Wresting | Penn pursues Pa. preeminence

Wrestling two in-state rivals in the last weekend of the regular season is exciting enough.

Throw in the teams' rankings, and these matchups look even more enticing.

After falling out of the polls in mid-January due to a poor showing in the Virginia Duals, the Quakers (11-6, 6-2 EIWA) returned this week as No. 25 with 118 points.

But it won't be easy to keep their spot, as they'll face No. 24 Penn State (8-11-2) tonight and No. 8 Lehigh (22-1, 8-0) Sunday, both on the road.

"Penn State is a big in-state rival and Lehigh is a big in-conference rival . traditionally one of our biggest opponents," junior Rollie Peterkin said. "We're getting pumped up for both of these matches."

Penn last had a dual meet with the Nittany Lions in December 2005 when PSU won, 25-6.

The Mountain Hawks are more frequent opponents, having faced the Quakers in every regular season and conference tournament, as well as occasionally in the NCAA tournament. That familiarity may or may not breed contempt, but it leads to more riveting bouts.

"It really tightens the matches up," coach Rob Eiter said. "It makes them more interesting and intense. Last year, an 8-5 score might be 6-4 this year."

Penn beat the Mountain Hawks, 24-15, last year and 21-15 in 2007, though Lehigh leads the all-time series 36-9-2.

So far this season the Quakers have faced seven ranked teams. And although their record in these games is 2-5, only two of the five losses were by double digits, and both of the wins were upsets.

Specifically, Penn already wrestled a ranked Big 10 team closely, falling to then-No. 9 Michigan, 22-15, in November.

As a result, Eiter believes his team's tough scheduling will prove to be valuable in these last regular-season matches, not to mention in the conference and national tournaments that are lurking ahead in March.

"Our guys are battled tested," the first-year coach said. "They've already been through the ringers. . We challenged our guys this year, and they've met that challenge and then some."

That said, they've got some more challenges to face before they can focus on the postseason. Penn State boasts four ranked wrestlers, highlighted by junior All-American Bubba Jenkins, who is ranked No. 2 at 149 pounds. Lehigh has seven ranked grapplers, though none crack the top eight of their respective weightclasses. Penn, meanwhile, has three ranked individuals.

But with all of that said, the Red and Blue are as confident as ever.

"They're both teams that we can beat," Peterkin said. "I definitely think we can make some big splashes if we knock off either one of them."

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