ST. PAUL — The Albert Lea wrestling team wrestled in the opening round of the Minnesota State Dual Tournament Friday morning against a tough one-loss Willmar team.

Despite picking up a couple of bonus-point wins early in the dual, the Tigers would be unable to keep pace with the Cardinals, falling 50-18.

The Tigers then moved onto the consolation semifinals where they redeemed themselves with a dominant 50-14 win.

Starting the Willmar dual for the Tigers was seventh-grader Cole Glazier. He would fall victim to a pinfall in the first period. Junior Nic Cantu would pick up the Tigers first win with a 12-1 major decision, cutting the early deficit to two points.

Freshman Caleb Talamantes would fall in a major decision, 16-7. Senior Jake Johnsrud followed that with a major decision victory of his own, 14-6.

Through four matches, Albert Lea trailed by two points. However, Willmar would open up their lead over the next two matches. Seniors Logan Donovan and Ty Harms would lose their matches via pinfall, Donovan in the very last second of the first period at 1:59 and Harms also late in the first period at 1:49.

Senior Gavin Ignaszewski would grab a win for the Tigers with an 11-3 major decision, but at that point the Tigers were on the wrong end of a 22-12 deficit.

Freshman Griffin Studier would lose in a 6-1 decision, followed by senior Brody Nielsen losing in a 4-0 decision. The Tigers found themselves down, 28-12 and in need of multiple bonus-point wins to have a chance at winning. However, with just five matches remaining it would be a tall order to fill.

Junior Zach Glazier would do his part for the team picking up a pinfall in the second period. Senior Levi Kermes would fall in the following match via a major decision, 13-0.

The final three matches of the dual would all end in pinfalls for the Tigers. Seniors Spencer Indrelie and Jaime Valdez and junior Cristian Garcia each fell victim to falls at various points in their matches. Indrelie in 3:02, Valdez in 1:06 and Garcia in 2:18.

Albert Lea fell to Willmar 50-18 and would move into the consolation bracket to matchup against Minnetonka in the consolation semifinals.

The second dual of the day would fare much better for the Tigers. Glazier would again start the dual for the Tigers, this time coming out on top with a 12-4 major decision. Cantu would grab his second win of the day with a pinfall in the first period.

Talamantes would fall in his match in a major decision, 10-2. The Tigers would then go on a four-match winning streak to take a commanding lead in the dual.

Johnsrud would win in a 10-4 decision, Donovan would win a closely fought 4-2 decision, Ignaszewski would win a 14-5 major decision and Harms would win in a match that came down to the final minute, 4-2.

Senior Garrett Grandstrand would fall in his match via a 13-1 major decision, but at that point the Tigers were out to a commanding 23-8 lead.

Nielsen would put things back on track for the Tigers with a pinfall in 17 seconds. His win launched a four-match pin streak for the Tigers.

Kermes would secure the Tiger victory with a pinfall in the last half-minute of the third period. Glazier would pick up a pinfall in 43 seconds, followed by Indrelie getting a fall in 2:38.

Junior Brady Nielsen would get a 10-5 decision win in his first match of the day and Garcia would fall to a pinfall in the first period of his match.

Albert Lea won the dual over Minnetonka, 50-14 and will move on to square off against Hastings at 5 p.m. Thursday night. Follow @altribunesports on Twitter for live coverage and check back with the Tribune for results as they become available.