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Sports Memories by Tom Jones

This is my favorite time of the sports year with so many winter sports team starting up. Looking at the microfilm to produce the 50 years portion of my column this week, I saw so many interesting things, so all I am writing about this week is 50 years ago.

• Mason City downed the Albert Lea JV boys’ basketball team 51-37. Jeff Curry led the Tigers with 18 points with Paul Sherman grabbing nine rebounds.
• The Minnesota Vikings clinched the Central Division title with a 29-9 win over New Orleans. John Gilliam scored two touchdowns in the win with Dave Osborn and Stu Voigt adding one.
• The Owatonna Indians defeated the Albert Lea Tigers hockey team 8-2. Dale Hendrickson and Kevin Brandt scored goals for the Tigers.
• The Albert Lea Tigers wrestling team won all three matches when they hosted the Thanksgiving Wrestling Tournament at the Southwest gym. En route to the championship, the Tigers defeated Edina East, Park Center and St. James.
• The Wells girls’ basketball team picked up their first win of the season with a 41-38 win over Waseca. Jamie Gilbert and her sister Nancy led Wells in scoring with 14 and 13 points.
• Ray Christianson and Sid Hartman announced on WCCO Radio’s Prep Parade program that Albert Lea’s Scott Farnes was named to the WCCO Radio’s All-State Football Team.
• The Albert Lea girls’ basketball team picked up their first win of the year when they defeated Austin Pacelli 30-24. Kristi Jensen led the Tigerettes with 10 points. In the b-squad game, the Tigerettes picked up a 25-20 win, led by Steph Zrelak’s 10 points.
• The Albert Lea boys’ gymnastics team opened their season with a 70.36-62.70 loss to Austin. Tom Tatarek took first place in the parallel bars with a score of 4.9. Bob Sturtz earned second place in the trampoline with a score of 3.75.
• In Border League boys’ basketball play, Frost upset Alden/Conger 50-44. Steve Karge led the Vikings with 18 points with Glenn Lutteke scoring 17 to lead the Blackhawks.
• At baseball’s winter meetings, Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith was looking to trade Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew. Griffith noted that manager Frank Quilici would prefer having a player that could run better than Killebrew.
• Albert Lea’s Ray Sorenson was recruiting men over 30 years of age to play on a hockey team that would play games against area towns.
• After scoring 28 points against Mankato East, Albert Lea’s Rich Wendorff was named to the WCCO Radio’s Prep Parade Team of the Week.
• The Albert Lea girls’ gymnastics team opened their season with a 60.25-50.74 loss to Faribault. In the uneven bars, Sue Tatarek took first, Paulette Bergh second and Laurie Loesch third.
• The World Football Leage hosted the first World Bowl with the Birmingham Americans defeating the Florida Blazers 22-21 in front of 32,376 fans at Legion Field in Birmingham.
• Goalie Pete LoPresti stopped 47 of 51 shots but his effort fell short as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Minnesota North Stars 4-1. Richard Nantais scored the only goal for the Stars.
• Mason City’s Dennis Schaffer scored 26 points to lead the Minnesota Gophers basketball team to a 78-58 win over Montana State. The Gophers team featured future NBA stars Mark Landsberger and Mychal Thompson.

Alumni update

Kelci Adams, a graduate student on the North Carolina-Pembroke’s women’s basketball team, became the program’s all-time leading three-point scorer when she recorded her 190th three-pointer in the Braves 70-52 win over Mount Olive on Dec. 7. She is the daughter of 1991 ALHS graduate Pam Stoltz Adams and her husband, Derek.