Until last month, 167-pounder Dave Hart had never missed a wrestling match because of injury.

So when he injured his shoulder against Iowa at the national dual meet championships, Hart didn't think he'd miss any competition. Even after he had to default his next match, he didn't think he'd miss more than a week.

Hart was wrong. Three weeks later, he started wrestling live again -- against 118-pounders in practice. And he'll be back in the starting lineup for the first time this weekend.

Matt White will also return to the lineup at 177 pounds when the Lions face EWL-foe Lock Haven at 7:30 tonight in Rec Hall and regional rival Lehigh at 7:30 tomorrow night in Rec Hall.

"Actually, I'm not really nervous," White said. "I'm just real anxious to be out on the mat."

White has already come back from an injury once and is confident he can do it again. He missed last year because of an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament and returned this season; against Oklahoma State at the national dual meet championships he injured the the posterior cruciate ligmament to his other knee.

"My knees are really strong, since I've rehabilitated them so much," White said.

Hart has spent the last month working on his conditioning, often running two to five miles a day on the Rec Hall track or riding for 30 to 45 minutes on the stationary bike. He and White also watched the team practice, and this made them anxious to return to competition.

"They're very hungry to wrestle," Coach Rich Lorenzo said.

Tonight's match is especially important to the team; Lock Haven is in first place in the EWL at 4-1 after upsetting West Virginia last weekend, 21-18. Penn State and West Virginia are tied for second with 3-1 records.

Lorenzo said both Hart and White re-open their seasons with tough opponents tonight, 167-pounder Ron Coffel and 177-pounder Dale Budd, last season's EWL Freshman of the Year.

"Well, I think he's got a pretty tough opponent too," White said. "And I tend to wrestle better against the better opponents."

Penn State still will not have its full lineup this weekend; 190-pounder Frank Buchman has started drilling but is not yet ready to wrestle live, and many of the wrestlers have missed practice this week because of the flu.

Lorenzo said that in a normal season, he would rest 118-pounder Jeff Prescott and 158-pounder Jason Suter, who need to cut weight to wrestle and drink water to recuperate from the flu. The flu is so powerful that it even caused assistant coach John Fritz, who never misses work, to miss last weekend's road trip and a few days of practice.

Because of injuries and redshirts, the Lions don't have enough depth. If absolutely needed, 118-pounder John Evans and 158-pounder Justin Forney will wrestle.

Troy Sunderland will return this weekend, but he'll wrestle at 150 pounds in place of Tim Wittman. Wittman injured his shoulder during the week of the Oklahoma road trip, but continued to wrestle to try to help the team. Lorenzo said Wittman's top priority now is to get completely healthy for the EWL Tournament, March 1-2 in Rec Hall.

After reprimanding the Lions last weekend for lacking pride in the team, Lorenzo thinks the team is better focused on its goals.

"Now with the guys back in the lineup and the EWLs right around the corner, they can see what's ahead of them now," Lorenzo said.