After mixed results at the Northeast Duals, Penn wrestling will head to State College, Pa., Sunday morning for the Nittany Lion Open.
Over a dozen schools will be sending wrestlers to challenge a Penn State squad that is ranked No. 5 in the nation, including No. 10 Virginia Tech and No. 12 Lehigh.
Penn coach Rob Eiter said that his squad will bring a “mixed” group of grapplers between starters and non-starters. He expects seven of the team’s ten regular starters to see action.
“We try to get the young guys in as much as we can,” Eiter said. “That’s why I like scheduling these tournaments where you can bring more than just your starting ten.”
Three of the freshmen wrestling for the Quakers this weekend are, in fact, starters. Andrew Lenzi, Brad Wukie and Kyle Cowan have all been thrust into the spotlight.
Lenzi, who moved up from 141 pounds to 149 pounds after an injury to sophomore Troy Hernandez, said the transition to a higher weight class has allowed him to focus on improving technique and getting more experience.
“Mat time is the key to improving and becoming better,” he said.
The Quakers came out of the Northeast Duals meet last weekend having split their last four matches. The two teams that beat Penn, No. 17 Pittsburgh and unranked Maryland, will be sending wrestlers to the meet as well.
All-American senior Scott Giffin, who placed third in the 174-pound weightclass last season, is looking to improve on last weekend’s 1-2 showing.
“While it is upsetting, I’m not going to win a national title in November,” he said. “I think [last weekend] is something to build upon and look at the things I did wrong and look at the things I did well.”
“[I am] just trying to get better each weekend. That’s all I can do right now until March, that’s when I need to start winning every match,” he added.
On the whole, Eiter is looking for improvement from all of his wrestlers in the bottom position.
“[At Northeast Duals,] we wrestled very well on our feet, but it was very apparent that we needed some work on top and bottom,” Eiter said.
He indicated that Maryland “exposed” the Quakers on the mat last weekend, but he was pleased that the team has shown they are “willing to learn” how to improve.
“Our top is very good,” Eiter said. “We’re now emphasizing more pinning and get more near fall points rather than just riding kids out.”
This is the second consecutive year the Quakers have participated as a team in the Nittany Lion Open instead of traveling for the Las Vegas invitational.
“[The Nittany Lion Open] is a good tournament,” Eiter said. “The competition is pretty good; it’s obviously closer; we can bring more guys. There’s a lot of benefits to it.”
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