ROCHESTER &8212; It wasn&8217;t supposed to be this hard. After beating Owatonna 43-15 just two weeks ago, Saturday&8217;s Section 1AAA final was supposed to be a convincing celebration of Albert Lea&8217;s dominance on its way to a third straight state tournament.

Someone forgot to tell the Huskies.

The fifth-ranked Tigers found themselves in the fight of fights from the opening weight but found a way in the end &8212; thanks to three wins in the final three matches &8212; to extend their winning streak over No. 12 Owatonna to six straight duals and send the team back to the Xcel Energy Center in two weeks for the state tournament, 28-22.

&8220;I have to give Owatonna a lot of credit because they made some moves in their lineup and they came to wrestle,&8221; Albert Lea head coach Larry Goodnature said. &8220;But we did what we had to do to win the dual.&8221;

For a program that preaches aggressiveness the Tigers&8217; win came in large part because of a defensive pin. With the Huskies winning three of the previous four matches heading into the 145-pound match, and third-ranked

Logan Kortan needing triple overtime to hold off No. 5 Hector Milan 3-2 at 135, the Tigers&8217; lead was just one.

Owatonna looked poised to take its first lead of the dual with freshman Taylor Hedberg beating senior Anthony Tippett 4-2 after the first period.

Hedberg looked to have bonus points inches away in the second when he tried to put Tippett on his back but Tippett had another idea.

Instead of Owatonna getting the pin, Tippett somehow leaned back on

Hedberg and recorded the six points himself swinging the match by 12 points.

&8220;I knew I had to do something big because the momentum wasn&8217;t going our way at the time,&8221; Tippett said. &8220;I just tried to do what I could. I was just trying to get out and I just posted on my back and luckily he laid on his.&8221;

The importance of Tippett&8217;s heroics was not lost on his teammates.

&8220;I think I had a 48-inch vertical when I saw that pin,&8221; Logan Hansen said. &8220;It was crazy, it was awesome. If he doesn&8217;t win that match it is a whole lot closer and who knows.&8221;

&8220;Everyone&8217;s morale coming into that one was &8216;this is way too close, can we pull this off?&8217;,&8221; Andrew Peterson said. &8220;It was way too close and when he got that it got everyone fired up because we knew we could get it done.&8221;

Goodnature said the Tigers&8217; third straight trip to the state meet was a team effort, but even he acknowledged the tremendous impact of Tippett&8217;s pin.

&8220;That was huge, that was huge,&8221; he said. &8220;It was a big turnaround in a match I think we were getting beat in at the time we got the fall.&8221;

Owatonna showed its grit by winning the next three matches including a 10-7 decision at 171 by Kade Zeman over Matt Tiegs. Tiegs battled out of a first-period deficit courtesy of back points in the second to go up 6-3 entering the third, but a stalling point and back points for Zeman in the third gave Owatonna its first lead over Albert Lea this season 22-19.

That left Albert Lea&8217;s state fate in the hands of second-ranked Hansen, Ethan Reed and Peterson and they didn&8217;t disappoint.

Hansen found a way to beat Sean Wallace for the second time this season despite giving up nearly 20 pounds to the Huskie but it wasn&8217;t easy. The only points scored in regulation were an escape point by both wresters, but

Hansen made the third overtime match of the dual the most convincing for Albert Lea as he took Wallace down in the opening seconds to knot the team score one more time.

&8220;We knew we had to stay intense for the whole six minutes and I went over six minutes,&8221; Logan Hansen said. &8220;It was not fun.&8221;

Reed fell behind Cody Johnson by one after the first period but used back points to take control in the second and nearly earned the major decision before settling for the 15-8 win.

&8220;We beat them once, we knew we could do it again and I think it just came down to heart,&8221; Reed said.

That left Peterson, who is new to the rivalry after transferring from Rochester John Marshall this season, to decide the Tigers&8217; fate at heavyweight.

The match went into the third period tied, but Peterson used a takedown and to build a 3-2 lead with just 10 seconds left and both wrestlers on their feet. However, Owatonna&8217;s Casey Dehn made a last-ditch effort and was in on a takedown with Peterson heading to his back when time expired.

The Huskies&8217; fans were screaming for two points, but after the officials conferred no points were awarded and the Tigers erupted into celebration.

&8220;It was pretty nice having it come down to me because this is what I moved for and it feels good,&8221; Peterson said. &8220;I got that takedown late and that is what saved me. I just held on and tried to get the victory.&8221;

How close were those final 10 seconds?

&8220;I got down on the mat and all I could think was I can&8217;t lose for the team,&8221; he said.

&8220;I was nervous the whole time and I never got to relax,&8221; Goonature said. &8220;That was so close right at the end. All we have to do is not get taken down and we came within a whisker of getting taken down.&8221;

Albert Lea got the dual off to a good start with second-ranked Cory Hansen earning a 10-2 major decision over Nick Scheffert and top-ranked Cody Hansen pinned Dillin Schultz in the first period just as he had done in the first meeting.

The Tigers began the day with a dominating win over Rochester John Marshall in the semifinals 63-12.

The Tigers will be back at the Mayo Civic Center this weekend to take part in the individual section tournament and will begin their state dual tournament Feb. 7 at 7 p.m against section 2AAA champion No. 6 Prior Lake.

Albert Lea 28, Owatonna 22

103 – Cory Hansen (AL) maj. dec. Nick Scheffert 10-2, 112 – Cody Hansen (AL) pinned Dillin Schultz 1:21, 119 – Richard Rodriguez (O) dec. Kyle Kriewall 4-0, 125 – Dane Schroeder (O) dec. Trevor Rasmussen 9-7, 130 – Jake Fox (O) dec. Connor Kortan 4-0, 135 – Logan Kortan (AL) dec. Hector Millan 3-2 3OT, 140 – Zach Schreiber (O) dec. Adam Kermes 2OT, 145 – Anthony Tippett (AL) pinned Taylor Hedberg 4:19, 152 – Tyler Thomas (O) dec. Pat Ignaszewski 11-7, 160 – Jordan Gnerer (O) maj. dec. Mitch Webb 13-5, 171 – Kade Zeman (O) dec. Matt Tiegs 10-7, 189 – Logan Hansen (AL) dec. Sean Wallace 3-1 OT, 215 – Ethan Reed (AL) dec. Cody Johnson 15-8, 285 – Andrew Peterson (AL) dec. Casey Dehn 3-2