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Sports Memories by Tom Jones

15 years

• In the Class 3A Section 1 championship, the Albert Lea Tigers wrestling team defeated Owatonna 35-18. It was the fourth consecutive section crown for the Tigers who were coached by Larry Goodnature.
• Albert Lea’s Roy Nystrom and Rochester Mayo’s Lorne Grosso were both named Big Nine Hockey Coach of the Year. The Tigers had finished their regular season with a 17-8 overall record including 8-1 in the Big Nine.
• In the Section 1A girls’ hockey championship, Red Wing defeated Albert Lea 4-0 at the Four Seasons Arena in Owatonna. Coach Brian Blatti’s team finished the season 13-15.
• Kalli Van Ryswyk had a team high 18 points and 14 rebounds as the Glenville-Emmons girls’ basketball team opened play in the 1A West Division playoffs with a 53-32 win over Lyle-Pacelli

20 years

• In the Section 1A boys’ hockey quarterfinal game played at the City Arena, the Albert Lea Tigers defeated Dodge County 9-1. Jon Breuer and Beau Larson each scored two goals to lead the Tigers. Tyler Hegwood, Dustin Trail, Casey Schumacher, Brett Frydenlund and Corey Ellertson also scored in the win.
• In sub-section girls’ basketball play, Alden-Conger defeated Truman 37-33. Jenny Krueger led the Knights with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
• In the final regular season game of the season, the Albert Lea girls’ basketball team fell 54-43 to Rochester Mayo at the high school gym. Heather Stegenga and Nicole Rafdal each scored 12 points to lead the Tigers, who were scheduled to play Waseca in the opening round of the 1AAA playoffs.

50 years

• The Border League boys’ basketball title went to Alden as they defeated Frost 54-49. Tony Politz paced the Blackhawks with 21 points. Steve Karge led the Vikings with 20.
• The Albert Lea Tigers hockey season came to an end as they were defeated in Region One play 6-5 by North St. Paul in overtime. Mark Brech had two goals for the Tigers with Kelly Brandt, Dale Hendrickson and Scott Adams adding one.
• The WCCO Radio’s Basketball Team of the Week included Bob McCamy of Albert Lea, Craig Rayman of Glenville, Dave Lieberg of Ellendale and Gay Iverson of Emmons.
• Maynard Stensrud of Lake Mills was planning on transferring for his sophomore season of football to Iowa State University after playing his first year at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City.
• The Austin Arrows defeated the Albert Lea Endres Rangers hockey team 4-1 in a game played at the new Riverside Arena in Austin. Gary Hillman scored the only goal for the Rangers on a pass from Tom Baas.
• New York Mets pitcher Tom Seaver signed his 1974 contract for $172,500 which made him the highest paid pitcher in baseball history.
• University of Minnesota Athletic Director Paul Giel was the guest speaker at the National Management Association Queen Products Chapter meeting. The event was held at the Kahler Motel and Giel showed a color film of the 1973 Gopher football highlights.
• The Albert Lea Tigerette basketball team was defeated 44-23 by Austin at the Central High School gym. Margaret Bennett scored seven in the loss with Sheri Hultgren adding six.

An interesting fact

Up until 1930, the Albert Lea Tigers had never beaten the Mankato Scarlets in football, basketball, track and ping pong.