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Sports Memories by Tom Jones

 

50 years

• Iowa State’s Chuck Jean of Albert Lea won his second consecutive NCAA wrestling championship by defeating Jim Crumley from Oregon State. The contest ended in a 6-6 tie, but Jean had over six minutes of riding time, which was good for two points and the championship at 177-pounds.

• It was announced that Robert Travers, owner of Town House restaurant in downtown Albert Lea, would be operating the restaurant and bar facilities at Albert Lea Country Club for the 1970 season. The club also welcomed Don MacRae as its new golf pro.

• The 27th and 28th goals of the year by Bill Collins of the Minnesota North Stars saw his bonus money go up $200 to $1,800 on the year in the North Stars’ 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. He was receiving a bonus of $100 for every goal he scored on the season over 10.

• Ray Johannsen and Jim Breach were organizing a slow pitch softball league that was to take place in Freeborn that summer.

• With only a week before the regular baseball season was set to start, a federal bankruptcy referee approved the sale and move of the Seattle Pilots to Milwaukee for 10.8 million dollars. The new team was named the Brewers and was to be owned by Bud Selig.

 

25 years

• Michael Jordan scored 55 points in the Chicago Bulls’ 113-111 victory over the New York Knicks. It was the most points scored against a Knicks team at the new Madison Square Garden.

• Minnesota Gophers hockey coach Doug Woog earned his 300th coaching victory as his team defeated Colorado College 5-2 to advance to college hockey’s Final Four. Nick Checco had a goal and two assists for the Gophers.

• Sophomore Andy Stensrud of the Lake Mills boys’ basketball team was named the Albert Lea Tribune’s Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year. He averaged 19.8 points and 13.2 rebounds per game for the Bulldogs.

 

10 years

• The Albert Lea Thunder ended their regular season with a 6-5 overtime win over Alexandria at Albert Lea City Arena. Joe Rogers earned his 13th victory of the season in the nets, making 40 saves.

• Bloomington’s Cole Aldrich announced he would be skipping his senior year of basketball at Kansas and would enter the NBA draft. Aldrich averaged 11.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game for the Jayhawks his junior year.

• Joe Sczublewski was set to start his 22nd year at the helm of the Albert Lea baseball team. The Tigers only had two players graduate from the previous year’s team that had finished sixth in the Big Nine Conference.

 

This year

• Joey Batt of New Ulm recently finished her freshman basketball season at Minnesota State University-Mankato, where she played in 29 games, averaging 9.4 points per game and was named to the NSIC All-Conference Freshman Team. She is the daughter of Brian and Laura Batt of New Ulm and granddaughter of Al and Gail Batt of Hartland. Her father is the head coach of the New Ulm Eagles girls’ basketball team and is a 1988 graduate of New Richland-Hartland High School.