BROOKINGS – Aberdeen Central set the tone early with a pair of bonus-point wins on the way to a 44-16 Eastern South Dakota Conference dual win over the Bobcats on Friday night at the BHS Auxiliary Dungeon.
Jacob Moore (106) and Brenden Salfrank (113) both won by major decision over Connor Klinkhammer and Luke Rasmussen, respectively, to spot the Golden Eagles an 8-0 lead.
Carson Klinkhammer then posted an 5-4 decision over Daymon Steuck at 120 to get the ‘Cats on the scoreboard.
Steuck scored first with a takedown before Klinkhammer evened the score with a reversal and then earned three near-fall points for a 5-2 lead after a period.
When Steuck deferred his choice to start the second, Klinkhammer chose the bottom and neither wrestler scored sending the match into the third with the Bobcat senior still up by three points.
Steuck chose neutral and got a late takedown to get within 5-4, but Klinkhammer prevailed for the one-point win.
At 126, Central’s Victor Pailla won a 5-3 decision over Sam Lehman before Will Jarrott (132) and Austin Cihak (138) won by fall over Jacob Montis and Rhett Zelinski, respectively, to push the Golden Eagle lead to 23-3.
Brookings’ Justin Devine built a 10-1 lead before winning by fall over Austin Hopfinger at 145 to pull the Bobcats within 23-9.
Devine earned a takedown to lead 2-0 after a period and then scored a reversal early in the second before Hopfinger escaped to make it 4-1. Another takedown pushed Devine’s lead to 6-1 through two, and then the Bobcat sophomore scored a takedown in the third; added two back points; and then pinned Hopfinger at the 5:34 mark of the match.
At 152, Collin Haar won an 8-4 decision over Kesmond Willert to push Central’s lead to 26-9.
Tate Coon got four points back with a 9-1 major decision over Clayton Rernleitner at 160 pounds as the Bobcat senior scored a takedown in the first for a 2-0 lead after one.
Starting the second period down, Coon escaped and had another takedown to push his advantage to 5-0 through two before going up by seven points with a takedown in the third period. After letting Rernleitner escape, Coon scored his fourth takedown for the eight-point bonus win to make it 26-13.
The Golden Eagles put the match away with three straight wins as Bradley Nelson rallied with a takedown and three near-fall points in the third period to earn a 9-5 decision over Jacob Schoon at 170; Braiden Nelson won by fall in 3:13 over Logan Hadley at 182; and then Jake Flakus used a third-period reversal for a 2-0 decision over Cole Eidem at 195 to push Central’s lead to 38-13.
At 220, Gus Miller scored eight unanswered points for an 8-2 decision over Noah Fullmer.
Scoreless entering the second period, Fuller went up by two points with a reversal before Miller tied the match with his own reversal late in the second, and then, he picked up three near-fall points before time expired to take a 5-2 lead into the third.
Miller escaped midway through the third period and then scored a late takedown for the final margin to make the team score 38-16.
Brookings was open at 285 as Kaden Johnson earned the free six points for the 44-16 final score.
“I think at 126, (Sam Lehman) wrestled Victor Padilla very well – if we could have gotten back up on our feet a couple of times, we would have gotten a little better effort on our feet,” said Bobcat head coach Scott Miller. “They are a little better on top and we had a hard time getting away – 195-pound match, we spent four of the six minutes underneath, and you aren’t going to win very many matches like that – so we need to get our hips going and get back on our feet – that’s where we’re better; we’re more comfortable on our feet.”
The Bobcats compete in the Yankton Invitational today.
“(In Yankton), we get to see Pierre again; we get to see Millard South – they’re one of the better teams in Nebraska,” Miller said of the upcoming schedule. “Then we redo a triangular with Harrisburg and Brandon Valley next week – that’s one where we need to get back on track – those are two winnable duals.
“We had a couple of kids out tonight because of sickness – those kids need to get rested up – and we need to get back doing what we need to do upstairs to get better.”
ABERDEEN CENTRAL 44, BROOKINGS 16
106 – Jacob Moore, AC, maj. dec. Connor Klinkhammer, 17-3 [4-0]
113 – Brenden Salfrank, AC, maj. dec. Luke Rasmussen, 15-6 [8-0]
120 – Carson Klinkhammer, B, dec. Daymon Steuck, 5-4 [8-3]
126 – Victor Padilla, AC, dec. Sam Lehman, 5-3 [11-3]
132 – Will Jarrott, AC, wbf over Jacob Montis, :40 [17-3]
138 – Austin Cihak, AC, wbf over Rhett Zelinski, :26 [23-3]
145 – Jacob Devine, B, wbf over Austin Hopfinger, 5:34 [23-9]
152 – Collin Haar, AC, dec. Kesmond Willert, 8-4 [26-9]
160 – Tate Coon, B, maj. dec. Clayton Rernleitner, 9-1 [26-13]
170 – Bradley Nelson, AC, dec. Jacob Schoon, 9-5 [29-13]
182 – Braiden Nelson, AC, wbf over Logan Hadley, 3:13 [35-13]
195 – Jake Flakus, AC, dec. Cole Eidem, 2-0 [38-13]
220 – Gus Miller, B, dec. Noah Fullmer, 8-2 [38-16]
285 – Kaden Johnson, AC, forfeit [44-16]
