Penn set for tough matches at Classic

The Quakers wrestling team will face ranked Rider and Purdue at the Keystone Classic. At the Keystone Classic on Saturday, Penn sophomore Andrei Rodzianko is once again facing Pat Maginn, the wrestler who defeated him at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association last year.. Maginn, along with the rest of the Army team will be joined by Purdue, Rider, Seton Hall and American at the Palestra for the Quakers' first home meet of the season. Penn's biggest team competition will come from Purdue and Rider both of which are ranked. However, last weekend the Quakers travelled to Ames, Iowa, and faced one of the best wrestling teams in the country. The Quakers didn't just face Iowa State, they gave the No. 1 team in the country a run for their money. None of the teams the Quakers are facing are ranked higher than Penn, but both Purdue and Rider are ranked right below the Quakers, just outside the rankings. "There will be some real good competition to settle out who the best team really is," Penn coach Roger Reina said. Maginn isn't the only challenge the Quakers have to face in individual competition Saturday. Both Rider and Purdue are bringing in a number of ranked wrestlers including Frank Laconne, a two-time All-American. Purdue's LAconne is ranked third in the nation by Wrestling USA magazine and wrestles in the 142-lbs class. Quakers Brett Matter (eighth in the country) will face Laconne along with Rider's top-20 ranked Francis Dunn and another grappler from Purdue, Willie Wineberg. The 142-lbs class isn't the only level with three ranked wrestlers. Ben Hatta is joined at 118 lbs by two other top-30 NCAA wrestlers, John Carvalheira of Rider and Tim Dernlan of Purdue. Hatta, who won his weight class last year at the Classic, will be challenged, especially by 11th-ranked Carvalheira . Other matches of note are in the 167 class, where Brandon Slay will face Eric Douglass from Purdue. Douglass has numerous wins over All-Americans although he has never been nominated for the honor himself. Even with all the challenges facing them this weekend, Reina is hoping for even better results at the second meet of the season than the outstanding performance at Iowa. "Last weekend was an opportunity to see how we performed against outside competition," Reina said. "My expectation is that we will perform better this weekend with another week's preparation." Reina has confidence in his team, especially co-captains Josh Bailer, Clinton Matter and Brandon Slay. "Clint Matter looked true to form as senior co-captain," Reina said. "Josh Bailer performed with a lot of confidence. Its a good sign when your leaders perform in the way these three did."