 – Tyler Wurth (Harrisburg) won by forfeit.