Aberdeen Central fell behind in both of its duals Thursday night, before controlling life the rest of the way at Golden Eagles Arena.

Central defeated Yankton 54-6 and Brandon Valley 52-4 in a pair of Eastern South Dakota Conference girls’ wrestling duals.

“Both duals kind of started the same way,” said Central coach Jake Flakus. “We started with a loss, but then the girls got the ball rolling, and we kept it rolling.”

Flakus noted a pair of key matches on the evening.

Both were third-period pins, one by Lin Paw Jone and the other by Augustine Hieb.

“Lin Paw Jone, that (Yankton) girl is a good wrestler,” Flakus said. “We wrestled smart and then when that girl went for the throw, we finished hard.”

Hieb had not gone into many third periods before Thursday.

“We gave up some big points early,” Flakus said. “We thought we were kind of down and out, but we just hang on, keep looking to score points, and eventually it paid off for her.”

Hieb was able to erase an early 6-2 deficit before coming back to win by fall.

“For her to make it to the third period and had the endurance was good to see,” Flakus said.

Paw Jone talked about the finish to her match.

“She tried throwing me. You have to stay back and keep your hips synched to the mat,” she said. “Then I just kind of caught her arms from there.”

Paw Jone pinned her other foe in the opening period.

“It was quick match,” she said. “I went for the low single and got it.”

The freshman has a goal of finishing in the top three individually at state this year. When asked what it will take to do that, she responded, “Definitely have a good mindset and push yourself past your limits.”

Junior Allison Neitzel finally got to perform in front of the home town fans, after receiving a forfeit in Central’s home opener earlier this month.

“I was really disappointed when I found I had a forfeit in that Mitchell dual,” Neitzel said. “I’m glad we got to go out there and just scrap out on the mat.”

She said there is a special feeling being able to compete at home.

“It always does feel different. There’s a lot of people that come and support us,” Neitzel said. “We have probably one of the best communities when it comes to everybody coming out and wanting to watch everyone wrestle.”

Neitzel was one of numerous Golden Eagles to record a pair of pins on the evening.

“I was probably most pleased with the first one, just because I knew where I had to be,” Neitzel said. “I got to that double leg right away, and it was just easy money from there.”

Flakus was pleased to see Neitzel open up on offense, and also be able to get to compete at home.

“Even when she got in bad positions, she stayed calm, got back to where she needed to be,” Flakus said. “It was good to see her get two wins at home.”

Those who picked up two pins apiece for the Golden Eagles were Neitzel, Paw Jone, Grace Reszler, and Madison Little.

It’s been an interesting week for the Central girls, who won just one match in a dual against Pierre last week, before rebounding to win a tournament in Brandon, and then collecting two dual wins on Thursday.

Neitzel talked about maintaining a positive mindset that is filled with highs and lows.

“It’s definitely tricky,” she said. “It’s probably one of the hardest parts about it is after a tough loss, we’ve just got to keep our heads up.”

The Golden Eagles head to Harrisburg for a tournament today.

“It will be good competition,” Flakus said. “There’s a lot of girls that we haven’t seen yet. That will be big for region and state seeding.”

Aberdeen Central 54, Yankton 6

107: Double Forfeit 114: Jocelynn Rose (ABCE) over (YANK) (For.) 120: Alexis Brenden (YANK) over Jashila Williams (ABCE) (Fall 0:56) 126: Jasmine Maas (ABCE) over (YANK) (For.);

132: Allison Neitzel (ABCE) over Sofia Delgado (YANK) (Fall 0:28) 138: Rakyrah Wallace (ABCE) over (YANK) (For.) 145: Lin Paw Jone (ABCE) over Winry Yaggie (YANK) (Fall 5:33) 152: Grace Reszler (ABCE) over Bailey Groetken (YANK) (Fall 1:01);

165: Lilly Nelson (ABCE) over (YANK) (For.) 185: Augustine Hieb (ABCE) over Aleya Ruzicka (YANK) (Fall 4:39) 235: Double Forfeit 100: Madison Little (ABCE) over Chloe Caton (YANK) (Fall 5:28).

Aberdeen Central 52, Brandon Valley 4

114: Leah Nelson (BRVA) over Jocelynn Rose (ABCE) (MD 8-0) 120: Jashila Williams (ABCE) over Kailee Schneider (BRVA) (Fall 5:00) 126: Jasmine Maas (ABCE) over (BRVA) (For.) 132: Allison Neitzel (ABCE) over Avery Bowers (BRVA) (Fall 1:27);

138: Rakyrah Wallace (ABCE) over Brenna Reker (BRVA) (Fall 2:33) 145: Lin Paw Jone (ABCE) over Allison Munger (BRVA) (Fall 1:08) 152: Grace Reszler (ABCE) over Lariana Mora-Robles Valle-Macias (BRVA) (Fall 0:45) 165: Lilly Nelson (ABCE) over (BRVA) (For.);

185: Augustine Hieb (ABCE) over (BRVA) (For.) 235: Double Forfeit 100: Madison Little (ABCE) over Gracie Peters (BRVA) (MD 14-0) 107: Double Forfeit.