The gallant effort by a shorthanded Albert Lea High School wrestling team against second-rated Simley may have been good for morale.

But it also made Owatonna that much more wary of the Tigers.

Albert Lea, still missing four regulars from its lineup, opened its Big Nine schedule at Owatonna and lost 40-10 Thursday night. The defending conference champion Huskies are rated No. 4 in the state.

&uot;At this point, right now, Owatonna has a better team than we do,&uot; said ALHS coach Larry Goodnature. &uot;But when we get everyone in place, get everyone in there and healthy at the same time, we will definitely have a much better team and give Owatonna a much better match.&uot;

Last Saturday, in their own invitational, the Tigers nearly knocked off No. 2 rated Simley with the same four wrestlers missing.

The Tigers won three bouts Thursday.

Josh Hansen remained undefeated at 112 pounds with an 8-2 decision. Adam Elseth also stayed unbeaten, winning 15-5 at 140. Randy Larson won 6-3 at 215.

The other matches: 103, Zach Hansen lost 12-4; 119, Matt Morris lost 17-2; 125, Alex Hansen lost 13-6; 130, Nate Goodnature lost 8-7; 135, Neal Underdahl lost 6-0; 145, Jake Levisen lost by fall; 152, Dustin Eggum lost 2-0; 160, Cory Frerk lost 10-5; 171, Jared Butler lost 12-4; 189, Mike Honeycutt lost 7-2; 275, Chris Hable lost 6-4.

&uot;We only got pinned once, but we didn’t get the big wins either,&uot; said Coach Goodnature. &uot;And a couple matches that I was expecting didn’t go our way. But give Owatonna credit. They have a very nice team and they’re definitely deserving of their fourth in the state ranking.&uot;

The Albert Lea junior varsity lost 51-16. Winning for the Tigers were Beau Hansen, 103; Taylor Ignaszewski, 125; and Ben Berhow, 171.

The Tigers travel to Waseca for the Don Eustice Memorial Invitational Saturday starting at 10 a.m. It’s an individual tournament for the varsity and a dual-meet format for junior varsity.