Albert Lea’s Matt Tiegs was the last wrestler to leave the mat Saturday at the Section 1AAA individual meet.

It was fitting for the Tigers that one of their own would be in the last match of the day, it was just one of those day for Albert Lea.

The Tigers were involved in several close matches and three Albert Lea wrestlers were required to wrestle in true second matches for the right to move on to state.

In all it was a highly successful day for Albert Lea. The Tigers started with 11 wrestlers in the semifinals and 10 made through to the state tournament.

“When you get 10 to state that’s pretty darn good,” said Albert Lea head coach Larry Goodnature. “I’m very, very proud of these kids. I tell you what we did all weekend and all year, we wrestled to the end of the match.”

Sending 10 individuals will make for a action-packed state tournament for the Tigers, but Goodnature said it will be a fun one with that many in the individual tournament.

“We’re peaking right now and showing up at that state tournament with these 10 guys it’s going to be a busy state tournament, it’s going to be a fun state tournament for us coaches and the kids,” he said.

Albert Lea was involved in three true second matches, two of which ended up being the final two matches of the evening at the Mayo Civic Center.

Tiegs earned a 10-3 decision over Faribault’s Caleb Breyer in his true second match for his first trip to the individual state tournament.

Tiegs said he realized he was the last match of the day and tried not to focus on it during his make-or-break match.

“It definitely sucks knowing that you have to win and it’s a big deal,” he said. “It just motivates you to wrestle hard. It means a lot and it’s going to determine whether you’re going to state. I tried not to think about it too much and keep the same focus throughout and not overthink it and rack my nerves up too much.”

Tiegs reached the championship match with a 13-2 major decision over John Marshall’s Taylor Giordano and faced Dalton Henderson for the section title.

Tiegs battled the No. 2-ranked wrestler at 171 pounds to a 5-3 loss. Tiegs didn’t give up many points to Henderson, but was on defense for most of the match because of Henderson’s aggressiveness and power.

Logan Kortan will make his fifth consecutive trip to the state tournament and this one was by far the most challenging.

Coming out of the 160 bracket, Kortan faced all four of the ranked wrestlers in the weight class en route to picking up a second place finish.

“The pressure was on Kortan, being a senior, and then he handled the pressure very well,” Goodnature said. “That was the toughest weight class in this tournament and for Logan to get to state, it’s awesome.”

Owatonna’s Jordan Gnerer, the No. 2 seed, picked up an upset victory over Kortan with a 7-5 decision in the championship bout.

Gnerer took advantage when Kortan got out of position and picked up some takedowns on the counterattack.

“In my finals match I just kind of got out of position and I didn’t wrestle my best and what I was capable of doing,” Kortan said. “I just needed to bounce back in my true second match and wrestle a little better. That match I needed to wrestle a full six minutes.”

Kortan defeated Austin’s Ethan Eggum, who is rated in the top 10 in state, 4-3 to advance to the championship round. After losing to Gnerer, Kortan wrestled Mayo’s Zach Hanson, another ranked wrestler and he came up with a 6-5 decision in a nail-biter.

Kortan and Hanson were tied 3-3 after the first period, but Kortan took a 3-1 lead with an escape in the second period before earning a takedown with less than a minute to go.

“It’s always nice to win, but making it to state is a big deal,” Kortan said. “You can still reach your goal of winning a state championship.”

Adam Kermes also picked up close victory at 145 with his 1-0 decision over Howie Underwood.

Kermes and Underwood entered the third period in a scoreless tie, but Kermes earned an escape point late for his second consecutive trip to state.

Trey Hable led a group of seven underclassmen wrestlers that will make a trip to state for the individual tournament. Of that seven, four are making their first trip to state.

“That’s nice when you have seven state entrants coming back for the following year,” Goodnature said. “It just shows what kind of underclassmen we have.”

Others advancing to state included Cory Hansen at 112, Cody Hansen, who won easily at 125, and Dalton Westerlund earned his first trip to state at 119.

Westerlund was another Albert Lea wrestler who had to wrestle a true second match. Westerlund defeated Owatonna’s Bowen Schultz 3-2 in the match.

Junior Trevor Ramussen placed second at 130 to advance to state for his second time and Ethan Reed won the section title at 215 for his second trip to state.

Sophomore Carter Kortan also advanced to his first state tournament at 135 with a 5-4 decision over No. 1 seed Marcus Wolf in the finals.

“It’s kind of a great accomplishment for all of us to go up there,” Carter said. “It will make us work harder in the offseason and it will pay off next year when we come back.”

Goodnature was voted coach of the year for Section 1AAA and Brian Goodnature was named assistant coach of the year.