In a dual that did not have one match go the distance, Aberdeen Central ending up slipping past Pierre Tuesday night at Golden Eagles Arena.

The two squads finished the evening tied at 30-30 on the scoreboard, but the Golden Eagles won the dual on criteria.

Central coach Jake Flakus was pleased with the way his girls competed against the defending State A champion.

“They’re the number one team in the state for a reason,” Flakus said, “but I thought we still went out and put our foot on the line and wrestled them hard.”

The Eagles were once again led by their two most experienced members Madyson Gillen and Katrina Gibson. Both girls went out and pinned their foes and did not waste much time in doing it.

“They’ve both been wrestling for a while and they know how to go out and win matches,” Flakus said. “Even if the girl doesn’t wrestle their weight class specifically, they just go out and win matches.”

Gillen scored an early take down and stuck her opponent in less than a minute.

“I just snap her down. I try to get behind and get on a head, and try to break her flat,” Gillen said. “If it doesn’t work, just keep going, keep working at it.”

Gillen comes from a family of wrestling so she has a solid background in the sport.

“I have a mat at my house and I go and drill some more,” Gillen said. “The work never ends.”

Gillen is hoping that more girls will come out for the sport to help the Eagles fill some open spots on their roster.

“I’m really proud of my girls,” Gillen said, “and I hope there’s more that come out.”

Gibson’s foe, Kyanne Traversie-Johnson, put up a bit more of a battle before succumbing to a fall in the second period. That was fine with Gibson.

“She’s a fighter. That’s the good thing,” Gibson said. “A lot of these girls are out here, not just to get pinned, but whether it’s to learn or just to get better, they’re going to fight just so they don’t get pinned right there in the first period. It was a good fight and it was fun wrestling her.”

Gibson said she got to know her opponent when they traveled to the Disney Duals down in Florida.

“We were friends way before we were competitors,” Gibson said.

Gibson, who last year became Central’s first state champion in girls’ program history, said she tries not to think about what comes from being a defending champ.

“It doesn’t feel very much different,” Gibson said. “I know there’s a target on my back, but then again I don’t try to think about it too much, because I’m out there to wrestle, and what happens at the end of the day is what happens.”

Like Gillen, Gibson is happy to see more and more girls give the sport a wrestling a try.

“I’m so proud of my girls,” Gibson said. “We have quite a few new girls coming out this season and they’re so good at being disciplined, and they’re doing so great and working so hard.”

The closest match of the dual came when Central’s Grace Reszler was pinned just before the final horn. She was trailing just 6-4 at the time.

“That (Pierre) girl is a really good wrestler,” Flakus said, “and for Reszler to keep it within two points almost the whole match, I think that should be a big confidence boost for her, because she can realize that she can hang in with those better girls.”

Avery Bendewald, Jasmine Maas, and Lilly Nelson each won by forfeit for Central.

The Golden Eagles will head to Ashley, N.D. for a tournament on Saturday.

100: no match; 107: Avery Bendewald (ABCE) over (PTFR) (For.) 114: Madyson Gillen (ABCE) over Londyn Allen-Hunsaker (PTFR) (Fall 0:50) 120: no match; 126: Dani Ringstmeyer (PTFR) over Allison Neitzel (ABCE) (Fall 1:42) 132: Kezrey Benning (PTFR) over Rakyrah Wallace (ABCE) (Fall 0:44)

138: Jasmine Maas (ABCE) over (PTFR) (For.) 145: Ireland Templeton (PTFR) over Grace Reszler (ABCE) (Fall 5:56) 152: Abbigail Lewis (PTFR) over Lin Paw Jone (ABCE) (Fall 0:48) 165: Katrina Gibson (ABCE) over Kyanne Traversie-Johnson (PTFR) (Fall 2:50) 185: Lilly Nelson (ABCE) over (PTFR) (For.) 250: Heavenly Thompson (PTFR) over Nina Howard (ABCE) (Fall 1:00).