The Albert Lea Tigers wrestling team placed ninth Saturday at the two-day Minnesota Christmas Tournament in Rochester.

Dalton Westerlund and Cory Hansen topped a list of Tigers (5-0, 1-0 Big Nine) wrestlers that placed in the top eight in the 34-team tournament.

Westerlund lost 9-2 in the 152-pound semifinals to Scott West’s Tyler Silverberg. He went 2-0 on the consolation bracket, beating St. Michael Albertville’s Jake Lillie 10-4 in the fourth place match.

Hansen opened the tournament with three straight victories but lost 7-4 to Simley’s Dan Dick in the 160-pound semifinals.

Hansen went on to lose a 7-5 decision to Anoka’s Kyle Begin in the consolation round before beating Kip Jangula, of Bismark, N.D., 7-2 for fifth place.

Albert Lea’s Dakota Wangsness went 3-2 at 103 pounds in the tournament to capture eighth place, while 145-pounder Trey Hable went 4-3 to finish in sixth place.

After winning his first two matches at 171 pounds, Conner Kortan finished in seventh place after going 4-1 in the tournament.

The Tigers’ 215-pounder Caleb Gaudian earned an opening round pin, followed by a 17-7 major decision before losing in the quarterfinals.Gaudian went 2-1 in the consolation bracket to finish in sixth place.

Heavyweight Alex Nielsen lost in the tournament’s second round, but won four consecutive matches to earn a spot in the fifth place match against Rochester Century’s Sam Gual. Nielsen was pinned at 2 minutes and 54 seconds and placed sixth.

The Tigers host a triangular at 5 p.m. Thursday against Rochester Mayo (1-2, 1-0) and Waseca (7-1).