Tigers wrestlers place 4th at state

Published 8:02 pm Thursday, March 3, 2011

Albert Lea 130-pounder Tristan Westerlund reacts Thursday after pinning Hopkins' Michael De Jolsvay in the Class AAA state tournament in St. Paul. -- Jon Theuer

ST. PAUL — It wasn’t the finish they wanted but the Albert Lea wrestling team placed fourth Thursday at the Class AAA wrestling tournament for a number of reasons.

After pounding Hopkins 60-9 and losing to St. Michael-Albertville 36-13, the Tigers had little spark left against the Prior Lake Lakers in the third-place match.

In previous state tournaments, teams would wrestle their three matches over the course of a few days — Thursday, they wrestled three over the course of a few hours. The new format change left the Tigers lifeless in their final match of the day, a 29-23 loss to the Lakers.

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“We probably wrestled our worst match of the whole year,” Tigers coach Larry Goodnature said. “After wrestling St. Michael-Albertville it just didn’t seem like we were up for this. I was a little disappointed about that.”

The Tigers went 1-2 during the state tournament and finished 28-5 on the year which included Big Nine Conference and Section 1AAA championships.

“I told the kids ‘You had a great season, don’t hang your heads'” Goodnature said. “Placing fourth in state is pretty darn good.”

The Tigers beat the Lakers 37-23 in their first tournament of the season on Dec. 4 in Hastings. The lineups were much different Thursday then the first meeting and after the teams exchanged blows over the first four matches, the Lakers gained momentum by picking up falls at 135- and 140-pounds and pulled away 21-6.

“Those two falls hurt us right there in the middle,” Goodnature said. “They just got too many things going when they got those falls.”

At 145 pounds, Dalton Westerlund put the Tigers back on track with a 3-0 decision over Tucker Brietung but the Lakers’ Tanner Carlisle pinned Jacob Tyler at 152 and Mike Van Arx won a 4-3 decision over the Tigers’ Trey Hable at 160 pounds to pull the Lakers ahead 29-9.

Down 20 with four matches remaining, the Tigers needed bonus points, including pins, in each match for a chance to tie. They won the final four, but 189-pounder Conner Kortan’s 21-6 technical fall of Tobby Schultz was the match to notch bonus points as the Tigers couldn’t catch the Lakers and fell 29-23.

With starting 171-pounder Carter Kortan out with a season-ending ACL tear, the Tigers bumped their usual 152-pounder Trey Hable and 160-pounder Cory Hansen to 160 and 171, respectively. Ninth-grader Jacob Tyler, with little varsity experience, filled in at 152 pounds and matched up against the Lakers’ toughest wrestler, No. 3-ranked Tanner Carlisle. Carlisle earned a five-point technical fall in 5 minutes and four seconds.

Because of the scattered lineups, Goodnature knew the match would be close.

“I knew it was going to to a good dual,” he said. “We just didn’t wrestle like I thought would or should have.”

In the past, the team state tournament was drawn out over three days with championship match on Saturday. This was the first year all three matches were played in the same day (within six hours) with the quarterfinals and semifinals back-to-back.

“I don’t like it,” Goodnature said. “I think personally, our team needed to wrestle one dual and take a break and then come back the next day and wrestle another one. They can get fired up more for one match each day.”

Apple Valley beat St. Michael-Albertville Thursday 61-6 for the Class AAA state championship.

Albert Lea 60, Hopkins 9

103 — Dakota Wangsness (AL) fall Jacob Price 1:41

112 — Lucas Hansen (AL) tech. fall Maxwell Stelzner 15-0

119 — Garrett Wangsness (AL) fall Benjamin Calvert

125 — Devin Nelson (AL) dec. Henry Wolfbauer 13-6

130 — Tristan Westerlund (AL) fall Michael De Jolsvay 5:11

135 — Bany Chan (AL) fall Nathaniel Haecheri 1:48

140 — Austin Haecheri (H) dec. Caleb Kolodge 13-7

145 — Dalton Westerlund (AL) fall Quinn Rohweder 1:30

152 — Trey Hable (AL) maj. dec. Romar Daniel 13-4

160 — Cory Hansen (AL) fall Benamin Tinkham 2:27

171 — Trey Goeman (H) fall Dustin Samudio 3:07

189 — Conner Kortan (AL) fall Daniel Schmid 1:02

215 — Caleb Gaudian (AL) dec. Kevin Rusell 4-0

285 — Alex Nielsen (AL) dec. Kyle Russell 7-1

St. Micheal-Albertville 36, Albert 13

103 — Tommy Thorn (STMA) maj. dec. Dakota Wangsness 8-0

112 — Cole Sladek (STMA) dec. Lucas Hansen 8-2

119 — Mark Voss (STMA) dec. Garrett Wangsness 7-5

125 — Lincoln Mallinger (STMA) maj. dec. Devin Nelson 12-4

130 — Wayne Voss (STMAN) dec. Tristian Westerlund 10-3

135 — Michael Lindquist (STMA) dec. Bany Chan 7-5

140 — Michael Nerdahl (STMA) dec. Caleb Kolodge 6-0

145 — Dalton Westlerlund (AL) maj. dec. Lucas Martin 11-3

152 — Jake Lillie (STMA) tech. fall Jacob Tyler 16-1

160 — Trey Hable (AL)  dec. Ricky Briggs 9-5

171 — Cory Hansen (AL) dec. Ryan Stott 7-2

189 — Conner Kortan (AL) dec. Mitchell Kolles 3-1

215 — Shaun Little (STMA) dec, Caleb Gaudian 7-0

285 — Parker Betts (STMA) tech fall Alex Nielsen 19-4

Prior Lake 29, Albert Lea 23

103 — Tanner Johnson (PL) dec. Dakota Wangsness 4-1

112 — Lucas Hansen (AL) dec. Sean O’Neil  3-0

119 — Ben Rock (PL) dec. Garrett Wangsness 7-2

125 — Devin Nelson (AL) dec. Blake Carlisle 7-4

130 — Brady Johnshoy (PL) dec. Trisitan Westerlund 9-3

135 — Matt Kahnke (PL) fall Bany Chan :57

140 — Ryan Norton (PL) fall Caleb Kolodge 1:50

145 — Dalton Westerlund (AL) dec. Tucker Brietung 3-0

152 — Tanner Carlisle (PL) tech. fall Jacob Tyler 5:04

160 — Mike Van Arx (PL) dec. Trey Hable 4-3

171 — Corey Hansen (AL) dec. Mike Mello 7-0n

189 — Conner Kortan (AL) tech. fall Tobby Schultz 21-6.

215 — Caleb Gaudian (AL) dec. James O’Brien 12-8

285 — Alex Nielsen (AL) dec. Sean Turner 4-2

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