As wrestling coach Zeke Jones put it, the Quakers will be spending Thanksgiving "training and eating turkey" as they prepare to take on some of the nation's top teams this weekend.
Coming off of a second-place finish at the Keystone Classic last Sunday, No. 14 Penn will try to ride its momentum into Albany, N.Y., on Saturday when it faces No. 1 Minnesota and No. 12 Central Michigan at the Northeast Duals. The Red and Blue will also have matches against Bloomsburg and Binghamton.
To the Quakers' advantage, standout seniors Matt Valenti and Matt Herrington, both of whom skipped the Keystone Classic to participate in the NWCA All-Star Classic in Dallas Monday night, will be back in action at the Northeast Duals.
Valenti, the country's No. 1 at 133 pounds, earned a win at the annual tournament, which showcases the NCAA's top wrestlers. Herrington, the No. 2 wrestler at 174 pounds, was edged out by No. 3 James Yonushonis of Penn State.
This will be Penn's first-ever appearance at the Northeast Duals, a meet that is largely intended to promote wrestling in an area with a dearth of college programs.
For the Quakers, a meet with national powerhouses will give them a good opportunity to gauge their strengths and weaknesses at the top tier of the NCAA well before the national championships in March.
"It's still early, so we're really just trying to improve," Jones said. "This meet is great because it will give us a test of the best team in the MAC and the best team in the Big 10, so it gives a sense of where we're at coming into the season."
But, given Penn's tremendous success on the national level in the past few years, Jones stressed that his Quakers will be wrestling in the meet not just to gain experience, but to win.
"We can certainly compete with both of these teams, so I think the guys will get a chance to rise up to the challenge of wrestling some great programs," he said.
Unlike in years past, when the Quakers had no meets the week after the Keystone Classic, the trip up to Albany will give the team more time on the mats before the Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 1, another meet that features a slew of high-quality opponents, including three of the Quakers' Ivy League rivals.
"The goal is to try to hit our first peak these next two weekends," Jones said.
With a 12th-place finish last year at the NCAA Championships, the Quakers are no strangers to grapplers of Minnesota's or Central Michigan's ilk. Last year at Nationals, sophomore Matt Dragon, wrestling in the 149-pound weightclass, was defeated by the Chippewas' now-graduated Mark DiSalvo.
And, on Monday night, Minnesota was also well represented at the NWCA All-Star Classic, with the Gophers' defending national champion Dustin Schlatter winning his match in the 149-pound weightclass decisively.
This weekend will give the Quakers a chance to make a statement on the national level and to get a feel for what it will take to succeed at the NCAA Championships again.
