A group of talented wrestlers in the lower weights will help raise the bar for the Aberdeen Central wrestling squads this season.

The Golden Eagles return six state place-winners from last season (three each on the boys’ and girls’ team) and they all can be found in the lower weights. Central has been known for its strength in the upper weights in the past, but now they will be fueled from the bottom.

“I think you’re going to see more of an aggressive style from us: just good, hard, tough wrestling. I think you’re going to see where we’re going to come out and push the pace and push the points,” said Central coach Donnie Bowden. “You’re going to see these younger kids and you’re going to see these lighter weights where they’re going to kind of  give us that spark. They’re going to get us going.”

Returning state place-winners for the boys include Rayden Zens (third at 106 pounds last year), Mason Schrempp (sixth at 113), and Brock Martin (fourth at 126). Jacob Bellefeuille is also a returning state qualifier.

Martin is one of just a few seniors on the squad.

“Last year he got to where we knew he could be. He got up on the state podium,” Bowden said. “He had a top-four finish which was wonderful. He’s hungry for more. He’s a leader by example and the kids really take to him.”

Dylan Schaunaman is another senior who will be counted on for major contributions.

The girls will be led by returning state place-winners Madyson Gillen (fourth at 112), Ally Brunmaier (seventh at 124), and Melina Frank (third at 131).

This is just the second year of organized wrestling for girls’ teams.

“They’re doing really well. They come in with having little knowledge of the sport and taken to it. They’re excited about it. They like the physicality of it and they’re ready to work,” Bowden said. “There’s a lot of good excitement there. They like to work right alongside the boys. The boys have been doing a great job of bringing them along, ushering them in.”

Bowden said the girls and the boys work as one unit, even though technically they are separate teams.

“The culture that we have built on the boys’ side is spilling into the girls’ side,” Bowden said. “We operate as one program. Even though we’re identified as two, we operate as one. We’re always together. The kids see how the other side works.”

One of the things unique to the girls is that since most of them are so new to the sport, they pick up on things quickly and their improvement is more noticeable.

“There’s no really bad habits,” Bowden said. “You’re getting a blank canvas that’s ready to be painted.”

Bowden said the Eagles have three sets of goals: daily, season and long-term. He said each year the team goal is to finish in the top three in the Eastern South Dakota Conference and region, and top six at state.

He said the focus is not so much on results as it is on week to week improvement.

“The biggest thing to remember is that it’s about improvement,” Bowden said. “If you’re always results-based they can kind of give you that false-negative or false-positive. It can kind of get you into a hole a little bit.”

The Golden Eagles open their season Saturday at a tournament in Watertown. After three weeks of practice, Bowden said his wrestlers are ready to face somebody different.

“The intensity hit a new level this week,” he said. “The focus has narrowed. You can see it’s all starting to come together.”

Bowden said this weekend’s goals will be pretty basic, like scoring first in each match, as the team attempts to set a baseline for where its at to start the season.

He said there could be movement up and down the lineups as the season progresses.

“This is the beginning. This is not the end,” Bowden said. “This is just going to kind of be the benchmark to see where we’re at, and then we’re just going to keep building each week from there.”