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The Albert Lea wrestling team had the tough task of taking on the No. 2 and No. 10 ranked teams in Class AAA Saturday afternoon in the final triangular of the regular season.

The Tigers struggled against some strong competition falling to the Ponies 68-8, before losing to the Raiders 56-11.

Against Stillwater, the Tigers notched just two wins. Freshman Michael Olson won his match at 106 pounds via a 20-5 technical fall. Olson now sits with a 14-2 record this season with five wins  coming by pinfall.

The other win by Albert Lea came at 132 pounds when junior Carter Miller won in a 9-2 decision. Miller is now 13-11 on the season.

Albert Lea’s highest ranked wrestler, No. 2-ranked 138-pounder Cameron Davis, took on No. 1-ranked Matt Hogue. Davis was defeated in a first-period pinfall in the battle of the top two. The loss marks Davis’s first of the season.

The Tigers other ranked wrestler, No.  4-ranked 170-pounder, senior Caleb Talamantes, was idle during both duals Saturday.

In the second dual of the day, Albert Lea picked up one more win than in the first. Eighth grader Brody Ignaszewski picked up a 11-5 decision win at 120 pounds. Davis then avenged his earlier loss with a 4-2 decision win at 132 pounds. Sophomore Luke Moller picked up the final win for the Tigers with a 9-0 major decision at 170 pounds.

The Tigers finish 16-12 in dual action this season and will start postseason action Wednesday when they start team sections. The Tigers are seeded No. 6 in Section 1AAA and will take on No. 3 seed Faribault  at Owatonna. If the Tigers win that dual, they will take on the winner of Winona and Owatonna. The winner of that dual would then advance to the state preliminary meet Saturday in New Prague.

The winner of Section 1 would meet the winner of Section 2 at the preliminary meet to determine who would go to the state meet. Due to COVID-19 precautions, this year’s state meet was brought down to four teams in each class, down from eight in normal years.