By Jeff Budlong, Sports writers

ST. PAUL &045; Albert Lea still has three individuals alive for championships at the 2007 Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament after Thursday night&8217;s quarterfinal round.

Third-ranked Cody Hansen set up a showdown with top-ranked Dylan Ness of Blooming Kennedy in

the semifinals by disposing of Anoka&8217;s Kyle Begin in the quarters, 4-2.

Hansen picked up the win thanks to some valuable third-period back points.

&8220;I had him on his back but I didn&8217;t want to move anywhere because I was good right there,&8221; he said. &8220;This feels great because last year was disappointing losing in the first round and not beginning able to wrestle again.&8221;

Hansen&8217;s strong wrestling at the Xcel Energy Center has his coach thinking big for the 103-pounder, and Hansen does have the advantage of knowing he has beaten Ness once this year when they tangled at the Christmas Tournament.

&8220;Cody is going to place and he has a good chance of making the finals now,&8221; Albert Lea head coach Larry Goodnature said.

Sixth-ranked Logan Kortan punched his ticket to the semifinals with a 6-2 win over Park Center&8217;s Alex Vosberg. Kortan was part of an impressive opening round effort by Tiger wrestlers as he downed Sauk Rapids-Rice&8217;s Mike Hines 9-0 in the first round. In all, seven of the nine Albert Lea qualifiers won their opening match of the tournament.

Kortan&8217;s wins were even bigger considering he had downed both wrestlers earlier in the year and did not allow the revenge factor to come into play.

&8220;We had beaten the kid Cody wrestled (in the quarterfinals) and we had beaten the kid Logan wrestled, but I tell you when you get up here it is tougher,&8221; Goodnature said. &8220;It is always tough to beat a good kid twice.&8221;

Sixth-ranked Matt Morris is the final Tiger with his championship dreams still intact.

Morris dispatched Hastings&8217; 10th-ranked Bryce Mikel in round one 14-4 and beat Bemidji&8217;s Brandon Bahr 12-4 in the quarters.

&8220;Matt is having a good tournament right now, and he is beating his kids with authority,&8221; Goodnature said.

Of the three semifinalists, Kortan drew the toughest assignment with defending state champion Matt Mincey of Apple Valley waiting for him. Mincey pinned Kortan during the opening round team dual Wednesday night.

No. 5 Eric Johnson, who is wrestling with an injured hand, also advanced to the quarterfinals at 130 when he pinned Totino Grace&8217;s Luke Sansovich in 13 seconds. Johnson next faced Apple Valley&8217;s eighth-ranked Jarret Hoeppner &045; an opponent he beat a night earlier during the dual team competition &045; but Johnson was caught on his back and ended up losing 6-4.

&8220;The kid has a funky move and he caught Johnson on it today for a four-pointer,&8221; Goodnature said. &8220;It is tough to come back after that.&8221;

Second-ranked Beau Hansen had a tough quarterfinal match drawing No. 1 Jake Deitchler of Anoka. Hansen would battle but came up short 13-5. Fifth-ranked Zach McGinnis downed Elk River&8217;s Joe Kolar in the first round by pinning him in the last second before second ranked John Vaith of Hastings blanked him, 4-0, in the quarterfinals at 140. Third-ranked Taylor Ignaszeski was the final Tiger to win his first match at 171, but he could not pull out a tight match against No. 4 Tyson Wood of Eagan falling in overtime 6-1 in overtime.

Tim Aldrich (112) and Bradon Reyerson (189) were the two Albert Lea wrestlers who lost in the first round, and will now fight their way back in the wrestlebacks which began this morning.

The Tigers face Osseo in dual team action at noon today before individual semifinal action gets under way at 4:30 p.m.