ABERDEEN — In a dual match that was close from the opening whistle, the Huron Tigers got just enough down the stretch to eke out a 40-36 win over the Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles in ESD wrestling action Thursday night at the Aberdeen High School gym.
It was the second dual win for the Tigers over Central, as they opened the season with a 38-33 win on Dec. 5.
The early matches in the dual went quickly, as Central’s Samuel Calvert opened with a pin-fall win over Hser Wah for a quick 6-0 Eagle lead. A win by forfeit for Tyson Lien at 182 evened the score, they Dylan Schaunaman took a win over Dah Christ Moo at 195 to put the Golden Eagles up again, at 12-6.
Back-to-back pin-fall wins by the Cardona brothers - Tristan Cardona stuck Landon Merkel in 1:11 at 220 and Sebastian Cardona pinned Eric Becerra in 1:51 to give Huron its largest lead of the match, at 18-12.
Cycling back to the lighter weights, Aberdeen’s Noah Kramer emerged with a 34 second pin-fall over Peyton Bischoff at 106 pounds and it seemed as if no match would go the distance in the dual.
The pinning continued at 113 pounds, as AC’s Brody Aesoph struggled for a period and a half against Huron’s Aiden Zavesky, but eventually managed to put together a pinning combination, putting Central up 24-18 with a pin in three minutes flat.
The Tigers countered with a pin from Moses Gross at 120 pounds. Gross controlled the match from the start and held a 5-0 lead over Jacob Bellefeuille midway through the first period. Gross looked to be relaxing his hold, but quickly re-established a better grasp on the Golden Eagle and made quick work of the match, getting the referee’s slap on the mat as the buzzer ended the first period.
At 126 pounds, Huron’s Will Radke fought back from a 6-2 first period deficit and was poised to close the match with a takedown for the win, but ran out of time, as Radke dropped a 7-6 decision to Avery Ligon.
Jeran Sammons of Huron fought a valiant match at 132, but found himself wrestling from behind throughout, as he dropped a 10-4 decision to Brock Martin of Aberdeen.
In the match that may have been the turning point for the Tigers, Colt Dunkelberger found himself trailing Braden Senger 5-0 early in the match, but managed to get a reversal and a near fall to tie the match after the first period. Dunkelberger was very close to earning the win-by-fall victory in the first period but the buzzer robbed him of the chance.
On the second period, however, wrestling from the up position, Dunkelberger stayed in control, rolling up near fall points until he caught Senger in a pinning combination and stuck the Golden Eagle in 3:29. Dunkelberger’s win knotted the team score at 30-30, and when Kaiser Ruth dominated Brayden Steuck throughout the 145 pound match to earn a major decision, Huron led 34-30 with two matches remaining.
Beauty Moon had a back-and-forth match with Beau Price at 152 pounds, but ultimately suffered a pin-fall loss in 3:53.
With Aberdeen leading the dual 36-34, the stage was set for the final match of the dual, as Huron’s Lucas Hofer squared off with Ayden Gisi of Aberdeen.
Hofer took a quick 2-0 lead and he allowed Gisi to escape. Going for another takedown, Hofer threw Gisi and was assessed a penalty point and for a while, it didn’t appear the Aberdeen wrestler would be able to continue. But continue he did.
After the injury delay Hofer made quick work of the match, quickly getting a take-down and moving quickly to a pinning combination for the win in 2:32, and giving Huron the dual win.
The Tigers are on the road Saturday at the Chamberlain Invite.
