Wrestling | Unexpected but not unappreciated

Ask recently terminated Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards about the concept of a "good loss," and he'd be quick to inform that "You play to win the game!"

Bring up the Penn wrestling team's Friday loss to No. 4 Nebraska (12-2-1) with Quakers coach Rob Eiter, and you will get a very different response.

"We need to hold our heads up high, because we went in as underdogs," Eiter said. "We kept it as a positive."

Such a positive, in fact, that the Quakers (7-5, 3-0 EIWA) were able to rebound from the 23-14 defeat to handle No. 24 Pitt (2-5), 20-16, in the Palestra on Sunday.

Penn was able to build a 14-9 lead against the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Neb., with three matches left, but a forfeit by injured 157-pounder Matt Dragon and major decision losses at 165 and 174 gave the Huskers the nine-point win.

The Quakers lost the matches they were supposed to lose - four unranked Red and Blue grapplers succumbed to top-10 opponents - and won the matches they were supposed to win.

Unfortunately, Penn's only expected points came by way of a workmanlike 5-1 victory by No. 12 Rollie Peterkin at 125 pounds and a 12-11 nail-biter by No. 10 Cesar Grajales at 149.

But it was unranked heavyweight Trey McLean, not Grajales or Peterkin, who tallied the most impressive win for the Quakers.

McLean was facing a trio of troubles in foe Tucker Lane. Lane, who pinned McLean back in December in Las Vegas, was wrestling on his home mat this time and is the No. 16 wrestler in his weightclass.

Yet McLean was unfazed by the odds, picking up a solid 5-3 decision.

"Talk about a confidence-builder for Trey," Eiter said.

But to hear McLean tell it, the confidence has always been there.

"I always come into every competition expecting to win," McLean said. "I have been graced by God."

McLean's unwavering faith shone threw again on Sunday, when he faced an even stiffer test in No. 6 Zach Sheaffer of Pitt.

He cruised to a 5-2 triumph, making his record for the past two matches 2-0 against two ranked opponents.

"You are always worried when you have one good match, that you can back it up with a second good match," Eiter said. "And now what that causes is momentum."

That momentum was evident throughout the Pitt match, with the Quakers building a dominating 20-10 lead before sophomore Zack Kemmerer surrendered a pin at 141 to make it 20-16.

The Red and Blue struck first in most matches, often toying with their opponents.

Grajales did this better than anyone, taking his opponent down, letting him up and taking him down over and over again en route to an 8-3 win.

The only Quakers wrestler who didn't seem on his game was the one you would least expect: Peterkin.

The junior from Wellesley, Mass. was unable to score on his freshman foe for all of regulation and two overtime periods before finally pulling out a reversal and the 2-0 second-tiebreaker win.

Still, Eiter is confident that Peterkin will show his true colors come March.

"Rollie is Rollie," Eiter said. "He can beat anybody in the country."

But it wasn't McLean's upset or Peterkin's grit and resilience that stood out most against the Panthers.

That honor can be bestowed upon backup 157-pounder Gabe Burak, who made a good case to start with a 10-2 drubbing of Pitt's Phil Sporrentino.

Burak, just like McLean, is quick to point skyward when explaining his success.

"I just want to praise my lord and savior Jesus Christ," he said.

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