The wrestling team found the Sooner state unfriendly territory this weekend, dropping its first two matches of the year, a 22-15 decision to eighth-ranked Oklahoma Saturday and an 18-16 heartbreaker to No. l Oklahoma State yesterday.

"I'm not the kind of coach to blame referees, but we got shafted," said Coach Rich Lorenzo of the officiating in yesterday's match. "Every time we come here Oklahoma State pays him and brings him in (to officiate). It was blatant. The referee decided what the outcome of the matches would be."

The Lions (14-2-1) needed a win in the last bout to defeat the top-ranked Cowboys, but heavyweight Don Frye was awarded one point when Greg Haladay locked his hands with about 45 seconds to go. Frye then scored an escape a few seconds later for a 3-3 draw. Haladay reversed Frye to start the third and had accumulated well over a minute of riding time before Frye tied the match in the final minute.

"Haladay was wearing the kid down, and the same call that Dernlan got penalized for he called stalemate about seven times," Lorenzo said. "In the Martin and Verratti matches the Oklahoma State wrestlers locked their hands right in front of him and he didn't call it. The referee was looking for anything to change the outcome of the match."

All-American Ken Chertow got the Lions out to an early lead with a 4-3 victory over Cory Baze in the opening bout. Trailing 2-1 after two periods, Baze let Chertow escape to start the third and took him down about midway through the period. Chertow escaped with about 20 seconds left to lock up the win.

Defending national champion Jim Martin extended the lead to 6-0, decisioning Kendall Cross, 5-2, at 126. After a scoreless first period, Martin escaped to start the second and scored a takedown on an ankle pick with about 10 seconds remaining in the period for a 3-0 advantage. Martin scored another takedown sandwiched between two escapes by Cross to secure his 30th win of the year.

The victory was also Martin's 142nd of his career, tying him with Greg Elinsky for the most career wins by a Penn State wrestler.

Oklahoma State closed the gap to 6-4 as Chuck Barbee shut out Jeff Dernlan, 8-0, in the 134-pound match. Leading 4-0 after two, Barbee scored a takedown, a stalling point and a riding time point to secure the major decision.

"Barbee was riding across Dernlan and had him stretched out," Lorenzo explained. "Jeff has to learn not to get in that position, but he wasn't stalling. The referee looked up at the clock and saw that he needed another point for a major and hit Dernlan with stalling."

At 142, Rob Meloy hit Mark Toarmina with a lateral drop early in the first period to jump out to a 5-0 lead. Toarmina scored an escape and a takedown to close to within 5-3 after one period, but Meloy scored two escapes in the second and a takedown in the third to hold off Toarmina, 9-8.

Todd Chesboro brought the Cowboys to within 9-7 in the 150-pound bout, defeating Mike Bevilacqua, 5-1. Chesboro scored takedowns in each of the first two periods and an escape in the third en route to the win.

Trailing 5-0 after two periods, Mark Verratti scored an escape, takedown and three near fall points to take a 6-5 lead, but All-American Wes White had the riding time advantage and the match ended in a draw.

Mike Farrell, the top 167-pounder in the nation, put the Cowboys on top, 12-11, with a 9-3 decision over Jason Suter. Farrell led throughout, and pulled away with five points in the third period.

Second-ranked Chris Barnes increased OSU's lead to 16-11, decisioning Matt White, 11-3. Barnes picked up the major decision with a takedown at the buzzer.

At 190, Andy Voit closed the gap to 16-14 with a 10-3 win over Randy Couture. Voit piled up eight points in the third period, but fell one point short of a major decision.

Frye then drew with Haladay, and the Cowboys locked up their 18th win of the year.

The Lions ran into an equally tough Oklahoma squad Saturday. Penn State won just three bouts as the Sooners took control in the middleweights and never looked back.

"Oklahoma outwrestled us and outhustled us," Lorenzo said. "Oklahoma deserved to win the match, they manhandled us with the exception of Martin, Bevilacqua and Haladay."

After Chris Bollin majored Chertow, 9-1, Martin gave the Lions their only lead of the match, defeating Stace Weiland by technical fall, 21-5.

The lead was short-lived as All-American T.J. Sewell downed Dernlan, 4-1, and Joe Reynolds defeated Meloy, 7-0.

Bevilacqua beat Jim Sconce, 19-9, to bring Penn State to within 10-9, but the Sooners ran off a string of four victories to put the match away. Haladay provided a bright spot in the heavyweight bout, pinning Joe O'Mara at 6:13.