HASTINGS – You already knew the prospects for next year were bright for the Albert Lea High School wrestling team.

Tuesday, January 22, 2002

HASTINGS – You already knew the prospects for next year were bright for the Albert Lea High School wrestling team.

From the looks of things, the Tigers could be in good shape well beyond that.

The Albert Lea freshman squad placed third in the ninth-grade state tournament at Hastings Saturday.

&uot;The team wrestled very well all day,&uot; said coach Mike Hansen.

That’s an understatement. The Albert Lea team includes only three ninth-graders – the rest are seventh and eighth-graders – and the Tigers forfeited two bouts in three of the four dual meets.

The locals defeated Cambridge-Isanti 44-27 in the opening round, then topped BOLD 35-27 to reach the semifinals against Milaca. There, Albert Lea lost its first dual meet of the season 46-21.

The Tigers faced Apple Valley for third place and won a 39-38 thriller.

The ninth-graders advanced to state by winning the Section 2 championship, defeating Jackson County Central 84-6 and topping Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 73-6 to finish 8-0 in regular-season dual meets.

Members of the state championship team were Beau Hansen, Zach Hansen, Matt Morris, Taylor Ignaszewski, Eric Elleby, Nate Goodnature, Brandon Klukow, Tim Frazier, Cory Frerk, Levi Hughes, Alex Paul, Ben Berhow, Mike Honeycutt and Tony Malepsy. The coaches are Wayne Busch and Mike Hansen.

Morris, Goodnature and Frerk were all 4-0 at Hastings while Beau Hansen, Ignaszewski, Klukow and Berhow were 3-1.

Beating Apple Valley was the highlight, according to Coach Hansen.

&uot;We needed a fall at 160 or 171 to tie them,&uot; said Hansen. &uot;Berhow pinned his opponent at 160, and the Apple Valley kid refused to shake his hand. Apple Valley lost a point for unsportsmanlike conduct.&uot;

Honeycutt went on to win at 171 to give the Tigers an insurmountable 13-point lead.

&uot;Even if we had tied them, we would have won on a tiebreaker because we won eight matches,&uot; said Hansen.

Probably the biggest match of the day, according to Hansen, was the heavyweight bout against BOLD. Malepsy trailed 8-0 entering the third period before scoring a reversal and a fall, putting Albert Lea in the semifinals.

The Tigers finished 11-1 as a team, but their season isn’t finished. They’ll compete in the individual section tournament Tuesday, Jan. 29 at Faribault, with the top two placewinners in each weight qualifying for state Feb. 1 at Monticello.