ALHS wrestling team tops Austin, improving to 20-1

Staff

Published Friday, January 30, 2004

By Jim Lutgens, Tribune Sports Editor

AUSTIN - About the only suspense was whether Adam Elseth and T.J. Parlin would get to face each other.

There was little doubt who would win the meet.

The Albert Lea Tigers, rated No. 3 in the state in Class AAA, had an easy time Thursday while winning 53-14 in a Big Nine wrestling dual meet at Austin.

The match everyone wanted to see - between the Tigers' Elseth and Austin's Parlin, two of the best in the state - did not happen. Elseth, who has already beat two state champions in an undefeated season, got the night off.

"We kind of knew we would win this one, but we didn't go out flat," said Tigers coach Larry Goodnature. "We wrestled our style, like we have done all year, aggressive. We just went out and got the job done."

Starting at 140 pounds, the Tigers took a 6-0 lead as Alex Hansen was handed a forfeit.

After Jared Butler dropped an 11-6 decision at 145, Albert Lea won five straight.

Brandon Klukow scored an 18-3 technical fall at 152, Dustin Eggum won 6-1 at 160 and Corey Frerk received a forfeit at 171. Ben Berhow and Randy Larson followed with falls at 189 and 215, respectively.

In the two best bouts of the night, the Tigers' Chris Hable lost 3-2 at 275 and Zach Hansen fell 5-4 at 103.

"Both guys wrestled real well in two great matches," said Goodnature. "We felt some calls didn't go our way in both instances, but that happens sometimes."

The Tigers responded by winning the next four.

Eric Johnson recorded a pin at 112, Beau Hansen won an 11-0 major decision at 119, Zach McGinnis got a fall at 125 and Matt Morris received a forfeit at 130.

In the final match, Taylor Ignaszewski lost 26-12 to Parlin.

The Tigers improved their record to 20-1 overall and 7-0 in the Big Nine.

Goodnature expects a lot more intensity in the Tigers' next dual meet, Friday, Feb. 6 against Rochester Mayo at ALHS. The Spartans, rated No. 8 in Class AAA, have only one conference loss.

"This is a huge match for Albert Lea wrestling," said Goodnature. "It's for the outright Big Nine championship and the No. 1 seed in the section tournament. We want to get everyone out there we can."

(Contact Jim

Lutgens at sports.albertleatribune.com or at 379-3437.)

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