VALLEY CITY – Aberdeen Central’s Rayden Zens won the 137-pound championship during the Valley City Invitational wrestling tournament on Saturday. The Golden Eagles finished fourth as a team with a somewhat limited squad.

“We came up with about a 75 percent crew with some different faces,” said Central coach Donnie Bowden, “because we have a lot of illness running through the team, a couple are a little banged up, so it was kind of one of those weekends to go see someone different. There’s no South Dakota teams up there. It was North Dakota and Minnesota schools.”

Bowden said it was the quarterfinal round that kind of tripped up his squad on the day.

“That quarterfinal round kind of hurt us a little bit,” Bowden said. “We lost quite a few close matches in there. We only got four through to the semis.”

The tourney was set up so that semifinals could finish no worse than fourth, and others could finish no better than fifth.

“There was a lot of points left out there, so it was hard to regain a lot of those points back,” Bowden said. “We ended up fighting back pretty good to get into fourth place. It wasn’t too bad. We had to turn it around a little bit. We finished strong.”

Zens had a huge day, concluding it with a resounding 16-2 win over Ben DeForest of Bismarck in the championship match. Bowden said DeForest is a multi-time state champion.

“He really opened it up,” Bowden said of Zens. “He went at him in the finals and he had more left in the tank to go. He wrestled fantastic.”

Central also received third-place finishes from Samson Flakus, Tate Huff and Ridley Waldo.

“Those three guys that got third, I think that they wrestled exceptionally well,” Bowden said.

The Eagles will be home Tuesday hosting Huron in an Eastern South Dakota Conference dual at Golden Eagles Arena.

Paxton Ewing – 114
Champ. Round 1 – Paxton Ewing (Aberdeen Central) received a bye
Quarterfinals – Coltan Ireland (Bismarck) over Paxton Ewing (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 2:37)
Cons. Round 2 – Paxton Ewing (Aberdeen Central) received a bye
Cons. Semis – Paxton Ewing (Aberdeen Central) over Dawson Hoban (Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton) (Fall 0:52)
5th Place Match – Paxton Ewing (Aberdeen Central) over Aaron Morris (Williston) (Dec 10-8). FIFTH PLACE.

Will Allen – 121
Champ. Round 1 – Will Allen (Aberdeen Central) received a bye
Quarterfinals – Sam Schmitz (Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton) over Will Allen (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 9-5)
Cons. Round 2 – Will Allen (Aberdeen Central) over Damien  Kazmierczak (Thief River Falls) (MD 14-4)
Cons. Semis – Will Allen (Aberdeen Central) over Ethen Grasser (Grand Forks Central) (Fall 2:02)
5th Place Match – Will Allen (Aberdeen Central) over Greyson  Lyons (Lisbon) (MD 12-3). FIFTH PLACE.

Rayden Zens – 127
Champ. Round 1 – Rayden Zens (Aberdeen Central) over Brock Michaelson (Jamestown) (Fall 0:21)
Quarterfinals – Rayden Zens (Aberdeen Central) over Nick Svir (Thief River Falls) (Fall 1:33)
Semifinals – Rayden Zens (Aberdeen Central) over Noah Anderson (Lisbon) (Dec 3-0)
1st Place Match – Rayden Zens (Aberdeen Central) over Ben DeForest (Bismarck) (MD 16-2). FIRST PLACE.

Porter Lozenski – 127

Champ. Round 1 – Porter Lozenski (Aberdeen Central) received a bye
Quarterfinals – Jetton Wadeson (West Fargo Sheyenne) over Porter Lozenski (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 2:17)
Cons. Round 2 – Porter Lozenski (Aberdeen Central) over Brock Michaelson (Jamestown) (Fall 1:37)
Cons. Semis – Porter Lozenski (Aberdeen Central) over Sulley Krenz (Williston) (Dec 6-3)
5th Place Match – Porter Lozenski (Aberdeen Central) over Nick Svir (Thief River Falls) (Fall 4:48). FIFTH PLACE.

Tate Huff – 133
Champ. Round 1 – Tate Huff (Aberdeen Central) over Tyson Taylor (Williston) (Fall 3:06)
Quarterfinals – Tate Huff (Aberdeen Central) over Kashden Wadeson (Lisbon) (MD 16-7)
Semifinals – Jacob Luebke (Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton) over Tate Huff (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 5-2)
3rd Place Match – Tate Huff (Aberdeen Central) over Kellan Larson (Williston) (MD 11-3). THIRD PLACE.

Ridley Waldo – 139
Champ. Round 1 – Ridley Waldo (Aberdeen Central) over Austin  Longoria (Fergus Falls) (Fall 1:06)
Quarterfinals – Ridley Waldo (Aberdeen Central) over Zander Deutsch (Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton) (Dec 7-1)
Semifinals – Stetson Gisselbeck (West Fargo Sheyenne) over Ridley Waldo (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 1-0)
3rd Place Match – Ridley Waldo (Aberdeen Central) over Nathan Morken (Fargo North) (Fall 2:23). THIRD PLACE.

Owen Ward – 145
Champ. Round 1 – Owen Ward (Aberdeen Central) over Caleb  Fronning (Fergus Falls) (Dec 13-6)
Quarterfinals – Camden Mustachia (Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton) over Owen Ward (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 6-1)
Cons. Round 2 – Owen Ward (Aberdeen Central) over Tim Lentz (Fargo South) (Fall 2:48)
Cons. Semis – Landon Zink (West Fargo Sheyenne) over Owen Ward (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 7-0)
7th Place Match – Owen Ward (Aberdeen Central) over Braeden Halverson (Bismarck) (Fall 2:41). SEVENTH PLACE.

Grayden Timm – 152
Champ. Round 1 – Michael Norman (Grand Forks Central) over Grayden Timm (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 5-4)
Cons. Round 1 – Grayden Timm (Aberdeen Central) over Isaac  Longoria  (Fergus Falls) (Fall 2:04)
Cons. Round 2 – Kaleb Minton (Williston) over Grayden Timm (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 1:50)

Elias Biegler – 160

Champ. Round 1 – Elias Biegler (Aberdeen Central) over Braiden Brockman (Fargo South) (Fall 0:54)
Quarterfinals – Tyson Rice (Williston) over Elias Biegler (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 3:09)
Cons. Round 2 – Elias Biegler (Aberdeen Central) over Kenneth Johnson (West Fargo) (Dec 7-0)
Cons. Semis – Elias Biegler (Aberdeen Central) over Anton Perales (Grand Forks Central) (Fall 1:27)
5th Place Match – Elias Biegler (Aberdeen Central) over Izac Turner (Bismarck) (Dec 7-0). FIFTH PLACE.

Noah Kramer – 160
Champ. Round 1 – Noah Kramer (Aberdeen Central) over Kenneth Johnson (West Fargo) (Dec 11-5)
Quarterfinals – Tyrus Jangula (Bismarck) over Noah Kramer (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 1:47)
Cons. Round 2 – Noah Kramer (Aberdeen Central) over Braiden Brockman (Fargo South) (Fall 1:31)
Cons. Semis – Izac Turner (Bismarck) over Noah Kramer (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 9-2)
7th Place Match – Anton Perales (Grand Forks Central) over Noah Kramer (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 9-7). EIGHTH PLACE.

Beau Price – 172
Champ. Round 1 – LJ Araujo (Bismarck) over Beau Price (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 0:19)
Cons. Round 1 – Beau Price (Aberdeen Central) over Cal Bratton (Fargo North) (Fall 1:23)
Cons. Round 2 – Joey Arends (Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton) over Beau Price (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 10-6)

Cordell Rychlik – 172
Cordell Rychlik (Aberdeen Central) over Ryden Torgerson (Grand Forks Central) (Fall 0:38)
Champ. Round 1 – James Nagel (Bismarck) over Cordell Rychlik (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 1:16)
Cons. Round 1 – Cordell Rychlik (Aberdeen Central) over Emmanuel Forjolo (Fargo North) (Fall 0:50)
Cons. Round 2 – Ryer Muske (Valley City) over Cordell Rychlik (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 2:30)

Ryker Meister – 189
Champ. Round 1 – Connor Manske (West Fargo Sheyenne) over Ryker Meister (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 2:23)
Cons. Round 1 – Ryker Meister (Aberdeen Central) over Josh Dickerman (Jamestown) (Fall 2:51)
Cons. Round 2 – Ryker Meister (Aberdeen Central) over Juan Gonzalez (West Fargo Sheyenne) (Fall 0:38)
Cons. Semis – Bridger Owens (Bismarck) over Ryker Meister (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 2-1)
7th Place Match – Ryker Meister (Aberdeen Central) over Riley Poissant (Thief River Falls) (Fall 3:38). SEVENTH PLACE.

Samson Flakus – 215
Champ. Round 1 – Samson Flakus (Aberdeen Central) over Gabriel DiNicola (Grand Forks Central) (Fall 0:52)
Quarterfinals – Samson Flakus (Aberdeen Central) over Caleb Johnson (Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton) (Fall 4:08)
Semifinals – Ayden Schlafman (Bismarck) over Samson Flakus (Aberdeen Central) (Dec 8-6)
3rd Place Match – Samson Flakus (Aberdeen Central) over Wyatt Kilgore (Williston) (Fall 4:20). THIRD PLACE.

Joran Foss – 285
Champ. Round 1 – Joran Foss (Aberdeen Central) over Max Brunn (Fergus Falls) (Fall 2:37)
Quarterfinals – Easton Egeberg (Bismarck) over Joran Foss (Aberdeen Central) (Fall 2:47)
Cons. Round 2 – Joran Foss (Aberdeen Central) received a bye
Cons. Semis – Joran Foss (Aberdeen Central) over Paulo Carrillo (Fergus Falls) (Fall 1:23)
5th Place Match – Joran Foss (Aberdeen Central) over Aiden Hinkle (Lisbon) (Fall 2:50). FIFTH PLACE.