After four grueling months and 20 dual meets, the No. 1 wrestling team is preparing for the final weekend of the regular season.

The Nittany Lions, 19-0-1, will meet three former Eastern Wrestling League opponents. Tomorrow the Lions wrestle West Virginia and Pittsburgh, then on Sunday they take on Clarion.

This weekend's trips are going to be especially difficult due to the amount of travel involved. The Lions are driving to West Virginia and right after that meet, they drive to Connellsville for the meet with Pitt at Connellsville High School.

After the meet, the Lions will drive the two hours to Clarion, arriving around midnight. To top it all off, they still have to make weight at 9 a.m. the next morning.

"It's going to be a challanging trip," Coach John Fritz said. "But it's a good thing as we head into tournament time."

A clean sweep this weekend will give the Lions a record 22 dual meets wins, and inscribe this team in the annals of Lion history.

"I don't think it says we're better than teams in the past," 158-pounder Josh Robbins. "But we're more fortunate and luckier."

But the dual meets record is not something the Lions are concerning themselves with.

"We've been on top many times, but we've never finished No. 1 at the NCAA Tournament," Assistant Coach Hachiro Oishi said. "It's nice to make new records, but records are always broken."

Nevertheless, this Penn State team is receiving rave reviews from opposing coaches.

"I think it's probably the finest team they have ever put together," West Virginia Coach Craig Turnbull said.

Pitt Coach Randy Stottlemeyer, who has seen Penn State teams since 1973, agrees with Turnbull.

"They're about as good a team as I've seen," Stottlemeyer said. "On paper, they're pretty damn tough."

Which is all the more reason that Penn State's opponents have their work cut out for them, as each team comes into the meet with young squads.

No. 23 West Virginia, however, has scored two upsets this season, beating No. 17 Lock Haven and No. 6 Ohio State.

"I'm not sure our guys are experienced or mature enough to challenge Penn State," Turnbull said. "We're a good team, but not a great team."

Pitt, another young team, has been wrestling well, Stottlemeyer said. The Panthers' only two losses on the season were to Bloomsburg and Lock Haven, two teams that didn't win a match against Penn State.

Clarion, led by 177-pounder Dan Payne, stands 9-11-1 on the season.

Notes:

-- After this weekend, the Lions will have two weeks to prepare for their first trip to the Big Ten Championship. The tournament is March 5-6, and Penn State will be looking to end Iowa's 19-year grasp on the title.

The two-week layoff will be a good opportunity for all the wrestlers to heal their minor injuries and change their focus.

"I think it's good to focus and individualize our goals," Robbins said. "I think it's kind of like a bowl game in football."

-- The new individual rankings have come out and the Lions maintained their nine wrestlers in the top 12.

Only Kerry McCoy remains unranked, but that may soon change, as he beat two ranked wrestlers last weekend.

The biggest move occurred at 142, Penn State's Russ Hughes jumped to No. 5, as Iowa's No. 1 Troy Steiner moved down to 134.