Sports Memories, By Chuck Anderson

50 years ago: 1968

• Owatonna won the Region 1 wrestling tournament with 54 points. Placing second was Waseca with 40 points, third place was Rochester John Marshall with 35 points and Albert Lea finished fourth with 33 points. Gerald Bakke placed second at 95 pounds and Tom Lair also placed second at 103 pounds for the Tigers, and advanced to the Minnesota state wrestling tournament.

• Maynard Hall won the singles title in the Albert Lea Men’s Bowling Association city tournament. Winning the doubles championship were Jack Melby and Bill Errenbach. The B @ W Cafe team of Rollie Marquardt, Ray Ewing, Don Drommerhausen, Lefty Sullivan and Archie Nelson captured the team title.

• In the first round of the West Sub-District high school basketball tournament, Freeborn defeated Blooming Prairie 64-57. The Yeomen were led by John Miller with 17 points and Jim Johannsen and Steve Neubaer with 16 points each. In the second game, Alden defeated Ellendale 58-54 behind 22 points by Al Lindemann.

25 years ago: 1993

• In Section 1AA high school hockey, No. 6-seed Albert Lea was eliminated by No. 7-seeded Austin, 9-3. Scoring goals for the Tigers were Cazzi Wacholz, Jeremy Hendrickson and Brandon Thomes. The Tigers finished with an 11-13 record.

• The Albert Lea High School basketball team was defeated by Faribault on a last-second shot, 62-61. The Tigers’ season record to date stood at 3-18 and their Big Nine Conference record at 3-13.

• In a first-round basketball game in Sub-Section 1A, Glenville-Emmons defeated Blooming Prairie 66-54. The Wolverines were led by John VanBeek with 21 points and Tom Fredrickson with 12. In the second game of the night, Alden-Conger defeated Medford 64-61.

10 years ago: 2008

• The ALHS boys’ swim and dive team placed 12th out of 32 teams at the 2008 Minnesota state tournament. For the Tigers, Matt Van Fossen placed second in the 100-yard butterfly and fifth in the 200-yard individual medley, and Chris Dorman finished eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke.

• In Class A at the Minnesota state wrestling tournament, Jake Bonsack of United South Central defeated Alex Kontz of Canby 3-2 to win the 103-pound title.