ROCHESTER — Against a pair of state-ranked foes, the Albert Lea wrestling team produced a combined eight falls and allowed only one.

“We’re a pinning team,” said Tigers coach Larry Goodnature. “A lot of teams are takedown teams, where they take ’em down, let ’em up and take ’em down. We take ’em down and try to turn ’em. That’s what paid off for us.”

No. 3 Albert Lea won its first nine bouts en route to a 51-10 win over No. 11 Stewartville in the Section 1AA semifinals and added a 32-27 victory over No. 2 Kasson-Mantorville in the finals Saturday at Rochester Civic Center.

The win in the section-title match propelled the Tigers to their first berth in the Class AA state tournament since the 2011-12 season, when the team was 28-5.

“This has been our dream the whole year since the first day of practice,” said Albert Lea’s Garrett Aldrich. “Our whole team wanted it.”

Part of the Tigers’ strategy was a series of lineup changes.

Aldrich, the defending state champion at 106 pounds, is ranked No. 1 at 120 pounds, which is the weight class he competed in for the majority of the season. However, Aldrich wrestled at 132 pounds in both matches. He had few problems in either bout and posted a pair of major decisions.

“I just did it for the team,” Aldrich said. “We knew we had to move some kids around to win. That’s what we did, and we won.”

Compared with the Tigers’ closest Big Nine Conference match of the regular season, a 32-27 win Jan. 24 at Owatonna, the team had eight of 14 wrestlers in the same weight classes. Aldrich switched with Beau Johnsrud from 126 to 132, Chris Nelson flipped with Dereck Samudio from 170 to 160, Triston Westerlund moved from 220 to 285 and Dominick Fadden filled Westerlund’s spot at 220 instead of Brandon Neal at heavyweight.

“We ask a lot of these kids when we move them up, and they came through for us,” Goodnature said.

 

Tigers top Komets to qualify for state

In the section title match, 11 of the 28 participants were listed in the Guillotine’s rankings.

Zach Glazier gave Albert Lea a 3-0 lead after the 106-pound match with a 4-1 decision over Kasson-Mantorville’s Jared Johnson.

After Keaton Shorr won a decision over Albert Lea’s Gavin Ignaszewski, the Tigers won three straight bouts to take a 19-3 lead.

Brody Nielsen pinned Garsen Schorr in 1:40 at 120, and Beau Johnsrud followed with a fall over Dalton Andrist in 3:41. At 132, Aldrich picked up a major decision.

Kasson-Mantorville went on to win five of the next six matches to cut its deficit to one point, 22-21. The KoMets had four ranked wrestlers in that group.

“Even our kids who lost did a heck of a job,” Goodnature said. “They had about five or six great kids, and we didn’t get pinned. That’s huge.”

By the time the 195-pound match rolled around, Albert Lea needed a win. Tim Christianson delivered with a 12-2 major decision over Noah Ryan.

“Tim went out there and beat a good kid handily,” Goodnature said. “It was a big win for him.”

The fact that Kasson-Mantorville took its first lead in the next match at 220 with a pin in 10 seconds by Chase O’Conner had little bearing on the overall outcome.

The Tigers countered with a fall at 285 by Triston Westerlund, the 220-pound champion at the Rumble on the Red tournament and the defending third-place finisher at the state tournament.

“When it came down to the last three matches, we knew if Tim won we could bump T-Bone (Westerlund) up to heavyweight and win the dual,” Goodnature said.

 

Albert Lea crushes Stewartville

Before the Tigers were matched up with Kasson-Mantorville, they had to beat Stewartville.

Albert Lea beat Stewartville 53-18 on Jan. 17 at Zumbrota, but Stewartville showed improvement two weeks later with a 33-32 win over Owatonna, a team Albert Lea edged by five points.

However, Albert Lea dominated the rematch even more than the regular-season match with a 41-point victory.

Albert Lea had five falls, three decisions and three major decisions, while Stewartville was held to two decisions and a major decision.

Next, Albert Lea (33-1, 10-0 Big Nine) will compete at the Class AA state tournament Jan. 26 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Brackets have not been announced.

 

No. 3 (AA) Albert Lea 51, No. 11 (AA) Stewartville 10

106—No. 3 Zach Glazier (AL) dec. Joey Thompson, 4-0

113—Gavin Ignaszewski (AL) fall Brody Olson, 3:52

120—Brody Nielsen (AL) fall No. 8 Tanner Prohaska, 4:32

126—Beau Johnsrud (AL) fall Ryan Clark, 1:09

132—No. 1 at 120 Garrett Aldrich (AL) major dec. Hunter Johnson, 13-4

138—No. 8 Devin Nelson (AL) dec. Alex Higgins, 3-2

145—Santana Acosta (AL) dec. Brady Keefe, 14-13

152—Mason Hammer (AL) fall Shaun Curtis, 0:48

160—Dereck Samudio (AL) major dec. Troy Bailey, 12-4

170—Jamie Gehling (SV) dec. Chris Nelson, 9-5

182—Shane Curtis (SV) dec. Parker Mullenbach, 7-1

195—No. 4 at 182 Tim Christianson (AL) major dec. Travis Capelle, 12-2

220—No. 2 Triston Westerlund (AL) fall Adam Gehling, 2:57

285—Kyle Lypkie (SV) major dec. Matt Palmer, 8-0

 

No. 3 (AA) Albert Lea 32, No. 2 (AA) Kasson-Mantorville 27

106—No. 3 Zach Glazier (AL) dec. Jared Johnson, 4-1

113—No. 3 Keaton Schorr (KM) dec. Gavin Ignaszewski, 8-1

120—Brody Nielsen (AL) fall Garsen Schorr, 1:40

126—Beau Johnsrud (AL) fall Dalton Andrist, 3:41

132—No. 1 at 120 Garrett Aldrich major dec. Elijah Wilcox, 12-4

138—No. 8 at 132 Patrick Kennedy (KM) dec. No. 8 Devin Nelson, 4-3

145—Ethan Shea (KM) dec. Santana Acosta, 10-6

152—Mason Hammer (AL) dec. Jim Paulson, 5-1

160—No. 1 at 152 Brady Berge (KM) tech. fall Chris Nelson, 20-4, 4:00

170—No. 5 at 160 Aaron Berge (KM) dec. Dereck Samudio, 5-3

182—No. 4 at 170 Andy Bigelow (KM) major dec. Parker Mullenbach, 11-2

195—No. 4 at 182 Tim Christianson (AL) major dec. Noah Ryan, 12-2

220—No. 4 Chase O’Conner (KM) fall Dominick Fadden, 0:10

285—No. 2 at 220 Triston Westerlund (AL) fall Cayden Johnson, 1:27