Once again, heavyweight Marc Padwe needed to draw or win to preserve a victory for the wrestling team.

But yesterday against Arizona State, Padwe wrestled too conservatively and the No. 1 Lions lost to the No. 6 Sun Devils, 21-20.

"He was thinking, 'I'll just tie it and we'll win,' " Coach Rich Lorenzo said.

Padwe wrestles best when he scores takedowns early, but against Arizona State's Mike Anderson neither wrestler scored in the first period. Anderson escaped to start the second period and rode Padwe for most of the third to post a 2-0 win.

The Lions also lost to No. 3 Oklahoma State, 21-13, Saturday night and defeated Oklahoma, 25-13, yesterday afternoon.

"We had to have a perfect match from every guy to come out of this weekend 3-0, and we didn't get that in every match," Lorenzo said.

Before a minute had passed against Arizona State, the Lions had a 12-0 lead. Jeff Prescott pinned Andrew Sedillo in 0:34, and Shawn Charles forfeited to Bob Truby just a few seconds later.

Charles, who lost to Truby at the national dual meet championships, injured his ankle in a dual meet Friday night but could have wrestled, Lorenzo said. Arizona State coach Bobby Douglas elected to forfeit the match rather than have Charles lose to Truby again.

"They didn't want us to get the mental momentum," Lorenzo said. "If Bobby Truby would have beaten up their returning All-American, it would have fired up Penn State even more."

Douglas could afford the early deficit because his team's strength is in the upper weights, where Penn State's is currently depleted. Douglas wrestled 167-pounder G.T. Taylor up a class because he thought Rob Holland had a better chance of pinning Dan Ombalski.

Ombalski, however, drew with Holland and would have won the match if the referee had not reversed a call.

Holland led Ombalski, 2-0, and had clinched the riding time point after two periods. Ombalski chose bottom to start the third period and got a penalty point when Holland was called for locked hands.

Ombalski then escaped near the edge of the mat, and Holland stood flat-footed. Ombalski took advantage and took him down for a 4-2 lead. The referee, however, after signalling the escape and takedown, changed his mind and awarded Ombalski two points for a reverse.

Lorenzo questioned the official, who said that he had changed his mind; the move was a reversal. Had Ombalski won the bout, the Lions would have won the meet.

"In the long run, that made a difference, but what can I say?" Lorenzo said. "I guess we were so elated that we just finished in a tie in a bout they were favored, that we didn't really think about it."

Just as they did at the national dual meet championships, the Lions took a 7-4 lead after the first three matches against Oklahoma State. But this time, instead of 142-pounder Troy Sunderland pinning Chuck Barbee, Barbee decisioned Sunderland, 7-5.

"That one hurt us," Lorenzo said. "We knew we were not strongly favored -- it was a toss-up bout -- but if we can win it, we'd be right in there."

Penn State got a break at 158; defending national champion Pat Smith did not compete because Oklahoma State is reviewing his academic status. Jason Suter decisioned Smith's replacement, Derek Fix, to give Penn State a 13-7 lead.

But Penn State's substitutes at 167, 177 and 190 couldn't hold the lead. Oklahoma State took the lead for the first time, 14-13, after Robbie Hadden major decisioned Mike Kraft at 177.

"We were exploited in those areas pretty good this weekend," Lorenzo said.

Oklahoma State led the bout, 18-13, going into the heavyweight match; Padwe would have needed to pin No. 4 Kirk Mammen for the Lions to win. Lorenzo asked Padwe to wrestle more aggressively and try for the pin; in doing so, Padwe left himself open and lost, 8-3.

"This weekend we proved that with the lineup we have, we're not the No. 1 team," Lorenzo said. "We're probably four or five, maybe even six."