Gallery: Tigers dominate Winhawks

Published 9:09 pm Thursday, December 11, 2014

Joe Peterson, right, of Albert Lea wrestles Winona's Jake Mueller at 106 pounds Thursday during a triangular hosted by the Tigers. — Micah Bader/Albert Lea Tribune

Joe Peterson, right, of Albert Lea wrestles Winona’s Jake Mueller at 106 pounds Thursday during a triangular hosted by the Tigers. — Micah Bader/Albert Lea Tribune

Scenes from the mat were a blur of pins and wins by forfeit for the Albert Lea wrestling team.

The No. 4 Class AA Tigers improved their dual meet record to 12-0 on Thursday in their second home triangular of the season by pounding Winona Cotter 66-3 and Mankato East 63-12.

Out of 28 individual matches, Albert Lea won 10 by fall and 10 more by forfeit.

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“We like the falls, but we don’t want the forfeits,” said Tigers coach Larry Goodnature. “We want to wrestle.”

In an effort to provide experience to his wrestlers, Goodnature tinkered with the lineup. Against Winona/Cotter, he bumped Zach Glazier up from 113 pounds to 120 to face Jack Vaselaar.

“I knew the kid was going to be a little stronger,” Glazier said. “It was just good to get a match and not have to take a forfeit.”

After Vaselaar took an early lead, Glazier stormed back to win with an 8-4 decision.

“I gave up an early takedown, but I just kept wrestling, pushed the action and stayed with it,” he said.

By pinning Mankato East’s Nick Miller at 113 pounds in 1:01 during the second match of the triangular, Glazier kept his individual record unblemished along with four other Tigers: Joe Peterson, Garrett Aldrich, Tim Christianson and Triston Westerlund.

Peterson was 1-0 with an 11-6 decision over Winona/Cotter’s Jake Mueller at 106 pounds. Aldrich won by forfeit against Winona/Cotter and pinned Mankato East’s A.J. Palmer in 1:05 at 126 pounds. Christianson won by forfeit against both teams, and Westerlund won by forfeit against Mankato East.

Beau Johnsrud led the Tigers with two falls. He pinned Winona/Cotter’s Tristan Penic in 1:21 at 138 pounds, and he produced the same result in 1:01 against Mankato East’s Nick Miller in the same weight class.

Albert Lea wrestlers who each had one pin were Brody Nielsen, Santana Acosta, Dominick Fadden, Mason Hammer, Dereck Samudio, Parker Mullenbach, Glazier and Aldrich.

According to Goodnature, the Tigers implemented moves they’ve been working on in the wrestling room, including being on the bottom and working to get an escape or reversal.

“We need to be able to score from underneath,” Goodnature said. “It’s nice to see that what we’ve been practicing is being utilized in meets.”

Next, the Tigers will look to add to impressive wins against the defending Class A state champion and Class AAA state runner-up against Byron Thursday at 7 p.m. on Freedom Night at Albert Lea.

Admission will be free for veterans and members of the military. The American Legion Honor Guard and VFW Color Guard will be in attendance, Goodnature said.