Nine Albert Lea wrestlers advance in section tourney

 

ROCHESTER —  Eleven Tigers traveled to Mayo Civic Center in Rochester on Friday morning for the opening rounds of the Section 1AAA individual tournament.

Of the 11 who started the day, nine advanced to the championship semifinals starting Saturday morning. Two came up short in their first matches, but were sent to the consolation bracket, where one advanced to Saturday and one saw his season come to an end.

The first to qualify for the semifinals was sophomore Joey Flores at 113 pounds. Flores wrestled a nearly flawless match in the quarterfinals, not giving up a single point and winning via a 5-0 decision.

At 120 pounds senior Nic Cantu dominated his quarterfinal opponent, winning by technical fall, 17-2, in the second period. Eighth-grader Cole Glazier picked up the first pinfall of the day for Albert Lea, pinning his Rochester John Marshall opponent 1:10 into the second period.

Freshman Cam Davis was put in a dangerous spot right away in his match at 132 pounds. After finding himself on his back and in a 5-0 deficit, Davis fought back and pulled out a 12-7 decision win to advance him into the semifinals.

Eighth-grader Derrick McMillian kept the wins coming at 138 pounds with a fall over his Farmington opponent as time was expiring in the second period. Sophomore Caleb Talamantes came out the victor of an exciting match at 145 pounds. After trailing 5-2 with around 30 seconds left in the match, Talamantes got a takedown and forced his Rochester Century opponent to his back, picking up another three back points. Talamantes held onto the lead for the remainder of the match, picking up the 7-5 decision win.

Fellow sophomore Griffin Studier came out on top of a nail-biter at 152 pounds. After taking a late 4-3 lead, Studier withstood the takedown attempts from his opponent to advance into the semifinals after the one-point decision win.

Senior Zach Glazier made quick work of his Rochester Century foe, picking up the fall in less than one minute at 182 pounds. Senior Brady Nielsen won his quarterfinal matchup at 220 pounds via a 5-3 decision.

Eighth-grader Aivin Wasmoen came up just short in his quarterfinal matchup 7-6. After starting out down 5-0, Wasmoen battled back to make it a close match, but wasn’t enough to overcome the early deficit. In his consolation match, Wasmoen looked to have the match well in hand with a 7-0 lead in the third period. However, he fell victim to a pinfall in the final minute of the period, ending his section tournament run.

Sophomore Josiah Hedensten lost his quarterfinal matchup in a 12-5 decision. Hedensten was unable to overcome a bizarre turn of events in the second period of his match, in which a pinfall call was reversed, setting him in a big deficit. In his consolation semifinal, Hedensten got on the winning track with a dominating 12-3 major decision.

Ten Tigers survived the first day and advance to Saturday with a shot to attain a state title berth. Cole and Zach Glazier, Flores, Cantu, Davis, McMillian, Talamantes, Studier and Nielsen all advance to the championship semifinals, set to start at 9 a.m. Hedensten will wrestle in the consolation semifinals set to start at 11:30 a.m. Check back with the Tribune at albertleatribune.com and follow @altribunesports on Twitter for updates throughout the day.