MADISON – Aberdeen Central put three guys in the championship match of their respective weight classes on its way to a third place finish at the Madison Invitational Saturday in its final action ahead of the holiday break.

Jackson Dargatz (106), Elias Biegler (165) and Ryker Meister (215) all advanced to the championship round. All three ended up with runner-up finishes.

As a team, Central was just one point away from it’s own runner-up finish, as the Golden Eagles ended up in third place, just one point back of Rapid City Stevens.

“It was just what you want at this time of year,” said Central coach Donnie Bowden. “You take a step forward week to week. The guys are making progress.”

While that progress might not seem overt and obvious, Bowden said his guys are widening gaps on the winning side of matches and closing them when results don’t fall in their favor.

Four Golden Eagle wrestlers finished out their day on the winning side. Easton Foss (113) claimed third place with a major decision victory, as did Porter Lozenski at 138. Ridley Waldo (144) won his third-place bout with a tech fall, while Joran Foss (285) finished fifth, winning by decision.

“For the most part, our guys attacked all day,” Bowden said. “That’s what I wanted to see. I wanted to see them attack and be aggressive, and they did. … This is a good tournament for us to go to. We haven’t been there in a long time. It’s a tough, quality, one-day tournament.”

The Golden Eagles will break for the holidays, and return to action Dec. 30, hosting Mitchell in an Eastern South Dakota Conference dual. Bowden said the break comes at a good time for his squad, which is nursing a couple bumps and bruises.

“The first month (of the season), you push really hard to get in position to do something,” Bowden said. “Then you look around and you have two more months. So a couple days away to take a little mental break is probably a good thing.

To see complete results, click on the following link:

https://www.trackwrestling.com/predefinedtournaments/MainFrame.jsp?newSession=false&TIM=1734848837845&pageName=%2Fpredefinedtournaments%2FTournamentTeams.jsp&twSessionId=knugyckhdw