Tigers send four matmen to state
Published 12:00 am Monday, February 24, 2003
ROCHESTER &045; It was a long, grueling day for the Albert Lea High School wrestlers and coaches.
But they were well rewarded.
Four Tigers finished in the top two in the always-tough Section 1AAA individual tournament, earning a trip to state. In all, 13 of Albert Lea’s 14 wrestlers finished among the top six – the most in school history – in the two-day tournament that concluded late Saturday night at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.
&uot;Everyone left it all on the mat,&uot; said ALHS coach Larry Goodnature. &uot;The kids showed a lot of maturity in how they handled themselves, and they wreslted their hearts out.&uot;
Junior Adam Elseth was the Tigers’ lone titlist, winning the 135-pound crown while improving his record to 31-1.
Senior Josh Hansen, last year’s 103-pound state champ, fell 15-5 in the 112 finals to the top seed. He’ll take a 29-4 record to state.
Adam Morreim, a senior and the No. 1 seed at 140, was leading in the final before getting caught in a headlock and pinned. He ran his record to 20-4.
Dustin Eggum, a junior, came through the wrestlebacks to earn a true-second place match at 152, which he won 3-1 in overtime. He improved to 17-2.
Other ALHS places and final record: sophomore Zach Hansen, third, 103, 26-13; sophomore Alex Hansen, fifth, 119, 17-13; 8th-grader Taylor Ignaszewski, fourth, 125, 8-9; sophomore Brandon Klukow, fourth, 145, 14-6; sophomore Jared Butler, sixth, 160, 9-19; senior Derek Goodnature, third, 171, 10-8; freshman Mike Honeycutt, sixth, 189, 15-16; junior Randy Larson, fourth, 215, 19-15; junior Chris Hable, third, 275, 24-10. Sophomore Neal Underdahl did not place at 130, finishing 19-14.
&uot;It was nice to see Derek Goodnature, a senior, wrestle probably the best tournament of his career,&uot; said Coach Goodnature, who is Derek’s uncle. &uot;Eggum was a big surprise. He was the No. 5 seed, and he beat the No. 2 seed who had beaten him in the dual. Josh ran into an undefeated wrestler who was ranked above him. Elseth did what he was supposed to, he went out and did the job. Morreim wrestled well and deserves to go to state.&uot;
The state tournament is Thursday-Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The first round for the Tigers is Thursday at 8 a.m.