There may be economic talk about limiting Japanese imports, but Penn State is glad there's one in Happy Valley.

Tokyo native, and Penn State wrestler Sanshiro Abe has come to America, and is looking to make an impact on the wrestling team.

"Of course I want to be a national champ," Abe said. "Not once but four times."

Abe, a redshirt freshman, looks to be Penn State's force at 126 pounds.

He and the other Lion wrestlers will wrestle off for the starting spots at 1 p.m., Sunday in Rec Hall.

Abe will probably have a relatively easy time at 126, while the 158, 190 and heavyweight weight-classes are very much up for grabs.

Only in America for two years, Abe spent his first year learning English. He began wrestling at the age of nine in Japan, where his parents still reside.

While Abe's brother was attending Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, his parents wanted him to go to a college in America.

Youngi Takadi, a coach in Japan who is friends with Penn State Assistant Coach Hachiro Oishi, introduced Penn State to Abe.

"He came not only for wrestling, but academics as well," said Oishi, also a Japanese native.

"I wasn't planning on wrestling," Abe said. "I was watching practice and somehow it motivated me."

In Japan, Abe wrestled freestyle, a wrestling style different from Anerican collegiate wrestling. At Penn State, the lanky lightweight has adjusted to American life as well as collegiate wrestling.

"He's got a great attitude and has a great outlook on everything," Fritz said. "I think he's adjusted so well."

Coach Ken Chertow has been working hard with him to develop his mat wrestling.

Abe has learned the mat wrestling techniques quickly and is already attempting moves that an experienced collegiate wrestler would do, Fritz said.

Last season, as a redshirt, Abe placed in the top-three in all five of the tournaments he wrestled in. He won the 126 pound title and the oustanding wrestler award at the Wilkes Open and also placed third in the difficult Midland Tournament.

Abe's greatest assets as a wrestler are his quickness and his techniques.

"That makes him extremely effective from the outside," Fritz said.

Oishi has helped Abe immensely.

"He has helped me not only in wrestling but in academics as well," Abe said. "He explains things in both English and Japanese."

Oishi has helped Abe to adjust to other aspects of American life, including getting used to a different culture, but in most aspects Abe has been without much help.

"A lot of things he does in his own," Oishi said.

The language barrier has not been a major problem because Abe has learned English quickly.

Fritz thinks the language barrier will help Abe communicate with his teammates.

"I think it's a plus in communication because it makes people listen to him," Fritz said.

Abe has set high goals for himself.

"I would like to be Olympic Champ," Abe said.