ROCHESTER — Once again, the fate of the Albert Lea Tigers fell on the shoulders of Adam Lares.

Friday, January 12, 2001

ROCHESTER — Once again, the fate of the Albert Lea Tigers fell on the shoulders of Adam Lares.

The big guy did not let them down.

Lares pinned his opponent in the first period of the heavyweight match, lifting the Tigers to a dramatic 31-26 dual-meet wrestling victory at Rochester Mayo Thursday night.

&uot;This is the third time this season he’s done it where he had to win it to win the (meet),&uot; said Tigers coach Larry Goodnature. &uot;That is really something. He’s definitely the man I want out there as our closer.&uot;

Lares, a junior, wasted little time, putting his opponent’s back on the mat at the 1:20 mark, erasing a 26-25 lead for the surprising Spartans.

The teams took turns winning in the first five bouts. Josh Hansen lost 15-6 at 103 pounds, Brandon Klukow won by fall at 112, Aaron Kontz fell by technical fall at 119, Adam Elseth won 8-2 at 125 and Jon Murray was defeated 13-1 at 130.

Then the Tigers took four straight. Adam Morreim prevailed 14-4 at 135, Alan Attig won 7-4 at 140, Ryan Howell beat his opponent 6-1 at 145 and Wyatt Reyerson won by fall at 152. Reyerson’s victory kept him undefeated for the season.

The next three bouts were exciting but the Tigers lost them all. Justin Krueger just missed a takedown at the buzzer and lost 8-6 at 171. Eric Page trailed 21-13 before being pinned in 5:28 at 171. Isaac Walton was edged 8-7 at 189.

Goodnature said the closeness of the meet was a combination of two things. The Tigers did not wrestle their best, and the Spartans have improved.

&uot;It was not the best performance by our guys,&uot; said Goodnature. &uot;We did what we had to do to win.&uot;

The Tigers, ranked No. 11 in Class AAA in the most recent ratings, improved to 6-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big Nine. They’re in action again Saturday, traveling to the St. Cloud Tech Invitational, a dual-meet tournament that includes four ranked teams. The junior varsity is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. and the varsity at 10:30.