Albert Lea’s Aldrich heads to state title match

Published 1:31 pm Saturday, February 27, 2016

Albert Lea's Garrett Aldrich wrestles Waconia’s Tyler Wagener at 132 Saturday during the state wrestling semifinals at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. - Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

Albert Lea’s Garrett Aldrich wrestles Waconia’s Tyler Wagener at 132 Saturday during the state wrestling semifinals at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. – Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

ST. PAUL — Albert Lea’s Garrett Aldrich is looking to get his third consecutive championship at the state wrestling tournament.

He got one step closer to that goal with a win in Saturday’s semifinals at Xcel Energy Center, advancing him to tonight’s Class AA championship bout. At 132 pounds, Aldrich won a 5-1 decision over Waconia’s Tyler Wagener to punch his ticket to tonight’s finals. Aldrich (42-4) is set to wrestle Hibbing’s Morgan Fuenffinger (41-0) in the title match.

Fellow Tigers Zach Glazier and Matt Palmer lost their semifinals, placing them in the consolation bracket.

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At 126, Glazier lost in the semifinals to Scott West’s Jackson Stauffacher in a 3-2 decision. Glazier then went on to win a 12-3 major decision over Bailey Eickhoff, sending Glazier on to the third-place match. He will wrestle Hector’s Brock Luthens, who he previously defeated in the quarterfinals of this year’s state tournament with a 6-5 decision.

Palmer was pinned in his semifinal at 285 by Detroit Lakes’ James Huwe in 1:49. Palmer was then pinned in 11 seconds during his first consolation bout against Becker’s Casey Vesledahl. He will now face Jameer Anderson of Benilde-St. Margaret’s in today’s fifth-place match.

Brody Nielsen lost his 138 consolation match Saturday morning to Kasson-Mantorville’s Issac Haman in an 8-7 decision, ending his tournament run.

About Colleen Harrison

Colleen Harrison is the photo editor at the Albert Lea Tribune. She does photography and writes general-assignment stories.

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