Albert Lea climbs rankings, again

The No. 2-ranked Albert Lea wrestling team received its highest ranking in six years on Friday, the day before it lost its first dual meets of the season.

The Tigers (12-2) beat Sauk Rapids to open the Kiffmeyer Duals in St. Cloud on Saturday before falling to Hastings and Foley to place fourth. Albert Lea was without four wrestlers from its top lineup and saw individual improvements despite receiving its first blemish.

“What I’m seeing from these kids is that we’re improving every time we wrestle, and that’s what I want to see against great competition,” Tigers coach Larry Goodnature said. “The kids that did wrestle got to see great competition, and even the kids who lost learned what they have to do to compete at the next level.”

The Tigers cruised in its lone win over Sauk Rapids 54-13 before falling to seventh-ranked Hastings 41-21 and third-ranked Foley (Class AA) 39-26. With the loss to Hastings, the Tigers likely lost Section 1AAA’s No. 1 seed, but Goodnature said when the Tigers face the Raiders again with its full lineup, it should see a different result.

“You need to be at full strength if you’re going to compete with those teams,” Goodnature said. “Hastings had the best lineup it could, and with our best lineup in place I think we can beat them and move on.”

Albert Lea’s Trevor Westerlund, the state’s top-ranked wrestler at 106 pounds, went 3-0 during the tournament which included a decisive victory over Foley’s Tyler Funk. Westerlund beat the sophomore Funk 6-4 in the finals of the Rumble on the Red on Dec. 30., but this time the Tigers’ junior won by a 14-3 major decision, demonstrating how much he’s improving throughout the season.

“He dominated him,” Goodnature said, of Westerlund. “He looked really good this weekend.”

No. 6-ranked Dakota Wangsness (120) and No. 7 Triston Westerlund (152) also went undefeated over the three duals.

The Tigers No. 2 ranking, which was released by TheGuillotine.com, is the team’s highest ranking since 2006, according to Goodnature, who’s team began the season ranked ninth.

“I liked where we were at the beginning of the season, and we’ve inched our way up by knocking off ranked teams and placing high in big-time tournaments,” he said. “I’m really pleased with how the season is going so far. We took a couple losses but that’s not going to hurt us, that’s only going to help us.”

No. 2 Albert Lea 54, Sauk Rapids-Rice 13

106 — No. 1 Trevor Westerlund (AL) tech. fall Taylor Rau 22-7

113 — No. 4 Garrett Wangsness (AL) dec. No. 5 Eric Olson 7-2

120 — Tylor Nelson (AL) disqualification Dalton Siemers

126 — No. 6 Dakota Wangsness (AL) maj. dec. Mckay Ness 16-4

132 — Lucas Hansen (AL) dec. Austin Walz 4-0

138 — Devin Nelson (AL) dec. Nate Krepp 6-2

145 — Chris Keske (SR) maj. dec. Spencer Carstens 13-0

152 — Jacob Tyler (AL) forfeit

160 — No. 7 Triston Westerlund forfeit

170 — Dustin Samudio (AL) fall Dylan Vait 3:38

182 — Chuck Rudy (SR) dec. Derek Sipple 3-1 OT

220 — Jace Talamantes (AL) fall Blake Keske 4:00

285 — Bryce Deboer (AL) forfeit

No. 7 Hastings 41, No. 2 Albert Lea 21

106 — No. 1 Trevor Westerlund (AL) fall Josh Lociano :44

113 — No. 2 Luke Rowh (H) dec. No. 4 Garrett Wangsness 6-3

120 — No. 6 Dakota Wangsness (AL) dec. Isaac Bauer 5-4

126 — Danny Gove (H) dec. Tylor Nelson 6-1

132 — No. 3 Eric Bauer (H) tech. fall Derek Samudio 18-3

138 — Dan Marquette (H) dec. Lucas Hansen 2-0

145 — Jake Anderson (H) maj. dec. Devin Nelson 11-3

152 — Dylan Nelson (H) dec. Jacob Tyler 9-2

160 — No. 7 Triston Westerlund (AL) fall Hunter Swenson 1:34

170 — Bryan Rachuy (H) maj. dec. Dustin Samudio 17-7

182 — No. 6 Jake Swenson (H) fall Derek Sipple :29

195 — Cody Wagner (H) maj. dec. Tayler Blake 10-2

220 — No. 3 Isaac Eichman (H) fall Jace Talamantes 3:51

285 — Bryce Deboer (AL) fall Jake Anderson :37

No. 3 Foley 39, No. 2 Albert Lea 26

106 — No. 1 Trevor Westerlund (AL) maj. dec. No. 7 Tyler Funk 14-3

113 — No. 4 Garrett Wangsness (AL) fall Spencer Schrupp 2:50

120 — No. 6 Dakota Wangsness (AL) fall No. 4 Tyler Jesnon 1:42

126 — Randy Jenson (F) dec. Tylor Nelson 6-0

132 — Lucas Hansen (AL) maj. dec. Tyler Beehler 11-2

138 — Chevy Goble (F) maj. dec. Devin Nelson 14-4

145 — No. 5 Tyler Bemboom (F) tech. fall Spencer Carstens 15-0

152 — Teren Kampa (F) dec. Jacob Tyler 2-0

160 — No. 1 Taylor Lewandowski (F) forfeit

170 — No. 7 Triston Westerlund (AL) fall Dylan Holly 1:06

182 — No. 5 Nick Lefebvre (F) fall Derek Sipple 1:23

195 — Tony Kipka (F) fall Tayler Blake 5:07

220 — Mitch Keeler (F) dec. Jace Talamantes 13-9

285 — No. 4 Sam Olson (F) dec. Bryce Deboer 8-5 OT