RAPID CITY – Aberdeen Central finished with a pair of runner-up finishers on the way to taking sixth as a team at the Rapid City Invitational wrestling tournament on Saturday.

Rayden Zens at 126 pounds and Tate Huff at 132 both advanced to the finals. Zens dropped a 4-3 decision in his match, while Huff fell by a score of 7-2.

The Golden Eagles ended up with five total place winners in the 60-team tournament. While Central coach Donnie Bowden was pleased with his team’s performance, he noted there was potential for much more.

“We got through to that knockout round and into that semifinal round, and that knockout round we lost half of our guys,” Bowden said. “Once you lose half of your guys, you lose quite a few points that go with them, potential of points. Just having the five, you’re hoping for more. Obviously, you’re always hoping for more.”

Mason Schrempp ended up taking sixth at 157 after injuring his hand and forfeiting his last two matches. Bowden believes that the standout will be out for a while.

“In a dual format I think we’re going to be fine, in a tournament when you lose a guy like that, that’s a lot of points,” Bowden said, “because you’re counting on that guy to go deep, to be up there in the top three. That’s a lot of points to make up.”

A pair of Central wrestlers finished in seventh place. Ayden Gisi and Ridley Waldo both came back and won their final matches on the day.

“Ayden Gisi ended up getting seventh so that was good. After he got in and then lost, it was good to see him finish on a high note,” Bowden said. “Ridley also finished his off with a pin, so that was good to get seventh. There were some good things that happened, we were just hoping for a little bit more.”

The Golden Eagles finished near the top of the final team standings, but could have climbed the ladder a bit further, according to Bowden.

“It’s good to be up there and in that conversation. We put some points on the board, but we also left a lot of points out there,” Bowden said. “We’ve just got to find a way to get more consistent as a whole, especially when we start getting into those deeper fields, where we expect guys to go deeper and find the podium.”

Central has its home opener on Tuesday when the Eagles host perennial power Pierre at Golden Eagles Arena.

“There should be some fireworks,” Bowden said. “There should be some good wrestling.”

Bowden is hoping the Eagles continue to take steps forward as the season progresses.

“I think we’re ready to build on what we put out this week,” Bowden said, “and hopefully we can have something a little bit better this next week.”

113: Paxton Ewing

Cons. Round 4 – Carson Mosset (Bismarck St Mary`s) over Paxton Ewing (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 9-7)

120: Will Allen

Cons. Round 4 – Josiah Kauffman (Sioux Falls Lincoln) over Will Allen (Aberdeen Central) (SV-1 9-7)

126: Porter Lozenski
Cons. Round 4 – Aidan Wells (Sioux Falls Jefferson) over Porter Lozenski (Aberdeen Central) (MD 9-1)

126: Rayden Zens
Semifinals – Rayden Zens (Aberdeen Central) over Maxton Brozik (Winner Area) (Fall 2:00)
1st Place Match – Sloan Johannsen (Watertown) over Rayden Zens (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 4-3). SECOND PLACE.

132: Tate Huff
Semifinals – Tate  Huff (Aberdeen Central) over Gage Glaser (Dickinson) (MD 21-11)
1st Place Match – Jordan Shirley (Gering) over Tate Huff (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 7-2). SECOND PLACE.

138: Owen Ward
Cons. Round 4 – Joe  Juenger (Rapid City Stevens) over Owen Ward (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 6-2)

144: Ridley Waldo
Cons. Round 4 – Ridley Waldo (Aberdeen Central) over Brock Berger (Deer Park) (Fall 2:07)
Cons. Round 5 – Kalvin Ketelsen (Sturgis Brown) over Ridley Waldo (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 5-0)
7th Place Match – Ridley Waldo (Aberdeen Central) over Riley Dighton (Belle Fourche) (Dec 10-3). SEVENTH PLACE.

157: Elias Biegler
Cons. Round 4 – Tyrus Jangula (Bismarck) over Elias Biegler (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 4-0)

157: Mason Schrempp

Semifinals – John Richter (Bismarck St Mary`s) over Mason Schrempp (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 7-3)
Cons. Semis – Tyrus Jangula (Bismarck) over Mason Schrempp (Aberdeen Central) (M. For.)
5th Place Match – Jais Rose (Thunder Basin) over Mason Schrempp (Aberdeen Central) (For.). SIXTH PLACE.

215: Samson Flakus
Cons. Round 4 – Ayden Gisi (Aberdeen Central) over Samson Flakus (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 6-0)

215: Ayden Gisi
Cons. Round 4 – Ayden Gisi (Aberdeen Central) over Samson Flakus (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 6-0)
Cons. Round 5 – Zayne Severyn (Custer) over Ayden Gisi (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 4-0)
7th Place Match – Ayden Gisi (Aberdeen Central) over Gabe Gebhard (West Central) (Fall 1:30). SEVENTH PLACE.