Aberdeen Central remained unbeaten in Eastern South Dakota Conference wrestling action with two convincing dual wins Thursday evening.

The Golden Eagles took down Harrisburg 67-8, before grabbing a 51-16 win over Watertown at Golden Eagles Arena.

“I’m proud of our effort,” said Central coach Donnie Bowden. “I’m proud of the way we went out and fought these two quality teams. We came in here and we did what we wanted to do.”

To be fair, Harrisburg was short-handed with a number of illnesses, but that did not diminish what the Golden Eagles were able to accomplish.

“We can’t control who shows up or who’s going to weigh in. We have no control over that,” Bowden said. “We can only wrestle the guys they put out in front of us and we did that tonight.”

There were numerous Central wrestlers who won a pair of matches on the evening.

Ryker Meister scored a pin and a shutout victory at 215 pounds.

Interestingly enough, the senior moved up three weight classes from a year ago.

“I was at 175 last year,” Meister said, “so bumping up to 215 this year is a big difference.”

Wrestling at a much lighter weight last season has paid dividends this year.

“Wrestling at 75 last year definitely helped,” he said, “that’s what makes me a little bit faster.”

Not only that, but Meister said he has a better frame of mind this year.

“It’s faster down there and more technical,” Meister said. “I’ve never been a technical wrestler. It’s nice not having to worry about that this year.”

It’s also nice not having to cut weight to make 175 like he did a year ago.

“I’m having a lot of fun up here and it’s better for me, too,” Meister said of the 215 weight class. “Not cutting weight, and a better mood, and I’m wrestling better.”

Elias Biegler also won a pair of matches for the Golden Eagles, the last one coming in unique fashion. The senior was tied 1-1 with his opponent, but quickly recording a pin in the final period.

“I was looking for the underhook for the reverse headlock,” Biegler said. “My feet weren’t quite in position, so I switched to a regular headlock and just squeezed his head.”

Biegler is Central’s lone returning Lee Wolf champion. He said that won’t be on his mind when the tourney takes place on Saturday.

“I’m just expecting to go out there and wrestle it like I would any other tournament,” Biegler said.

However, the Lee Wolf is a bit different than any other tournament, because it takes place at Golden Eagles Arena.

“It makes me a little more nervous. There’s more friends and family and people watching,” Biegler said. “I just got to bring it back down to about a five, and just wrestle with a level head.”

Others who won two matches for Central in the triangular were Tate Huff, Owen Ward, Mason Schrempp, Grayden Timm, and Cole Dunlavy.

Bowden said the Golden Eagles continue to improve.

“As a whole we’re getting better each time we touch the mat and that’s what we want to do,” Bowden said. “It was great to get these matches in. It was great to prime us for this weekend.”

Aberdeen Central 67, Harrisburg 8
113: Esten Foss (ABCE) over (HARR) (For.) 120: Mason Backous (ABCE) over Beckham Schroeder (HARR) (Fall 2:00) 126: Wyatt Davidson (HARR) over Paxton Ewing (ABCE) (MD 10-2) 132: Tate Huff (ABCE) over Caden Heckel (HARR) (Fall 1:22);

138: Brody Aesoph (ABCE) over (HARR) (For.) 144: Ridley Waldo (ABCE) over Lincoln Peters (HARR) (Dec 10-7) 150: Owen Ward (ABCE) over Brady Larson (HARR) (TF 19-3 2:09) 157: Elias Biegler (ABCE) over Dylan Johnson (HARR) (Fall 1:29) 165: Mason Schrempp (ABCE) over Connor Bain (HARR) (TF 21-6 1:39);

175: Grayden Timm (ABCE) over Eli Hutton (HARR) (Fall 1:21) 190: Cole Dunlavy (ABCE) over Tayden Nguyen (HARR) (Fall 1:01) 215: Ryker Meister (ABCE) over Brody Sonnenschein (HARR) (Fall 0:33) 285: Joran Foss (ABCE) over Nile Laake (HARR) (Fall 0:59) 106: Griffin Felder (HARR) over Bailey Gillen (ABCE) (MD 8-0).

Aberdeen Central 51, Watertown 16
120: Shea Richter (WATE) over Mason Backous (ABCE) (TF 18-1 3:36) 126: Brody Randall (WATE) over Jude Sumner (ABCE) (TF 17-2 2:36) 132: Kutler Swenson (WATE) over Porter Lozenski (ABCE) (Dec 6-1) 138: Tate Huff (ABCE) over Keslar Swenson (WATE) (TF 15-0 4:00);

144: Brody Aesoph (ABCE) over Max Stroup (WATE) (DQ) 150: Owen Ward (ABCE) over Leo Stroup (WATE) (TF 19-4 3:08) 157: Elias Biegler (ABCE) over Markus Pitkin (WATE) (Fall 5:07) 165: Mason Schrempp (ABCE) over Landen Lewis (WATE) (TF 20-4 2:36) 175: Grayden Timm (ABCE) over Cade Kuemper (WATE) (Fall 0:48);

190: Cole Dunlavy (ABCE) over Ty Hagen (WATE) (Fall 0:20) 215: Ryker Meister (ABCE) over Ethan Wientjes (WATE) (MD 10-0) 285: Micah Hach (WATE) over Joran Foss (ABCE) (Fall 0:42) 106: Jackson Dargatz (ABCE) over Braylon Schell (WATE) (MD 13-1) 113: Esten Foss (ABCE) over Chase Mathews (WATE) (MD 10-0) (WATE flagrant misconduct -3.0).