The competition was tough, and so was the Albert Lea High School wrestling team.

Monday, December 03, 2001

The competition was tough, and so was the Albert Lea High School wrestling team.

The Tigers finished third out of five teams Saturday in their annual dual-meet invitational, which included two teams rated No. 1 in their state and one ranked nationally. Albert Lea, rated No. 10 in Class AA in this year’s initial poll, went 2-2 on the day.

Defending state champion Apple Valley, rated No. 1 in Minnesota and No. 4 in the nation, went 4-0 while Osage, rated No. 1 in Iowa Class A, was 3-1. Faribault went 1-3, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva 0-4.

&uot;For this early in the season, I was real pleased with both our varsity and junior varsity,&uot; said ALHS coach Larry Goodnature. &uot;What I found out is the kids are in shape, and their technique is good.&uot;

The Tigers topped Faribault 54-18 in the opening round, building a 42-0 lead on consecutive falls by Josh Hansen, Alex Hansen, Nate Goodnature, Brandon Klukow, Neal Underdahl, Adam Elseth and Adam Morreim. The other wins were by Adam Lares and Chris Hable, both by fall.

Josh Hansen, Alex Hansen, Elseth and Morreim won decisions in a 51-12 loss to Osage, the No. 1 ranked Class A team in Iowa.

Apple Valley beat the Tigers 48-12. Winning for Albert Lea were Elseth and Nate Loberg, both with pins.

The Tigers bolted to a 43-0 lead en route to a 49-15 triumph over NRHEG. Winners were Josh Hansen, Alex Hansen, Nate Goodnature, Klukow, Underdahl, Elseth, Jake Clark, Morreim and Justin Krueger.

&uot;Elseth, our only wrestler to go 4-0, had a great day,&uot; said Coach Goodnature. &uot;Josh Hansen and Morreim also looked real good. Klukow was 2-2, but he lost to two defending state champs. Krueger and Lares had a tough draw, a tough day, a rough start – they’ll get better. Overall, I was real pleased with the way we wrestled.&uot;

Bill Root’s 2-1 record led NRHEG. Matt Holland was 1-0. Other Panthers’ record for the day: Cody Christensen, 1-3; Brian Bos, 0-4; Carl Pederson, 1-3; Brandon Bartness, 0-4; Andy Tomsche, 0-4; Dave Halbakken, 1-3; Anders Mattson, 2-2; Nick Christensen, 2-2; Kaleb Jacobson, 1-2; Patrick Petsinger, 2-2; James Petsinger, 1-3; Ryan Graves, 0-1.

The competition doesn’t get much easier for Albert Lea this week as the Tigers host No. 2 rated Owatonna in their Big Nine opener Thursday. The junior varsity is set for 6 p.m., with the varsity at approximately 7.