There will be plenty of opportunities for the Penn wrestling team to shoot up the rankings this weekend, when the No. 15 Quakers (2-2) compete in the two-day Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
The tournament has a field of 49 teams from throughout the country, consisting of Division I, II, NAIA and junior-college competition.
In its 25th year, the CKLV Invite has become a crucial early-season marking point in which wrestlers from all divisions and regions come to test their skills among some of the best in the nation.
The next set of Division I rankings will mainly be based on the Invite, with 12 of the top 25 teams in the nation competing.
Five of the teams ranked above Penn will be in attendance, including No. 2 Missouri and a No. 5 Hofstra squad that knocked off former No. 1 Minnesota last weekend at the Northeast Duals.
The Quakers tried to rest up this week, both in preparation for their difficult opponents and also after taking part in the Northeast Duals.
"We took a little more recovery time than we have in the past weeks," Penn coach Zeke Jones said of his team's approach. "I know the kids want to have a successful weekend."
Last year, the Red and Blue was able to take 10th place at the Invite in Jones' first season with the team.
Team captain Matt Valenti finished in second place at 133 pounds, falling to No. 1 Shawn Bunch of Edinboro University.
Now, Valenti will represent the top seed for the Invite at 133, and he will be joined by three other top-10 seeded teammates: No. 6 Matt Dragon at 157, No. 2 Matt Herrington at 174 and No. 8 Lior Zamir at 184.
Another starter, Cesar Grajales, will not be able to wrestle this weekend, since he will need even more recovery time after the Northeast Duals. The absence of key wrestlers should not prove to be unusual among the battle-tested teams in the tournament.
"The team's certainly capable of competing well," Jones said. "I'd venture to guess there are certain other top teams here without starters."
A team's durability will be a very important factor in the overall standings, with most entrants typically wrestling five matches in the two-day span.
The Quakers will be wrestling for the fourth consecutive weekend, and only time will tell if this scheduling has fatigued the team or delivered it experience and momentum.
No matter the outcome, Penn will have much time to mull over the Invite; the team will not face another opponent until Jan. 6 versus York College at the Palestra.
If the Quakers can improve their approach against top-notch wrestling, those Spartans will be taking on a top-10 team in January.
