Not much separates the Albert Lea and Anoka wrestling teams. The squads were split by two spots in Guillotine&8217;s latest state poll. In key matchups on Saturday, the difference was one point.

In the difference that mattered, however, the No. 8 Tigers found themselves on the short end of a 36-29 decision to No. 6 Anoka in Albert Lea on Saturday.

&8220;We knew it was going to be exactly the way it turned out,&8221; said Tiger&8217; head coach Larry Goodnature. &8220;They won the close ones and we didn&8217;t. That&8217;s the way it goes.&8221;

Anthony Tippett and Logan Hansen lost razor-thin decisions in the most pivotal matches of the night, at 152 and 171, respectively.

Both lost by a point. Hansen was in control of his match until a last-second reversal gave his opponent a 2-1 victory.

&8220;We left it all on the mat,&8221; Goodnature said. &8220;We went after them and were aggressive but it just didn&8217;t go our way tonight. But by golly, it wasn&8217;t for lack of effort.&8221;

The Tigers&8217; fate wasn&8217;t sealed until the last horn sounded. Trailing by four heading to the final bout, No. 8 Andrew Pererson of Albert Lea couldn&8217;t shake Anoka&8217;s No. 3 Jake Kettler, who wound up with a 7-2 decision.

Because of the ultra-thin margin of victory, the Tigers retained plenty of confidence.

&8220;I wish we could turn right around and wrestle them again tomorrow,&8221; Goodnature said. &8220;Because I know it could easily change. These teams are just that close.&8221;

The matchup featured 14 wrestlers ranked in the state&8217;s top 10, seven in the top three and four wrestlers ranked No. 1.

Albert Lea started the day with three-consecutive first-period falls by third-ranked Cory Hansen at 103, Dalton Westerland at 112 pounds, and No. 1 ranked Cody Hansen at 119.

At 125, the Tigers&8217; ninth-ranked Trevor Rasmussen pulled off a 9-3 decision over eighth-ranked Kyle Begin for a commanding 21-0 lead.

With strength in the middle weights, the Tornadoes won a technical fall at 130 and 10th-ranked Joel Dubiel cruised to a 12-1 major decision over Albert Lea&8217;s Conner Kortan at 135.

At 140 the Tigers&8217; second-ranked Logan Kortan stopped the bleeding temporarily with a major decision over Zak Threadgill that pushed Albert Lea&8217;s lead to 25-9.

From that point, things went south in a hurry for the Tigers, who dropped matches at 145, 152, 160, 171, and 189.

At 215, Ethan Reed got the Tigers back in the thick of things with an 11-2 major decision over Joe Sullivan that cut Anoka&8217;s lead to 33-29 heading into the heavyweight bout.

The loss is the first suffered by the Tigers this season, but they will have a chance to take out any frustration on their rivals from Austin when they host the Packers on Thursday in Albert Lea.

Anoka 36, Albert Lea 29

103 &8212; Cory Hansen (AL) pinned Clay Wherly, :42; 112 &8212; Dalton Westerland (AL) pinned Jeremy Beaman :58; 119 &8212; Cody Hansen (AL) pinned Tony Wesp, 1:14; 125 &8212; Trevor Rasmussen (AL) dec. Kyle Begin 9-3; 130 &8212; Jake Waste (Anoka) maj. dec. Adam Clark 25-9; 135 &8212; Joel Dubiel (Anoka) maj. dec. Conner Kortan 12-1; 140 &8212; Logan Kortan (AL) maj. dec. Zak Threadgill 15-2; 145 &8212; Jake Begin (Anoka) pinned Adam Kermes 5:25; 152 &8212; Cory Smeby (Anoka) dec. Anthony Tippett 4-3; 160 &8212; Zak Antolak (Anoka) pinned Matt Tiegs 2:20; 171 &8212; Josh McLain (Anoka) dec. Logan Hansen 2-1; 189 &8212; Jake Deitchler (Anoka) pinned Jon Kluver 1:16; 215 &8212; Ethan Reed (AL) maj. dec. Joe Sullivan 11-2; 285 &8212; Jake Kettler (Anoka) dec. Andrew Peterson 7-2.