Wrestling schedule includes Penn State

The Palestra is the place to be for Pennsylvania wrestling fans on December 11. On that date, Penn and Penn State will wrestle for Keystone State supremacy on the mats of Penn's historic arena. The Quakers and Nittany Lions have reached a verbal agreement on a two-year home-and-home series. This December, Penn State will visit the Palestra, and Penn will return the favor with a date at the Nittany Lions' Bryce Jordan Center in 2000. "At this point we've got a two-year verbal agreement," Penn coach Roger Reina said. "I would hope that we'll establish a traditional competition and I believe the competition will be very intense -- state bragging rights." The last time Penn wrestled against Penn State was in 1997, when the Nittany Lions mauled the Quakers, 28-6, at the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Team Dual Meet Championships. · The Quakers will return to the National Duals for the third time in four years at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center on January 22-23. Penn received an at-large bid to the elite 16-team field. The top six teams from the 1999 National Duals automatically qualified, as did Division II Champion Pittsburgh-Johnston, Division III Champion Wartburg and NAIA Champion Northern Montana. Penn was given the first of the remaining seven at-large bids based on the strength of its returning lineup. "Being selected number one out of the remaining teams at-large was quite an honor," Quakers senior Mike Fickell said. "Again, this gives us another opportunity to be in the spotlight and for Penn wrestling to be more nationally recognized." Penn State, Cornell, 1999 National Duals Champion Oklahoma State and Iowa are among the other teams that will compete in the 16-team tournament at University Park, Pa. · The Quakers are looking for a new assistant wrestling coach this summer to replace Jon McGovern. McGovern joined Brian Dolph and Mike Friedman as assistants to Reina last season, but the Central College graduate will be focusing on training for the 2000 Summer Olympics this season. Reina expects a new coach to be hired later this summer. · With the addition of Penn State and a return to the National Duals, Penn's schedule looks especially challenging for the 1999-2000 season. The Quakers, who finished last season ranked 12th in the NWCA poll, will face five top-twenty teams. Aside from No. 10 Penn State and EIWA rivals No. 15 Cornell and No. 17 Lehigh, Big Ten heavyweights No. 9 Michigan and No. 14 Purdue are the top teams on Penn's full slate. The Quakers finished 10-0-2 last season, earning ties with Cornell and No. 8 Central Michigan in the process.

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