Pierre Dual

     On Thursday. Dec 13th the Eagles traveled to Pierre for an ESD dual. This dual features the #2 ranked Aberdeen Golden Eagles against the #3 ranked Pierre Governors. Aberdeen has 6 kids ranked in the top 8 with 3 of them at #1. Pierre has 11 ranked kids with their highest ranking wrestler at #3. In a dual setting, bonus points play a huge factor in determining the outcome and this one was no different. Pierre took advantage of 6 pins, a tech fall and a forfeit to soundly defeat Aberdeen 45-29. If those pins were just regular decisions, Aberdeen wins the dual. Sometimes not giving up bonus points can be as big as winning a match when it comes to a dual.
     The dual started off with top ranked Brenden Salfrank facing #5 Blake Judson. Salfrank got a quick takedown and 3 back points to go up 5-0. A reversal and 3 more back points in period 2 put him up 10-0 heading into the 3rd. The Eagles bench thought he had a pin on a few different occasions but the official didn't comply. Salfrank ended up earning a tech fall late in the third period to put the Eagles up 5-0.
     Drew Salfrank faced #7 Kahlor Hindman at 113. Drew wrestled a determined match showing some great defense. He was close to winning a few situations which could have changed the entire outcome of the match.  He ended up losing by a major decision but I'm sure Pierre was hoping to see a pin here. These are the types of efforts that can win a team dual. Those were extra bonus points Pierre was hoping for that they didn't get.
     Brock Martin at 120 faced #8 Hayden Schaffer. The Pierre kid seemed to have a size advantage over Brock finding a fall late in the first period.
     Aberdeen sent out the top ranked wrestler at 126 in Jacob Moore. This match was to have #6 Jace Bench-Bresher for Pierre but, for some reason, he didn't weigh in. Jacob pinned their JV kid in the second period putting the Eagles up 11-10. That lead was short lived as Pierre earned a tech fall and two pins in the next 3 matches.
     Garret Mitzel, ranked #7 at 152 stopped the Pierre winning streak. He got a takedown in each of the first two periods to defeat Jaret Clarke by a score of 5-1. Garret has quietly put together a nice start to the season and continues to be a force in the middle of the lineup.
     Samuel Calvert at 160 wrestled against Lee Snyder of Pierre. Sam is small for this weight class. He has weighed in at 152 all year but bumps up to 160 for these duals. The much bigger Snyder was able to pin him to make the team score 33-14.
     The next two duals were the premiere matches of the night. At 170 was #1 ranked Will Jarrott against #3 ranked Maguire Raske. After a scoreless first period Will earned a reversal and a take down in the second period followed by another takedown in the third to win 6-3. Following Will was #2 Brock Baker for Aberdeen and his opponent was #3 Garrett Leesman. Brock pinned Leesman at the Rapid Invite last weekend and the result would be no different this time around with a 1st period fall.
     Aberdeen forfeited at 195. At 220 was Alex Hopfinger against #5 Gage Gehring. A scoreless 1st period gave us an idea this would be a close match but the Pierre foe appeared to have more in the tank and got a fall late in the third period. I'm sure this is something Alex can learn from and will improve upon.
     The final contest of the evening featured two more ranked wrestlers. #2 Kaden Johnson who has pinned all but one opponent this year was facing #6 Preston Taylor. Kaden was dominant early getting three takedowns before pinning Taylor with 8 seconds to go in the first.
     The next action for the Eagles will be Thursday, Dec 20 at Golden Eagles Arena. It is "Meet the Eagles" night so come down and watch the Eagles take on the Kernals of Mitchell. JV starts at 6:00, Varsity at 7:00