For the Penn wrestling team, one trip south of the Mason-Dixon Line was just not enough.
After traveling down to Hampton, Va. one week ago and returning with a second-place finish in the Virginia Duals, the No. 25 Quakers (USA Today/NWCA Coaches' Poll) again headed south this weekend to face off against The Citadel and North Carolina.
But geographical proximity was the only thing that the two weekends' competitions shared. In Virginia, Penn lost a heartbreaker to No. 15 Indiana, but the matchups against the unranked Bulldogs and Tar Heels were nowhere near close, as the Quakers came away with two easy victories.
In Saturday's first match, the Red and Blue posted a 43-0 victory over The Citadel, its first shutout of the season. Later in the day, the team won its second dual meet at Carmichael Auditorium, besting host North Carolina by a score of 33-8.
The two victories saw Penn's record improve to 7-2, as the team won its sixth out of seven in the year 2006. The only loss during that span -- the aforementioned near-upset against the Hoosiers -- was by only three points.
"I wouldn't even say that we're starting to peak yet," junior Matt Valenti said. "The team is starting to come together, we're starting to fill out. But I think there's still room to improve, and really what this weekend showed is that we're continuing to improve as the season goes on."
The co-captain, ranked No. 12 in the nation at 133 pounds, wasted no time in winning his two matches of the weekend. In fact, he finished off his two opponents in less total time than it would have taken most to wrestle just one match.
Valenti pinned the Bulldogs' Michael Arias in just 2:54, and needed just a minute longer to get the fall on the Tar Heels' Dan Carleton at 3:52. The total possible time for a collegiate wrestling match is 7:00.
In the Quakers' eight matches since a home loss to Penn State -- in which Valenti was upset by then-No. 19 Jake Strayer -- the Newton, N.J. native has gone 8-0 with three major decisions, a technical fall, and three falls.
He called the loss against PSU a "wakeup call," saying that it "pointed out what [he] needed to work on.
"I think [the new focus] has been helping me break matches open and score a lot of bonus points," he added.
Both junior Matt Herrington and senior Mike Silengo won each of their pairs of matches. The two have rejoined the team this semester after missing the first portion of the season due to injury. For both, head coach Zeke Jones stresses the importance of these matches against lesser opponents in rebuilding a conditioning level that has certainly slipped during the time off.
Herrington (174) wrestled first in each dual meet, winning his first bout by technical fall and his second by major decision.
"He put almost 40 points up in two matches, so he's compressing a lot of wrestling into seven-minute matches," Jones said.
As for Silengo (125), his victories came by fall and by decision. He won the latter -- against UNC's Bobby Shaw -- by just one point.
"He has just really wrestled very consistently," Jones said. "I think his confidence grows from every weekend. He just really needs matches, and he's getting those matches now."
If the Quakers have really been improving during this run they have been on, it should show when they face No. 21 Hofstra on Wednesday.
"They're starting to taste that their wrestling is getting better," Jones said. "But at the same I think they're still not quite as good as they can be."
