RAPID CITY – Aberdeen Central fell from the top team in Class A team points, while Redfield remained in fifth place in Class B after the second day of the state wrestling tournament in Rapid City Friday.
The Golden Eagles, who were in ninth following the opening day, slipped to 16th with 32.5 points. Brandon Valley is well out in front of Rapid City Stevens at the top of the team standings, leading 166 to 144.
“We had four of them in the quarterfinals and we pushed two into the semis,” said Central coach Donnie Bowden. “It just didn’t kind of pan out.”
Rayden Zens won his quarter match, before falling to a quality opponent from Watertown.
“Rayden Zens wrestled well to start out with,” Bowden said. “Then when we got to the semifinals we ran into the buzz saw of (Sloan) Johannsen of Watertown, again. The kid is a stud. He is really good.”
Brock Martin won his quarterfinal at 126 pounds in dramatic fashion. He trailed 2-0 with less than 30 seconds remaining. He then recorded a reversal to tie the score before scoring a pin in the closing seconds.’
“That was huge. Last year, when we chose bottom it ended up kind of being our kryptonite,” Bowden said. “This year he’s progressed. We chose bottom and it ended up panning out. It was a huge highlight.”
Martin then got injured in his semifinal loss.
“In the semifinal we wrestled the number one kid,” Bowden said. “We looked really good until we got headlocked.”
Central has two other wrestlers who earned a place: Mason Schrempp and Samuel Calvert.
Schrempp, an eighth-grader dropped a 6-4 decision in his quarterfinal.
“He wrestled really tough against a returning state champ from Tea,” Bowden said. “The future looks really good there.”
Calvert came up just short in an ultimate tiebreaker in his quarterfinal.
“He wrestled extremely well in that quarterfinal match and things just didn’t go our way,” Bowden said. “It was just kind of a knock down drag out battle for position. It was kind of heartbreaker to lose that way.”
Central still has four girls who will be competing today as well: Madyson Gillen, Melina Frank, Morgan Woosley and Clare Moe.
Bowden noted that this will be the first time in his nine years as head coach at Central that he will not have a state champion on the podium.
“We’re hoping to finish on a high note,” Bowden said. “because we have some really good pieces in place for next year.”
Canton continues to lead the B team points with 179.5. Winner is second with 157. Redfield has scored 76 points.
There are two area wrestlers who will be competing in the finals today. Groton’s Dragr Monson is unbeaten at 113 pounds, while Bradyn Robbins has lost just once on the year at 138 pounds.
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