The Albert Lea Tigers had hopes of knocking off the powerful Owatonna wrestling team.

Friday, December 07, 2001

The Albert Lea Tigers had hopes of knocking off the powerful Owatonna wrestling team. They still do. It’s just that now they’re looking at doing it next year.

The young Tigers wrestled well against Owatonna Thursday night but lost 37-17 to the defending state runners-up and current No. 2 ranked squad in the state.

The Tigers kept it exciting and held a 14-9 lead after six matches but won only one of the remaining seven. The Huskies pulled away at the end with falls at 189 pounds and heavyweight.

&uot;I was pretty pleased with the way we wrestled because we’re real young,&uot; said Tigers coach Larry Goodnature. &uot;Give Owatonna credit, they’re a good team. They’ve got six seniors and five juniors, and a lot of those kids have been on that team for the last three or four years.&uot;

But the Tigers weren’t intimidated.

&uot;We didn’t lay down for them,&uot; said Goodnature. &uot;We battled them tough in every match. They just had a little more than we did.&uot;

Josh Hansen got the Tigers off to a 4-0 lead with a 15-3 major decision at 103.

Alex Hansen lost a 17-2 tech fall at 112 and Nate Goodnature was major decisioned 13-4 at 119, putting Owatonna up 9-4, but it could have been worse. Both Owatonna wrestlers are former state placewinners.

&uot;Those two guys not giving up pins was a big win for us right there,&uot; said Coach Goodnature.

So was Brandon Klukow’s come-from-behind 3-2 decision at 125.

Neal Underdahl followed with the most dramatic win of the night, scoring a last-second takedown for a 5-4 decision at 130.

Adam Elseth kept the momentum on the Tigers’ side, remaining undefeated at 135 with an 8-0 major decision.

Owatonna then won four in a row. Adam Morreim lost 11-4 at 140, Nate Loberg lost by tech fall at 145, Jared Butler was edged 4-0 at 152 and Brandon Servantez dropped a tech fall at 160.

Justin Krueger stopped the slide and kept the Tigers’ hopes alive with an impressive 6-5 triumph at 171, pulling Albert Lea within 25-17.

Owatonna iced it as Adam Lares was pinned in 3:32 at 189 and Chris Hable lost by fall in 1:56 at heavyweight.

The Tigers, 2-3 overall in dual meets and 0-1 in the Big Nine, wrestle Saturday in the Waseca Invitational.