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1

The Albert Lea girls’ hockey team competes for second year in a row at state

For the second consecutive season, the Albert Lea girls hockey team represented Section 1A in the state hockey tournament after a come-from-behind win over Dodge County in the section final in February.

The Tigers won the matchup in a 3-2 overtime barnburner. It was a quiet first period with neither team being able to bust open the scoring with the first goal of the game.

The Tigers got off just one shot on goal in the period, compared to 10 by the Wildcats. However, Jayda Moyer was strong in the goal to keep the Tigers in it.

With the score knotted at 1-1 heading into the third period, the Wildcats took the lead with less than seven minutes remaining in regulation. Liley Steven would not let the Tigers season come to a close just yet, however, evening the game once again just 42 seconds of gameplay later.

The team ultimately won in overtime, sending them to state.

The Tigers fell 15-1 in the first round of the state tournament against defending champions of Warroad.

In the consolation game, the team fell 4-1 to the Otters, ending their second consecutive state tournament.

The team is off to a good start of the season thus far this winter and was 11-3 as of press time.

2

Albert Lea football team celebrates 1st win since 2019

The Albert Lea football team won big against Belle Plaine Oct. 29 with a score of 29-8.

It was their first victory since Oct. 16, 2019.

Belle Plaine scored 8 points in the first quarter but was not able to score again throughout the game.

Touchdowns for the Tigers came from a pass from Teaghen Tolbers to Trenton Mikels in the second quarter along with a second touchdown by Joshua

Jordahl in the second quarter with the extra point by Mikels.

In the fourth quarter, touchdowns came from Charlie Irvine and Tolbers.

3

Lake Mills boys’ cross country team wins state championship; coach Beth Van Roekel wins Coach of the Year

The Lake Mills cross country team won the Class 1A state cross country championship in October after competing in Fort Dodge.

The team finished with a score of 111, followed next by Adair-Casey/Guthrie Center with 137 and Woodbine Community with 147.
Justin Rygh placed sixth with a time of 16:4.9.

Kade Van Roekel placed 24th, Knute Rogne placed 27th, Hayden Thompson placed 37th and Stephen Brandenburg placed 75th.

The Iowa Association of Track Coaches in November announced it had named coach Beth Van Roekel as the Class 1A Boys State Coach of the Year. It was Van Roekel’s second year as head coach of the cross country team and second year in a row to compete at the state tournament.

4

NRHEG’s Annabelle Petsinger claims state championship; 2 other area wrestlers place

NRHEG junior Annabelle Petsinger dominated the girls’ 120-pound weight class at state to take home the title.

Petsinger cruised in the opening round of the tournament, defeating Shelby McFetridge of Mahtomedi in just 36 seconds. She then went on to win the semifinals via another pinfall, this time in the second period over Lanna Walter from Sauk Centre-Melrose.

In the championship, Petsinger matched up with Audrey Rogotzke of Stillwater where she fell behind early but came back in a big way to win the match 10-4 and claim a state championship.

NRHEG’s Makota Misgen ended in third place at 285 pounds, and Maple River/United South Central’s Cooper Ochsendorf placed fourth.

5

Albert Lea wrestler Michael Olson finishes runner-up at state tournament; 3 others place

Defending state champion Michael Olson finished his 2023 state tournament run with a runner-up finish in the 113-pound weight bracket.

As one of three Albert Lea wrestlers still in contention for a championship the Saturday morning of the tournament, Olson won his semifinal match over Logan Schwanz of Hutchinson in a 4-2 decision. In the championship final, he took on undefeated Titan Friederichs of Watertown Mayer. In the end, Frieiderichs turned out to be too much for the junior to overcome, falling in an 11-7 decision.

Olson ended his season with a 34-4 record and a second-place finish.

His sister, Maggie Olson, ended with a fourth-place finish, and Logan Davis and Nick Korman both claimed third.

6

USC wins state clay target tournament

The United South Central Clay Target League emerged as state champions from the Minnesota State High School League tournament in June.

The team shot 484 of 500 targets, enough to place the team in first, followed by Fairmont High School with 482 and Roseau High School with 482.

This was the seventh state tournament for the Rebels since 2016.

USC’s Zale Bushlack led the team with a perfect score of 100. Bushlack also shot 100 in the individuals’ portion and finished the open division with a three-way tie for first, along with Spring Lake Park’s Mason Meyer and East Ridge’s Alex Krska.

The Albert Lea clay target team also competed at state and placed 18th in the tournament. Cody Laskowske shot a perfect 100 straight during the team shoot.

As individuals, the highest individual scorer was Kate Kuiters, who took 22nd in the female division with a score of 92. For males, Henry Kuiters tied for 30th with a score of 97, Cody Laskowske and Tanner Green tied for 38th, both with a score of 96, and Jack Stevens tied for 93rd with a score of 89.

7

Albert Lea’s Kendal Kenis reaches 1,000 points

Albert Lea’s Kendall Kenis reached a 1,000-point milestone enroute to a Tiger win over Faribault at home in February.

She had played on the varsity squad since her eighth-grade year.

She started out slowly on her scoring career with only 130 points as an eighth grader and 86 points as a freshman but picked up steam with 157 points her sophomore year and 276 points her junior year. Going into her senior year, she needed 351 points to reach this milestone.

Kenis joins only 10 other past Tigers to reach this milestone in their high school careers.

Kenis also set school records for the most three-point shots made in a single game as well as the career three-point shot record for the school.