RAPID CITY – Aberdeen Central earned five top-eight finishes on the way to taking sixth place in the boys’ team points during the Rapid City Invitational wrestling tournament on Saturday.

The sixth-place finish matches where the Golden Eagles ended up last year at the elite tourney, which featured more than 70 teams.

“We were hoping for a little bit more than what we got today. Obviously, the kids wanted to finish a little bit better than we did,” said Central coach Bonnie Bowden. “We had some good production, but this was also like our first big test. … We kind of know where we’re at now, so now we just start working on that.”

Bowden pointed out the effort of Ryker Meister, who was third at 215 pounds.

“Ryker Meister coming through and getting third place, I think that was huge,” Bowden said. “That was a great weekend for him. He got some really good quality wins.”

The Golden Eagles had two place-winners at 157 pounds. Mason Schrempp was runner-up, falling to a foe from Rapid City Stevens.

“Making the final that was good,” Bowden said. “That was the first time we’ve ever wrestled that kid, so hopefully the next time we get a chance at him, we can close that gap and make up some ground there.”

Owen Ward finished right behind, taking third place at 157.

“Owen Ward getting third, that was huge,” Bowden said. “He had a really good weekend. He had a really good tournament. He’s got a lot of confidence moving forward.”

Esten Foss and Porter Lozenski each finished eighth at the tournament.

Central heads to Pierre for a dual on Tuesday in what could be an interesting night of wrestling.

“It’s always going to be. You can start putting it down on paper and then you can write it out and all this, then you can just throw it out the window. … It’s unpredictable,” Bowden said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen.”

The Golden Eagles also compete at a tournament on Saturday in Madison.

“It was a good second week,” Bowden said of this past week of three straight days of action. “We just have to remember it’s the start and not the end.”

To see complete Aberdeen Central results from the Rapid City Invitational, click on the following link:

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzQXKhKjVVJBPCtLNvvDCVWVvdfm