SIOUX FALLS – Sophia Knittel of Ipswich-Bowdle earned a spot in a state championship match, while it was a historic day for the Aberdeen Central girls’ program during the Girls Individual State Wrestling Tournament at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls on Friday.

Knittel will be competing in the 126-pound final this afternoon after winning her semifinal by a 6-5 margin. Meanwhile, Central’s Madyson Gillen won her 100th career match and became the first girl wrestler in school history to accomplish the feat.

While the Golden Eagles fell in some matches, they also bounced back to guarantee podium finishes, something coach Jake Flakus was glad to see.

“We got five more girls in, so we placed a total of six out of our 10 wrestlers. That was good to see,” Flakus said. “Dropped a couple of matches in the wrestlebacks.”

Central’s Katrina Gibson had wrestled her way into the semifinals in the 165-pound weight class on day one, but fell in to Viborg-Hurley-Irene-Wakonda’s Gia Miller by way of a pin on Friday.

Gibson and Gillen, who fell in Thursday’s quarterfinal round, both fought back from defeats and were able to advance to the third-place matches set for today.

Flakus was pleased with efforts of Gibson and Gillen to fight back after tough losses.

“In that last consolation semifinal round, Madyson Gillen and Katrina, our two seniors, did their part and they won when we needed them to,” Flakus said. “Madyson Gillen came back through the wrestlebacks and beat a couple girls. She beat a really good girl from Pierre; just did exactly what she needed to do. Katrina bounced back after the loss. She pinned a Canton girl and she’s also going for third.”

Flakus also applauded Lin Paw Jone’s efforts as she also bounced back from Thursday’s quarterfinal loss.

“She just went out there and was throwing girls around and putting them on their back,” Flakus said. “She dropped her last match and she’ll be going for fifth.”

Other Central wrestlers who will take a place on the podium today include Nina Howard, Jasmine Maas, and Lily Nelson. Each will wrestle for seventh place.

“We got six more matches (today) and we’re sitting in fourth as a team,” Flakus said. “So, hopefully we can at least hold on to that, if not try to climb a little bit.”

With each Central wrestler competing in just one match today, Flakus encouraged his wrestlers to give it their all on the final day.

“Since they’re all in the wrestlebacks, they’ve only got one five-minute match, so it’s muster everything you’ve got,” Flakus said. “Since the team race is close, then every match matters. If they’re bummed that they’re going for seventh or if they’re not where they want to be, they still have a job to do and they still got to go out and get that win if we want to place as a team, which is a very doable thing. Just trying to rally the troops to get them ready for that last match.”

To see complete tournament results, click on the following link:

https://www.trackwrestling.com/predefinedtournaments/MainFrame.jsp?newSession=false&TIM=1708755662193&pageName=%2Fpredefinedtournaments%2FTournamentHub.jsp&twSessionId=ldmcdkrqes