No doubt one of the greatest rivalries in Minnesota high school wrestling will take place Saturday at Albert Lea High School when Owatonna comes to take on Albert Lea, but it has been one-sided as of late.

The Tigers have won the last six duals between the two teams, including the last three in the section finals.

Still Saturday will be a matchup of premier squads, the Tigers are ranked No. 3 in the state and Owatonna is No. 4, the highest both teams have been ranked since No. 1 Owatonna was beaten by No. 2 Albert Lea in 2005-06 season, in front of a packed house.

“Every year when we wrestle this match it’s a heck of a rivalry,” said Tigers head coach Larry Goodnature. “In a dual like this it’s going to boil down to who gets the most bonus points.”

Much of the success Albert Lea has enjoyed against the Huskies has been because of the lower weights and the bonus points those weights have picked up.

“The last couple of times I’ve gotten falls, which has been big,” said Cody Hansen. “Starting out the bonus points is a big thing. We have to get pins and we can’t give up pins. Our top dog wrestlers have to go out and work for the falls, work for the majors, techs, whatever you can get.”

On paper it appears the Tigers have an advantage in the lower weights with three ranked wrestlers in the first four weight class. Trey Hable comes in ranked No. 9 at 103, Cory Hansen No. 3 at 112, and Cody Hansen No. 3 at 125, but for Goodnature it will come down to matchups.

“Matches like this are all about matchups,” Goodnature said. “I think we have the advantage in the lower weight, they have the advantage in the upper weights and the middle is going to be tossups.”

The middle weights will likely be the heart of the battle for both teams and there are some tremendous potential matchups. Logan Kortan is ranked No. 4 at 160 for the Tigers while Jordan Gnerer is ranked No. 8 at 160. At 171 the Huskies have No. 2-ranked Dalton Henderson, Albert Lea has No. 5-ranked Matt Tiegs.

While it’s not No. 1 versus No. 2 like it was in 2005-06, it is No. 3 versus No. 4, the highest rank both teams have had entering a dual together since that time.

The Tigers have won 11 consecutive duals and have knocked off five ranked opponents during that span. Albert Lea has lost just once in its last 17 matches and the team has seemed to hit its stride after suffering a disappointing 40-19 loss to No. 9 Kasson-Mantorville at The Clash VII. Some on the team have cited the loss as a turning point.

“When we lost to Kasson, everyone was pissed off,” said Ethan Reed, ranked No. 8 at 215. “We just didn’t wrestle up to our ability. We bounced back from that and I don’t think we’re going to look behind us now. We’re just going to look to the future. We all want to make it to the state tournament.”

Owatonna just had a 21-match winning streak snapped last weekend in Iowa against Indianola, the No. 7-ranked team in Class 3A in Iowa by The Predicament.

It will be the first time Albert Lea has hosted Owatonna in two years and the Tigers expect the atmosphere to be raucous.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be, especially on varsity, to go out there and show what you’ve got and wrestle for your team,” Hansen said.