Tigers win big to open sections
Published 12:00 am Friday, February 15, 2008
The math is simple for the Albert Lea wrestling team. Two more dual wins and the Tigers will punch their third straight ticket to the state dual tournament.
Fifth-ranked Albert Lea took another step on its journey back to the Xcel Energy Center Thursday night discarding Rochester Century 63-10 in a Section 1 quarterfinal.
All that remains for the Tigers is a semifinal matchup against either Rochster John Marshall or Austin and a likely final with No. 12 Owatonna to complete their goal. Both of those duals will be held at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester Saturday beginning at 3 p.m.
&8220;The kids are fired up for it and they want to get back up to the state tournament,&8221; Albert Lea head coach Larry Goodnature said. &8220;We wrestle all year long and practice all year long and the ultimate goal is to get to the state tournament. They know that, and we are ready for it.&8221;
The Tigers jumped out to an 18-0 lead thanks to an 8-2 win by No. 2 Cory Hansen at 103, top-ranked Cody Hansen pinned Brian Christenson in 3:34, Kyle Kriewall stuck his opponent in 3:52 and No. 7 Trevor Rasmussen overcame some cramping to his legs to hold off D.J. Tenney 9-7 at 125.
&8220;We wanted to wrestle a couple of these weights for seeding at the section tournament and we got a big one at 125,&8221; Goodnature said. &8220;We got it and everything went as we planned.&8221;
Century&8217;s Erich Moyer was able to get a pin at 130 after the Tigers&8217; Adam Clark had dominated much of the match.
Connor Kortan put on a dominating performance of Joe Ginther at 135 for the Tigers. Kortan was up 10-3 after one period of action and went on to earn the pin in 2:51.
Third-ranked Logan Kortan picked up the Tigers&8217; fourth pin of the night at 140 needing 2:37 to stick his opponent.
At 145, Century&8217;s Chad Zastrow earned an 8-0 major decision over Anthony Tippett even though Tippett rode him out in the third period.
Albert Lea&8217;s Matt Tiegs pinned Brian Russell at 160 in 1:09, Jordan Holland came back from a 4-3 deficit in the second period to win 8-5 at 189 and Ethan Reed overpowered Sam Gaul pinning him at 215.
Pat Ignaszewski (152), Logan Hansen (171) and Andrew Peterson all received forfeits for the Tigers.
&8220;Our goal is to get to the state tournament and place in the state tournament,&8221; Goodnature said. &8220;The kids keep improving and they are a veteran team now and they know what they want.&8221;
Century downed Winona 66-18 in the first dual of the night.
Albert Lea 63, Rochester Century 10
103 – Cory Hansen (AL) dec. Mitch Miller 8-2, 112 – Cody Hansen (AL) pinned Brian Christenson 3:34, 119 -Kyle Kriewall (AL) pinned Jarad Watts 3:52, 125 – Trevor Rasmussen (AL) dec. D.J. Tenney 9-7, 130 – Erich Moyer (C) pinned Adam Clark 3:05, 135 – Connor Kortan (AL) pinned Joe Ginther 2:51, 140 – Logan Kortan (AL) pinned Mike Babcock 2:37, 145 – Chad Zastrow (C) maj. dec. Anthony Tippett 8-0, 152 – Pat Ignaszewski (AL) won by forfeit, 160 – Matt Tiegs (AL) pinned Brian Russell 1:09, 171 -Logan Hansen (AL) won by forfeit, 189 -Jordan Holland (AL) dec. Drew Miller 8-5, 215 – Ethan Reed (AL) pinned Sam Gaul 2:35, 285 – Andrew Peterson (AL) won by forfeit