Impressive results for busy wrestlers

In sports, 'back-to-back-to-back' is usually a good thing.

Except when the three events are two dual meets and an all-day tournament over just two days.

In return for making it through grueling preseason practices and weight lifting sessions, Penn wrestling coach Rob Eiter rewarded his team with a smorgasbord of competition on which to feast.

Don't worry, the wrestlers still made weight.

On Saturday, the No. 21 Quakers racked up wins in all 10 weight classes as they humiliated Princeton, 47-0, but followed it up with a 22-15 loss against No. 9 Michigan. Then yesterday, Penn finished first in the Keystone Classic held at the Palestra.

Dessert came first in the home match against Princeton (0-2).

Junior Rollie Peterkin set the tone for the dual meet with a 15-0 technical fall at 125 pounds. From that moment, it was a foregone conclusion that the Quakers (1-1) would beat their New Jersey rivals.

Then it was time for the Red and Blue to take on the day's entree: the Michigan Wolverines (1-1).

Big Blue presented a stark contrast from Princeton, who went 0-18 and gave up at least 30 points on 16 different occasions in 2007-08. Last season, on the other hand, Michigan won 16 dual meets and tied for seventh place in the NCAA Tournament.

At the beginning of the match, Penn looked outclassed: Peterkin, ranked No. 7 nationally, lost to unranked Michael Watts while 133-pound sophomore Bryan Ortenzio tasted defeat to make the score Michigan 6, Penn 0.

Indeed, it appeared as though Watts had already decided the match with his opening upset.

"I knew we needed to get started off right," Michigan coach Joe McFarland said. "It was good to get [Watts' win] on our side early."

Penn senior 141-pound grappler Rick Rappo stopped Michigan's fast start in its tracks with a upset win over Michigan's No. 5 Kellen Russel.

Rappo pointed to his workmanlike attitude as big part of his victory.

"I didn't really think about the school, the ranking - stuff like that," Rappo said. "I just tried to go out, wrestle my match, do my job."

Rappo certainly did his job, swinging the momentum in Penn's favor. The Quakers proceeded to win the next four matches to take a 15-6 lead.

Michigan wasn't rattled though, winning the final four matches to pull out a 22-15 comeback triumph.

The weekend's main course had to wait until Sunday's Keystone Classic, which saw Penn outlast nine other teams to earn 138.5 points. Pittsburgh came in second with 135.

"It's really tough," Peterkin said. "I'm banged up today - I've got bruises all over me."

In addition to team success, four Quakers won their individual weight classes: Peterkin, senior captains Cesar Grajales and Matt Dragon at 149 and 157, respectively, and Zack Shanaman at 165.

The Quakers now have 12 days to recover from their two-day marathon before heading to Las Vegas on Dec. 5 for the Cliff Keen Invitational.

But according to the Quakers, a busy opening slate should help them throughout the rest of this year's campaign.

"I think this is something to measure [ourselves] off of," Grajales said.

Peterkin agrees.

"It's better to kind of shock the system now and get it into our heads that this is what the season's going to be like," he said.

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