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Sports Memories by Tom Jones

10 years

• The Albert Lea boys’ basketball team fell 70-65 to Rochester Mayo. Jake Thompson scored 25 points and Jakob Kilby added 16 to lead the Tigers.
• The Albert Lea wrestling team defeated Owatonna 32-27. Recording wins for the Tigers were Gavin Ignaszewski, Brody Nielsen, Beau Johnsrud, Santana Acosta, Dereck Samudio, Tim Christianson and Triston Westerlund.
• Eighth-grader Erika Bute scored 22 points and added 15 rebounds to lead the Alden-Conger girls’ basketball team to a 59-42 win over Schaefer Academy.
• Foster Otten scored the only goal for the Albert Lea boys’ hockey team as they were defeated by Faribault 2-1.

20 years

• The Albert Lea boys’ swimming and diving team was defeated by Mankato East 95-83 at the high school pool. Ben Schreiber won two events for the Tigers, taking the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle.
• The Albert Lea Tigers girls’ hockey team battled to a 2-2 overtime tie with Winona at the City Arena. Madi Passingham and Tessa Christensen scored goals for the Tigers.
• The Albert Lea boys’ J.V. hockey team defeated Rochester Century 5-3. Jared Bowman had two goals with Lucas Hanson, Alex Brandt and Even Hegwood each adding one.
• Tracy McGrady scored 40 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 119-113 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in front of a sold-out crowd at Target Center. Sam Cassell led the Timberwolves with 24 points.

50 years

• The Endres Rangers men’s hockey team defeated a team of Old Timers 13-4 in a game played at the fairgrounds arena. Butch Westrum scored two goals for the Old Timers with Ron Matthews and Floyd Harves Jr. adding one.
• Terry Ball and Don Tennahill scored goals to lead the Minnesota Fighting Saints to a 2-1 win over the Baltimore Blades in front of 8436 hockey fans at the St. Paul Civic Center.
• Al Shaver, the radio voice of the Minnesota North Stars was set to be the featured speaker at a banquet at the Albert Lea Eagles Club. Tickets were on sale for $2.25 each.
• The Freeborn County Fairgrounds were hosting Albert Lea’s first annual Freeborn County Snowmobile Championships in an event sanctioned by the Midwest Racing Association.
• The Albert Lea girls’ basketball team won their sixth game of the season with a 33-27 win over Winona. Sheri Hultgren led the Tigerettes with 14 points.
• The Minnesota Twins announced they had signed Tony Oliva to a one-year contract. Terms of the contract were not announced. He went on to play 131 games that season and batted .270.
• After suffering three straight losses, the Albert Lea boys’ basketball team defeated Rochester John Marshall 55-41. Bob McCamy scored 18 points and Steve Ladwig added 13 to lead the Tigers.
• In the YMCA Kids’ Basketball League for fifth and sixth graders, Jeff and Jon Ulman combined for 50 points and Dennis Dziura added 20 as the Bucks defeated the Hawks 70-30.
• The Albert Lea VFW Post 447 was hosting snowmobile races at the VFW Park In Geneva. The event included stock and super stock, cross country, drags, ovals and powder puff.

A bit of history

In their first year in league competition during the 1940-41 school year, the Albert Lea Tigers wrestling team won the Big Nine championship. Dick Lien, Harvey Wagner and Clyde Dilling were champions in the regional tournament and were the first representatives for the Tigers in the state tournament.