Cleveland State hung tough through the first eight matches, but Andy Voit and Greg Haladay posted decisions in the last two bouts to give third-ranked Penn State a 22-13 victory over the Vikings last night in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Lions (11-0-1 overall, 2-0 in the EWL) led through most of the match, but couldn't seem to shake the 5-4 Vikings.

"I expected it to be a real dogfight," Coach Rich Lorenzo said. "I was impressed that Cleveland State was very aggressive up to 58, and I really respect that.

"All in all, I'm pretty pleased with our effort, but we've still got to improve," Lorenzo added.

Cleveland State jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead as Mike Elsass piled up eight takedowns to defeat Yu Matsui, 18-6, in the 118-pound bout. Matsui, who was wrestling in his first dual meet, did a good job, Lorenzo said, filling in for Ken Chertow, who had problems making weight.

Defending national champion Jim Martin evened the meet at 4-4 with a 10-2 win over Guy Sako. Martin pulled away in the third period, outscoring Sako 7-2 in the last two minutes.

Jeff Dernlan decisioned Dan Kelly at 134 to give the Lions their first lead of the evening. Dernlan scored three takedowns to jump out to a 7-2 first period advantage and controlled the match until Kelly scored an escape and a takedown in the final seconds to close the gap to 13-8.

At 142, Peter Horst widened the Penn State lead to 10-4, posting an 8-6 win over Perry Ohl. Horst scored two escapes in the third period and picked up one point of riding time to lock up the victory.

Trailing 3-1 after two periods, Mike Bevilacqua used an escape and a takedown in the final period to force a 3-3 draw with Dave Wlodarz in the 150-pound match.

Mark Verratti took a 4-2 lead after the first three minutes, but Matt Peters scored an escape in the second period and rode Verratti through the entire third stanza for the riding time point and a 4-4 draw at 158.

In the 167-pound contest, Frank McKeon brought Cleveland State to within three points, 14-11, with a 6-4 decision over Jason Suter. McKeon scored an escape in the third period to take a two-point lead and held off Suter the rest of the way to lock up the win.

"Jason gave us a good scrap, but he's got to learn to take people down at the end of a match when he has to," Lorenzo said.

Matt White battled Ernie Slone to a 4-4 draw at 177, as White scored three points in the last period on an escape, a stalling warning and riding time.

Andy Voit extended the Lions advantage to 19-13, decisioning Jay Suvak, 10-4. Voit scored almost at will, letting Suvak up and taking him down twice in the second period and once in the third.

At heavyweight, Greg Haladay controlled Heath Mohrman for most of the match, scoring a takedown and two reversals en route to a 6-2 win.

"Haladay's starting to gain some confidence and control when he's out there," Lorenzo said.

The squad will be back on the road next weekend, traveling to Anapolis, Md., on Saturday to take on Navy, and to College Park, Md., on Sunday for a tri-meet with the Maryland Terrapins and N.C. State.