Around this time of year the Albert Lea wrestling room might be busier than usual with all the challenge matches going on to determine spots in the section individual tournament, but not this year.

There were two matches, which Tigers head coach Larry Goodnature said is unusual, but one of those matches involved arguably two of the section’s best 103-pound wrestlers.

It was inside the Albert Lea wrestling room where freshmen Lucas Hansen and Garrett Wangsness wrestled a challenge match Monday for the 103 spot at the Section 1AAA individual tournament, which begins Friday and concludes Saturday at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester.

Hansen, who wrestled the dual meet schedule at 112, will get his first action against Section 1AAA opponents at 103 this weekend after beating Wangsness 7-2 in the challenge match and Wangsness will move up to 112 instead of losing a spot at the section tournament, which normally happens in a challenge match when a wrestler loses.

Wangsness holds a 25-8 record and a number of victories over ranked opponents, including Owatonna’s Nick Scheffert, the fourth-ranked wrestler in 3A. Hansen went 22-17 at 112 where he encountered stronger and bigger wrestlers the entire season.

Going through the 103-pound bracket presents fewer perils so both wrestlers coveted the spot. The 112 spot features more challenges with wrestlers like Owatonna’s Evan Green, who was in the rankings earlier in the season and who beat Hansen twice this season, Mankato West’s Zack Lowe, who holds a 28-4 record and Faribault’s Brandon Peters, who also beat Hansen twice.

Hansen drew the second seed in the 103 bracket, while Wangsness drew the fourth seed and will likely have to face Green in the semifinals and possibly face a true second match if he doesn’t beat Green.

“If I wrestle my best I know I can make it to state,” Wangsness said. “But I have wrestled stronger kids before so I kind of know how to handle it.”

Plus he has the benefit to learn from Hansen’s experience and vice versa.

Challenge matches occur frequently but having two wrestlers like Wangness and Hansen wrestle doesn’t happen every year.

“It just shows what our competition is like in the wrestling room,” said Albert Lea senior Trevor Rasmussen. “Garrett and Lucas they both have been successful this year and unfortunately one person has to lose.”

The Tigers sent a school-record 10 wrestlers to the individual tournament last year, though they likely won’t match that feat, they stand a strong chance of advancing several wrestlers.

Fourth-ranked Junior Cory Hansen, who has placed second at the state tournament the past two seasons, drew the top seed will try chance to make his third trip to state.

Fourth-ranked sophomore Trey Hable has a two seed and is trying for a repeat trip to state after his freshman season where he just missed placing.

Hable has plenty of motivation entering the section tournament after Owatonna’s Bowen Schultz beat him 3-0 in the Section 1AAA team championship last Saturday, plus he still has a sour taste in his mouth from last year’s state tournament.

“Last year I could’ve placed and I kind of blew that so I think I have to show them how good I really am and that I should have placed last year,” Hable said.

Sixth-ranked sophomore Dalton Westerlund has similar motivation after suffering a loss to Owatonna’s eighth-ranked Dillin Schultz in the team tournament. Westerlund won a true second match last season and went on to place fourth at the state tournament.

Albert Lea senior Trevor Rasmussen, ranked seventh at 140, will try for his third consecutive trip to the state tournament, where he wrestled just one match while dealing with sickness.

“Last year I went one and done,” Rasmussen said. “This is my last year and I’ll give it everything I’ve got to get back there.”

Tigers junior Carter Kortan won the section title at 135 pounds last year and will try to do the same at 145 this season.

His bracket is among the toughest with 10th-ranked Howie Underwood from Austin, a state entrant last season and Owatonna’s Jake Fox, who was ranked for a time during the season.

Connor Kortan placed fifth last season at the section meet and has a bye to the semifinals at 160 where he’ll face the winner of Mankato West’s Tyler Jakes and Austin’s Aaron Juenger. He could get a rematch with 10th-ranked Jeremy Duruji, who he lost 3-2 last weekend.

“The team portion’s over,” Goodnature said. “Now we start a whole new tournament, whole new season, now it’s individuals so go out there and compete for yourself and try to get onto state.”