How's this for a busy opening weekend? The wrestling team starts its 2008-09 campaign with dual matches against Princeton and No. 9 Michigan tomorrow at the Palestra, and then on Sunday, it hosts nine other teams in the all-day Keystone Classic. "It's going to be a grind," coach Rob Eiter said.

There's no time to rest for Penn women's swimming. Despite a bevy of injuries, a season-opening loss to Columbia last Sunday and only a six-day break between meets, the Quakers have to gear up for a tri-meet with Princeton and Cornell this weekend. And regardless of the short amount of recovery time, practices this week have remained grueling.

Down by two points with 10 seconds left - and with a chance to pull off a huge upset against Villanova on the line -women's basketball coach Pat Knapp called on a surprising source to take the final shot. Freshman Tyler Cumbo, in only her second collegiate game, missed a short running jumper with six seconds left, as the Wildcats came from behind in the final minute to eke out a 45-43 victory.

When senior co-captain Kathryn Turner entered Princeton's Dillon Gym for her last career match, she sensed an unfamiliar atmosphere. "It was quieter than that gym has been in my biggest games there, which I was a little bit shocked by," she said. Turner capitalized on the calm, putting together one of her best matches of the season.

The family that plays together stays together. Senior Joey Raho's loved ones are no different. "[My parents'] first date was a squash match," said Raho, whose older brother Nick also played for Cornell. Penn coach Craig Thorpe-Clark agreed. "Unlike maybe football, where only Dad and the boys could play, you know, squash is a whole family game," he said.

Penn's game against Drexel may have been featured on ESPN this week, but the Ivy League hasn't been turning any heads thus far: Ancient Eight squads have gone just 4-12 to open the men's basketball season. That said, they looked more than respectable against some quality opponents in their season openers.

Trinity, Princeton, Yale and Harvard. Since 2005-06, the men's squash team's view has been unchanged: Above the Quakers, that elite quadrumvirate. Below, every other team in the nation. Penn - fifth-place finishers at the past two national championships - is tired of sitting on the outside looking in.

Mathematically, at least, three of this weekend's four Ivy matchups have title implications. The one exception is Dartmouth at Princeton - but there's something even larger at stake. The Big Green (0-9, 0-6 Ivy) are on the verge of their first winless campaign since 1883.

Sophomore Kim Adams, who started Friday's opener and was second on the team in scoring in 2007-08, became the fourth player to leave the team since the end of last year. "She approached me on Monday; she has decided to leave the team for personal reasons," Penn coach Pat Knapp said.

The Dragons weren't more talented, more athletic or more prepared than Penn in their 66-64 home win at the Daskalakis Athletic Center yesterday. No, the difference came down to defensive intensity - Drexel had it, and Penn didn't. "Just disappointed in our performance tonight," senior guard Kevin Egee said.

Last time Villanova senior Lisa Karcic made a visit to the Palestra, it was a dark day for Penn women's basketball. "Two years ago she shot the lights out here," coach Pat Knapp said. Unfortunately for Knapp and the Quakers, the scene at Villanova's Pavilion last year was even drearier.

After a loss to Princeton spoiled her first ever Ivy League match, sophomore Megan Tryon sensed what the Penn-Princeton rivalry was all about. "It's a pride thing," she said. "I'm still really bitter about that and I definitely want to avenge that loss." In two chances to get the revenge she so desperately covets, the Quakers came up short.

Bruiser Flint got his wish. With it came pressure. "My boss told me, 'Now look, man, we got this game here, so you better win,'" the Drexel coach said. "So I said, 'OK. All right. Appreciate it.'" The Dragons pleased their head honchos with a 66-64 win over Penn in its first-ever visit to the Daskalakis Center early yesterday morning.

The women's squash team has it all. After winning their first Ivy League title since 2000 and finishing second in the nation, the Quakers return with three All-Americans and plenty of confidence. "We are good, not to sound cocky," senior co-captain Emily Goodwin said.

Last season the women's basketball team only mustered 26 points in a 40 point rout by Villanova. In their home opener this year, the Quakers bounced back to nearly pull off a stunning upset. Instead, Sioban O'Connor hit a huge three-pointer with 36 seconds left to propel Villanova to a 45-43 victory.

Who knows what Bruiser Flint's politics are, but on matters of college basketball he is a registered progressive, and a loud one at that. Damn the torpedoes and the status quo, he says what he thinks and treats reporters not as annoyances but as sparring partners and useful tools in getting his point across.

Christina Matthias and Brittany Hebden have only gotten closer as the years have gone by - literally. From growing up a block apart in Philadelphia to attending Penn Charter School together for 12 years to sharing an off-campus house with seven other people, the two Penn squash players are "almost like sisters.