Imagine Lou Benfatti sticking around on the Beaver Stadium turf signing autographs for his young fans for more than an hour. Or John Amaechi making sure the Rec Hall fans all get the chance to shake his hand.

It's a concept that has become more and more rare in today's sports world, but the wrestling team meets, greets, and signs autographs for its dozens of young fans after every home match.

"I love having the kids come around," Kerry McCoy said. "If they want my autograph, I love to give it to them."

A trio of 12-year-old Penn State wrestling fans, Anthony Cimaerei, Darren Moser and Chris Jones of Stroudsburg emerged from the crowd surrounding McCoy. With excitement in their eyes and their prized programs clutched tightly between their fingers, they proudly announced the signatures they had captured.

"We got Cary Kolat, John Fritz, Abe, Kerry McCoy, the Nittany Lion," they said.

"It makes a great souvenir," Moser added.

The turnout of young fans for Saturday's match with Oklahoma was the biggest of the year. Since it was youth wrestling day at Rec Hall, literally hundreds of kids swarmed the mat following the Lions' win.

John Hughes feels the youth wrestling promotion, which included an exhibition prior to the Penn State-Oklahoma match and a discount for young wrestlers and their families, is beneficial for Penn State wrestling in general.

"It's a good idea," he said. "It's a growing sport, so you gotta promote it to the younger kids. It gets the older people into it also."

Even the youngest wrestlers in attendance enjoyed the chance to come down and meet their grappling heroes.

"I think it's really cool. All the guys that are on the team -- they like to sign autographs," said 8-year-old Scott Bilich of Huntington. He added that he would like to be able to wrestle like them someday.

Perhaps the wrestler with the most unique perspective on the throngs of autograph seekers is Cary Kolat. Even though he has been in the public eye for all of his high school and college life, Kolat continues to enjoy the interaction with young fans.

"Sometimes you might have things to do, but it becomes a part of it," he said. "(The kids) are the ones who come and watch you, and if it wasn't for them, a lot of people wouldn't wrestle. And I can remember when I was that age, so it's fun."