Albert Lea coasts after bulding 36-0 lead

Albert Lea dominated Northfield 61-10 on Tuesday to earn a slot in the second round of the Section 1AAA Wrestling Tournament.

The dual marked the last time the seven senior Tigers will compete on the mat in the Albert Lea High School gymnasium.

“It’s sad to see these seniors go. It’s their last go-round,” Albert Lea head coach Larry Goodnature said.

The Tigers started the dual by amassing a 36-0 lead.

In the first match, Albert Lea sophomore Beau Johnsrud lit up the scoreboard 6-0 by pinning Noah Van Cleave of Northfield in 1 minute 16 seconds — the fastest fall of the night.

A forfeit by the Raiders in the 113-pound weight class gave the Tigers a 12-0 advantage.

“Trevor Westerlund didn’t get a match, and he’s a senior,” Albert Lea head coach Larry Goodnature said. “As a coach, I would have liked to have seen all 14 of our kids get a match. But, we went out there and did what we needed to do to get through this first round and move on to Saturday.

Garrett and Dakota Wangsness each posted wins: Garrett earned a pin in four minutes and 26 seconds, and Dakota followed with a 4-3 decision.

“The Wangsness boys did a nice job,” Goodnature said.

Devin Nelson pinned his oppponent at 132 pounds, and Santana Acosta followed with an 11-8 decision over Tommy Matheson.

Senior Lucas Hanson continued the Tigers’ winning ways with a quick fall over Northfield’s Alexander Malecha.

“He didn’t really do much at the beginning,” Hanson said. “So, I had to initiate the tie-ups, get my setups going and take my shots.”

“Lucas ended his career here at Albert Lea High School in nice fashion by getting that fall,” Goodnature said.

The Raiders earned one of their two wins on the night at 152 pounds.

Albert Lea’s Bany Chan fought back by pinning Northfield’s Ben Ertl in one minute and 22 seconds in the 160-pound weight class.

The Tigers won by forfeit in the final four weight classes.

“Northfield had a couple of people out, but we have a tough program, and we’ve been working hard all year,” Hanson said. “We didn’t look past them.”

Next, No. 6 Albert Lea (20-2) has a dual with the No. 8 Hastings Raiders (20-9).

“We’re excited to go to the section semifinals,” Hanson said. “Hopefully, we’ll beat Hastings and get revenge on Owatonna in the finals.”

The meet starts at 12:30 p.m. at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester at 12:30 p.m on Saturday.

If the Tigers advance, they will play the winner of Owatonna and Rochester Mayo at 2:30 p.m. also on Saturday.