Sunday, December 23, 2018

Meet The Eagles Night

     The dual against Mitchell brought a good crowd as it was the first home dual of the year, the only one held at Golden Eagles Arena this year. The two other home dates will be at the old Civic Arena. It was also Meet the Eagles Night where the wrestlers take turns signing team pictures after the dual for the young fans. It was a great atmosphere and a good crowd.
     The team is currently ranked 2nd in the state behind Rapid City Stevens. You would think with that high of a ranking that we would have no problem in a dual against an unranked Mitchell Kernels team but that is not the case. Having 5 kids ranked one or two can earn a lot of team points in a tournament but in a dual format you need contributors across the board. Although everybody wrestled tough The Kernels picked up 8 wins, 7 of which were via bonus points. This lead to the 40-29 victory for Mitchell.
     Much like the dual against Pierre last year, the coin toss played a major part in the outcome. Mitchell won the toss which made Aberdeen show the wrestler first in a few key weight classes. Both coaches juggled their lineups around and held back some JV wrestlers to try to gain any advantage possible. Had Aberdeen won the flip I believe they would have won the dual.
     The night started out with #1 ranked Brenden Salfrank dominating his opponent earning a tech fall and putting the Eagles up 5-0. Mitchell would counter that with a pin at 113 before Brock Martin would earn a 4-1 decision at 120 pounds. At 126 this is a spot where the coin toss worked to Mitchell's advantage. #1 ranked, Jacob Moore had to report first, Mitchell weighed in state placer, Kyler Bauder who has been hurt all year. Unbeknownst to Aberdeen, they had no intentions of wrestling him, just if we decided not to send anyone out then he would step out to take the forfeit. This forced us to send Jacob out thinking Bauder would come out. He didn't and they forfeited the weight class. I would assume if they had to report first they wouldn't have sent anyone out then we would have bumped Jacob up a weight. These are some of the reasons why a dual can be so exciting. Not only does every match count in a big way but there can be a quite a lot of strategy that you don't find in a tournament setting.
     After this move Mitchell rattled off six straight wins before #1 ranked Will Jarrott earned a pin for his 100th career victory. Aberdeen's slim hopes of winning the dual stayed alive as #2 ranked Brock Baker also secured a pin. This brought the Eagles within 10 points with 2 matches to go but Mitchell's #1 ranked Carter Max won at 220 lbs putting the dual out of reach. That left one match to go where #2 ranked Kaden Johnson found himself in an unexpected position. Down by a point late in the 3rd period he couldn't seem to find an opening to get a takedown. They wrestled out of bounds with 3 seconds to go. On the restart Johnson bull rushed Mitchell's Beau Foote, taking him down as time expired to finish the night in exciting fashion.
     A little about Jarrott and his 100th win. A nice accomplishment for the Senior. He is a two time state place winner and a 3 time state qualifier who has been in the program through youth and middle school. He's hoping to add a state high school title to his two state youth titles. He is a physical wrestler who is tough to score on. Congratulations Will!
     Aberdeen's next action will be the incredibly tough Rumble on the Red tournament held in the Fargo dome on Dec 28 and 29. There will be a total of 85 teams competing in both the varsity division and the junior varsity division representing the states of MN, ND, SD, NE, WI, AZ. It is not uncommon for a weight class to have over 20 ranked kids from their respective states! Last year Aberdeen placed 3 kids, Jacob Moore got 3rd, Collin Haar earned 7th and Kaden Johnson 8th in the varsity division. I would expect Aberdeen to have 5 or so in the varsity division and the rest in the JV portion. Hopefully a lot of kids can put together a good weekend and find the podium.
     One more thing, a great Christmas present for these guys is the 2 pound allowance they get on the 25th. Most, if not all, of these guys are pretty happy to get those two pounds.









Friday, December 14, 2018

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
























    













Sunday, December 9, 2018

Rapid City

     An early test on the wrestlers is the annual trip to Rapid City. They wrestle in a triangular on Thursday night against Rapid City Central then Sturgis before participating in the always tough Rapid City Invite. Not only is this a difficult one to make weight three days in a row but it's a meat grinder of a tournament with impressive competition from SD, ND, CO and WY featuring ranked wrestling in the country at various weights.
     RCC was our first opponent and the home team was ready to wrestle, defeating Aberdeen 52-18. Although the Eagles had some early success the momentum swung in the Cobblers direction and we couldn't get it back. Brenden Salfrank started things off with a dominating victory at 106. After recording a takedown and 9 points in Near Fall he pinned his opponent in the 2nd period.  Brock Martin wrestled an impressive match gaining a takedown in all 3 periods to win 7-3. Jacob Moore won by a decision at 126 to make the team score 12-6 Eagles, That was it for victories until Kaden Johnson's forfeit at 285.
     The Scoopers were next and the results were similar. Sturgis won 45-29. Salfrank got us off to a good start again with an 8-2 win over Kaden Olsen. Although the rankings aren't out yet I would expect to find these two at the top of the weight class. This was a nice win for Brenden. Our next win was from Jacob Moore who earned a first period fall before Sturgis would rattle off 5 straight wins. Will Jarrott would end the Scooper streak with a first period pin of his own and Dillon Stoebner would follow with a tough fought 6-2 decision. Kaden Johnson would get a fall of his own in the first period to end the dual.
     As a fan I can think of many reasons why we didn't wrestle well but knowing Coach Bowden , (who didn't attend the trip because his first child is due to be born any day now) he won't accept any excuses and knows we can do better and will do better.
     Better is definitely what we did the next two days during the tournament finishing in 5th place out of 36 teams with 147.5 points which is 8.5 points ahead of Sturgis and 16.5 ahead of RCC. The team responded well placing 6 kids in the tournament with 2 champions, a runner up, a 3rd a 4th and an 8th place finish. We had 5 kids in the semifinals bested only by the team from Windsor CO who had 6 in the semi's.
     Salfrank continued his early season success by dominating the 106 lb weight class. The number one seed got 2 pins then a major decision in the quarter finals followed by a 10-3 decision in the semi finals against Parker from Windsor before earning a major decision over the previously mentioned Olsen in the finals becoming the Rapid Invite Champion
     Drew Salfrank at 113 had a tough draw but did some nice things out there. He bounced back in the second chance tourney going 1-1. The experience this 8th grader is getting is invaluable and will pay dividends down the road.
     At 120 lbs for the Eagles was Brock Martin, the freshman lost his first match before gutting out 3 straight wins to finish in the top 12 and make it to day two. Unfortunately his opening match was to the eventual 3rd place finisher from Rapid City Stevens. You can see the experience from last year and so far this year really paying dividends for Brock. Look for him to have a nice season and a good career for the Eagles.
     Senior Jacob Moore worked his way to the semi finals at 126 by getting a pin, then a tech fall and a decision before losing to the two time CO state champ and Junior All-American Will Vombaur from Windsor. He would bounce back in his next match defeating Collin Powell from Chamberlain. This was a potential state finals matchup as well. One would expect to see them ranked 1 and 2 when the SD Class A rankings come out. Jacob's final match was against a familiar foe in ND State Champ Laken Boese from Bismarck. Jacob beat Laken last year in the semi finals and the previous year in the finals at this tournament. This year, wrestling for 3rd place, the University of Mary recruit beat Jacob 2-0. Look for these two to meet again at the Rumble on the Red tourney in Fargo or the Bismarck Rotary tournament.


     The Beadle brothers are at 132 and 138 for Central. Older brother Logan went 1-2 while younger brother, Calvin, showed a lot of grit and competed hard. Both had a good showing in the second chance tourney. As did 145 pounder Dillon Schaunaman. Who wrestled tough but drawing the top seed in the tourney was a tall order for the freshman.
    Garrett Mitzel made a nice run at 152. The unseeded Junior won his first match 4-2 then got a pin in 27 seconds to advance to the quarter finals. There he fell to the 3 seed from Douglas before he bounced back in the "Blood Round". Garrett got a turn for a 5 count in the second period to go up 3-0 and would hang on for the 3-1 victory. He lost the 7th place match by 1 point. Garret was down early but came storming back narrowly missing a take down as time expired.
     Sam Calvert at 160, who moved here from Alaska, drew the 2 seed in the opening round. He is adjusting to the difference in styles here in the Midwest compared to Alaska, but the Sophomore has talent and will be contributing greatly as the season progresses.
     170 features Will Jarrot who became our second champion of the tournament capping off an overtime victory over the top seed Riley Mitchell from Wyoming. Mitchell gained a late escape to tie the match and send it to overtime. Early in the period will got in on a single leg and finished it to earn the title. Will opened the tournament with two straight pins then a decision in the quarter finals before facing Wyatt Jungclaus of RCC. Jungclaus pinned Will during Thursday's nights triangular but the senior wouldn't have any of that this time around pancaking Jungclaus to his back earning 3 Near Fall points in the second period. That was the difference in the match as he won 5-4.
     Also wrestling at 170 was Junior Dillon Stoebner. Dillon pinned Huron's Tyson Lien before injuring himself in his second match. Although he went out for his third match the injury proved too much for him to overcome. I'm hopeful it is just a minor setback and he will be back on the mat soon.
     Brock Baker at 182 also put together an impressive run to the finals. Earning a pin in the first round, the second round, the quarter finals and a 3rd period fall in the semi finals against Leesman from Pierre. 4 straight pins got him to the finals where he would succumb to the top seed, and two time state champ, Isaiah Salazar, from Windsor CO and earn a runner up finish.
     Sophomore, Alex Hopfinger, who earned a varsity spot this year at 220 had a tough draw but was competitive. As he adjusts to varsity level wrestling he will see more victories come his way.
     Our last of 5 semi finalists is 285 pounder Kaden Johnson. Kaden was the 3 seed and has pinned every opponent so far leading into the tourney. He continued his pinning ways earning falls in the 1st, 2nd and quarter final rounds before falling in the semi finals to his opponent from Bismarck, Chase Dockter. Dockter wrestled a style Kaden isn't used to. Look for him to make adjustments the next time they meet. Kaden bounced back with two more pins including a 2nd period fall over Pierre's Preston Taylor to earn 3rd place.

Sunday, December 2, 2018

Watertown Dual Tourney

     The Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles started their season off in Watertown for the 8 team dual tourney. The weather was a factor this year preventing Pierre, Mitchell and Yankton from making the trip. Because of this they went to a 5 team round robin tourney so everyone still had 4 duals on the day. Although the weather reduced the crowd and changed the atmosphere for the fans, it did not affect the size of Aberdeen's crowd. In fact, this was one of the biggest Aberdeen crowds in recent memory to attend this tourney.
     Our first opponent was the Tigers from Huron who forfeited at 106 then got a pin at 113. Brock Martin at 120 totally manhandled Cole Oschner turning him 3 times before earning the tech fall near the end of the 3rd period. Huron forfeited 3 of the next 6 matches, the other 3 matches they got 2 falls and a decision. At 170 Will Jarrott sticks state qualifier Tyson Lien in 59 seconds to bring the team score to 29-21.  Dillon Stoebner stepped onto the mat against Blake Larsen. In what was a pretty exciting match to watch Dillon threw him two separate times for some big points before pinning him in the second period. Aberdeen then lost by decision then a pin before Kaden Johnson's pin at 285 against a gamely Kameron Christenson. Aberdeen won the dual 47-30 with the help of 3 falls and 4 forfeits plus a tech fall.
     Our next opponent was the undermanned Milbank Bulldogs. The fellow Region 3A school gave up 5 forfeits. Add to the fact we pinned them 6 times and you get a lopsided score of 69-7. Brenden Salfrank got things started quickly with a fall in 25 seconds. The next 4 matches saw us get two forfeits and a loss by a major and a regular decision. This would be the only team points Milbank would get. Junior Logan Beadle, wrestling at 138, showed some explosiveness before earning the 2nd period fall. Garrett Mitzel would follow with a 2nd period fall of his own before newcomer Samuel Calvert, who moved here from Alaska, earned a 10-3 decision over Dillon Schneck. A forfeit from the Bulldogs at 170 was followed by a fall in the first period from Dillon Stoebner when he glued Brodie Holtquist's shoulders to the mat at the 1:55 mark. Alex Hopfinger got a pin of his own over Toby Schneck in the first period before a forfeit at 220. Kaden Johnson finished off Milbank with our 6th fall of the dual pinning Jorge Calderona in 44 seconds.
     Next up was Harrisburg, of the nine matches we won 7 of them were via fall. The first one was at 106, Brenden pinned Logan O'Connor in 32 seconds. at 113 was Brenden's cousin Drew Salfrank, the 8th grader earned his first varsity win beating Soren Aadland 6-0. Brock Martin had another dominating performance besting Jagger Gribble by a major decision 14-2. Up next for the Eagles at 126 is Senior Jacob Moore. "Crash" was hoping they would send someone out to wrestle him since the two previous teams did not. He got his wish then pinned the unsuspecting freshman in 13 seconds. Harrisburg earned pins in the next 3 matches before Garrett Mitzel put an end to that with a pin of his own over Nathan Herrocks in the first period. Aberdeen would get pins in 4 of the remaining 6 matches. Senior Will Jarrott took it to Mason Schoenhard with a fall in 55 seconds. Senior Brock Baker pins Galvin Gulbranson. Alex Hopfinger sticks Avery Barnhart in 50 seconds followed by Kaden Johnson's pin at the 1:51 mark over Austin Abrahamson. The final score of the dual was 49-24.
     The last dual of the day was against the host team Watertown. In a match that featured 11 pins, 1 tech fall and 1 major the Arrows defeated the Golden Eagles 33-45. Junior Brenden Salfrank continued his pinning ways putting Connor Hansen's shoulders to the mat in a quick 21 seconds. The Arrows answered with pins at 113 and 120. Jacob Moore won by fall in the first period making the team score 12-12. Watertown won the next 5 straight matches to go up 39-12. Will Jarrott ended that winning streak by pinning state qualifier Sam Stroup in the 2nd period. A pin at 182 from Watertown then we get one of our own at 195 when Brock Baker pins Connor Wirtjes in the 2nd. Alex Hopfinger earned a 11-6 decision before Kaden Johnson got his 4th pin of the day over another state qualifier, Lincoln Stahl.
     Going 4-0 on the day was Salfrank earning one forfeit and 3 pins totaling 1:18 of mat time. Moore with 2 forfeits and two pins, Jarrott 1 forfeit and 3 pins and Kaden Johnson with 4 straight pins. At 3-1 was Martin, Baker and Hopfinger. All 3 of Baker's wins were by fall. Finishing 2-2 was 145 lb Dylan Schaunaman, 152 Garrett Mitzel (2 pins) and Dylan Stoebner also with 2 pins.
     There was also a JV tournament going on at the same time. We had several kids pick up wins and I saw a lot of good wrestling. Earlier in the week the middle school sent their 7th and 8th graders to Jamestown. Aberdeen had 2 kids go undefeated. Ayden Gisi and Rayden Zens. The next tourney for them is Pierre on Saturday while the JV goes to Faulkton on Saturday as well. As for the varsity, they make a trip across the state to Rapid City. Thursday they dual Rapid City Central and Sturgis then will be participating in the Rapid Invite over the weekend.
    
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