Albert Lea placed 8th at Minnesota Christmas Tournament

Physically and emotionally exhausted after a come-from-behind win over Owatonna on Thursday, the Albert Lea wrestling team continued to impress on Friday and Saturday at the Minnesota Christmas Tournament in Rochester.

The Tigers finished eighth overall, had four wrestlers place and saw three of its wrestlers take a bite out of Apple Valley en route to top-five finishes. Trevor Westerlund, Garrett Wangsness and Trey Hable each pinned an opponent from the No. 1 team in the nation.

Westerlund pinned Apple Valley’s top-ranked Maolu Woiwor and finished third at 106 pounds, Hable pinned second-ranked Ben Sullivan and finished third at 170 and Wangsness pinned second-ranked Brock Morgan and finished fifth at 113.

Dalton Westerlund was the Tigers’ other placewinner in seventh at 182.

Albert Lea’s eighth-place finish with 121.5 points was the highest of any member of Section 1AAA in the 32-team tournament. Owatonna placed 12th with 91.5 and Hastings 13th with 85.5.

“I thought we wrestled pretty good,” Tigers coach Larry Goodnature said. “I didn’t know how we would respond with the way the night before went but they were just competitors. It was a team effort in an individual tournament.”

Trevor’s two-day performance was particularly impressive considering he was pinned on Thursday by Owatonna seventh-grader Brandon Moen. In addition to Woiwor, Trevor also beat the state’s second-ranked wrestler, Blaine Tschida, of Coon Rapids, in the quarterfinals.

Goodnature said Trevor’s turnaround had to do with adjusting to his weight cut. The junior had wrestled at 113 pounds throughout the beginning of the season, but dropped to 106 against Owatonna.

“That was the difference,” Goodnature said. “He looked fantastic on Friday and Saturday. He’ll be fine for the rest of the season.”

Westerlund is currently ranked seventh at 103.

The Tigers wrestle next at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Rochester Mayo.