The Albert Lea wrestling team doesn’t start its season until Dec. 6 but it will jump right into the fray of the high school wrestling season.

The Tigers will participate in the Rochester Invitational and will face some of the state’s best competition right away.

Apple Valley, last year’s state champion from Class AAA, will be there along with the Class AA champion Simley. Anoka, ranked No. 4 in Class AAA will be there, but Albert Lea will not face the Tornadoes. Planview-Elgin-Millville will also be there and is ranked No. 5 in Class AA.

Others that will participate at the meet include: Stewartville, Rochester Mayo, Mankato East, John Marshall, Grand-Meadow-LeRoy-Ostrander-Kingsland.

The Tigers, ranked No. 6, open with GMLOK, then face Stewartville. After the first two duals the competition gets tougher as Albert Lea gets Simley, ranked No. 1 in Class AA and then follows with No.1-ranked Apple Valley.

Albert Lea begins the season ranked No. 6 in Class AAA. It’s a spot head coach Larry Goodnature doesn’t mind being in, even if Owatonna is ranked No. 5.

“I like our situation — being sixth in the state,” Goodnature said. “We’re going to be wrestling all five of those teams that are ranked above us so we can work our way up.”

Practice started Monday and the coaches have the team hard at work to prepare for the invitational.

“They’re just working us hard, getting us in shape right away because we have tough competition right away,” senior Cody Hansen said.

The Tigers have nearly everyone back this season — only losing Andrew Peterson, Logan Hansen and Anthony Tippett from the squad. But injuries have taken their toll so far. State placer Logan Kortan is still recovering from a broken fibula he suffered in the final game of the football season. Mitch Webb is gone for the season after blowing out his knee and Trevor Rasmussen is recovering from a broken bone in his hand.

“We should still be a tough team,” Hansen said. “We know we have to work hard right away.”

Albert Lea has five wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in state by The Guillotine magazine. Cory Hansen comes in at No. 1 at 112 pounds. Cody Hansen is No. 1 at 125, Rasmussen is No. 4 at 135. Kortan is ranked No. 4 at 152 and Ethan Reed is ranked No. 9 at 285.

After facing No. 1 Apple Valley Dec. 6 the Tigers get a crack at No. 4 Anoka Dec. 27 in a dual at Anoka. Albert Lea will run into No. 2 Hastings at The Clash VII tournament and the Christmas Tournament. Prior Lake, No. 3 in Class AAA, will also be at the Christmas Tournament.

“We want competition,” Goodnature said. “We want the toughest teams we can find in the state of Minnesota.”

Then there’s the big one. Albert Lea and Owatonna will square off Feb. 7 in Albert Lea.

Owatonna returns a strong core of its wrestlers from last season and has nine wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in the state. Dalton Henderson at 160 and Hector Millan at 135 are both ranked No. 3 in the state. At 112, Dillin Schultz is ranked No. 5 and Jordan Gnerer is ranked No. 5 at 171. Heavyweight Casey Dehn is No. 8 in the state. Cody Johnson at 215 and Zach Schreiber at 140 are both ranked No. 9.