Yesterday the wrestling team's emotions went through more ups and downs than a roller coaster.

Its wheels clattered as the roller coaster inched up its first peak --a showdown with No. 1 Minnesota. With each Lion win, the emotions grew stronger and stronger, edging over the top when 190-pounder Troy Minnich beat Minnesota's Darren Andy to set up the stunning upset and incite the crowd into a frenzy.

Kerry McCoy, No. 1 nationally, put the final touches on the thrilling win -- which has become almost commonplace for the Lion heavyweight -- when he soundly beat No. 3 Billy Pierce 9-2 to give the Lions a 19-17 win.

"That was a big win for me," McCoy said. "I really felt good about it. It was a match I was looking forward to all year. We matched up really well with Minnesota."

The Lions' roller coaster, however, didn't stay at the top too long. West Virginia, which had watched the Lions knock off the No. 1 team, were by no means intimidated. The Lions' emotions took a drastic downturn as the Mountaineers won five-straight matches after the Lions jumped out to a 12-3 lead. And before the Lions could even relish their win over Minnesota they again had to face defeat, as West Virginia won 22-16.

"We caught them in a real strange situation emotionally," West Virginia Coach Craig Turnbull said. "They had a great win and they still wanted to celebrate, and we were really ready to wrestle."

Even the Penn State wrestlers admitted that they were not ready to wrestle against West Virginia.

"We were celebrating a little too much after the Minnesota meet," McCoy said. "We really weren't focused and it kind of hurt us."

But the Lions' roller-coaster night of wrestling was still not over. After derailing against West Virginia, the Lions got back on track and handled Pittsburgh 25-12.

"It's kind of like the emotions you go through at the national tournament," Fritz said. "The Minnesota match was great but we could only experience that greatness for a few minutes. We had to get right down and think about the next match."

With their two wins and a loss yesterday, the Lions finished the dual-meet season 15-6.

The win over Minnesota, however, made a statement to to the rest of the wrestling community. The Lions beat the No. 1 team in the country and will only get stronger when All-American Shawn Nelson returns for the Big Ten tournament on Mar. 4-5. Nelson was slated to return yesterday, but re-injured his knee when he slipped on a patch of ice while jogging.

"I think it shows the guys, 'Hey, this is the No. 1 team in the country. They just beat Iowa and Oklahoma State. This is what you can do,' " Fritz said. "We've come a long way since the Oklahoma State meet (a 23-15 loss on Nov. 26) without Nelson and (Josh) Robbins in the lineup."