After the first seven matches Saturday, the wrestling team's chances for victory over No. 18 Ohio State were bleak. It trailed 15-7 with three matches to go, and the Lions were likely to win only one of those -- Kerry McCoy's match at heavyweight.

But in an impossible dream of a scenario, the Buckeyes were "robbed" of a dual-meet victory that seemed all but a sure thing.

The No. 4 Lions got wins from 177-pounder Rob Neidlinger, who was wrestling his first varsity match, and 190-pounder Rob Piper, who carried a 3-5 record into his first dual meet match of the season, to get to within two points, 15-13. McCoy disposed of an overmatched Eric Onita, 21-5, to give the Lions an exhilarating 17-15 win.

"We've had a lot of great wins here at Rec Hall, and I was part of a lot of things in 15 years, but that might have been as satisfying as any because things were looking bleak." Coach John Fritz said. "The kids never said die."

After the Ohio State match, the Lions' weekend was far from over. Shortly after McCoy's overwhelming win, he and his teammates were on their way to East Lansing, Mich., for a Sunday contest with No. 6 Michigan State.

Penn State dropped a 21-13 decision to the Spartans, but the Lions' day of wrestling wasn't over yet. Immediately after the match, the team made the trip to the University of Michigan to battle the No. 20 Wolverines.

Penn State jumped out to leads of 9-3 and 12-6 before falling behind 17-12 with only McCoy left to wrestle. A pin was the Lions' only hope for victory, and during the first period, McCoy nearly gave his team an 18-17 win. He came ever-so-close to pinning the Wolverines' Airron Richardson with a first period charge.

But the Michigan freshman was able to ward off McCoy's initial attack, and Richardson managed to stay off his back for the remainder of the match as the Penn State heavyweight won an 8-2 decision and his 68th consecutive match.

But that wasn't enough. Michigan won the dual meet 17-15 and dropped the Lions to a 2-3 record, all in the Big Ten.

While Penn State nearly won in dramatic fashion against Michigan, it did manage to come out on top against Ohio State.

The Lions and Buckeyes traded victories for the first four matches, with the only bonus points coming on a 16-5 major decision by Sanshiro Abe over Rob Archer.

But Ohio State roared to a seemingly insurmountable lead with three straight wins at 150, 158 and 167. Buckeyes Charlie Becks and Eric Smith turned in big performances to best Lion freshman standouts John Lange and Glenn Pritzlaff.

Then Neidlinger, who has been battling back problems all season, stepped out to face sophomore Mitch Clark (10-8). The pair went back and forth until less than one minute remained when Neidlinger scored a dramatic takedown to seal a 9-5 victory. Neidlinger left the mat to the adulation of both his teammates and the Rec Hall crowd.

"I heard it the whole time," Neidlinger said. "Our teammates were really into it too. You look over and see one of the guys on the mat saying 'Get one, get one (a takedown),' and it makes you want to get one even more."

Piper, a fifth-year senior, then faced off against Nick Nutter, a highly-touted newcomer last season with a 2-2 mark this year. Piper controlled the match, keeping Nutter on his heels. The Lion 190-pounder benefited from two penalty points levied against Nutter for stalling to take a 4-2 win.

After the upsets, McCoy needed only a decision over an outmatched and undersized Onita to win the dual meet. He dominated, taking a 21-5 match termination win.

"After (Piper) won, it was good to be able to just go out there and wrestle, and not have to try to do something," McCoy said.