The two-day tournament featured 16 teams, including more than 160 wrestlers. The Lions wrestled a grueling schedule -- six dual meets in less than 48 hours.

The environment at National Team Duals in Lincoln, Neb., last weekend was ripe for chaos.

But the most surprising development of the tournament for the wrestling team may have been the lack of surprises en route to its sixth-place finish. In their six match-ups, the Lions were 0-3 against the three ranked teams they faced and 3-0 versus their three unranked opponents.

In reality, Penn State was in a battle for second place with 14 other teams in the tournament. No. 1 Iowa was a juggernaut, demolishing its four opponents. Included was a tour de force performance against No. 2 Oklahoma State. The Hawkeyes lost only one match in the finals against the Cowboys, winning 31-3.

Nebraska edged Michigan State 21-18 in the third-place bout, and North Carolina punished Pitt 33-9 in the contest for seventh.

Penn State was handed its final defeat yesterday by No. 3 Iowa State, 21-15, in the match to decide fifth place. The Lions had lost earlier in the afternoon to No. 8 Michigan State, 24-12. The Lions other loss came in the second round on Saturday when they were sent into the consolation bracket by the event's host, No. 5 Nebraska, 21-16.

The Lions' wins all came Saturday, which began with a 26-6 thrashing of Div. III Wartburg College. After the setback to the Cornhuskers, Penn State strung together two wins, a 26-12 dismantling of Div. II Central Oklahoma and a 23-10 mauling of Pittsburgh.

"I was hoping, of course, to pull one of these out, pull both of these out, but it's just one of those things," Coach John Fritz said of the Michigan State and Iowa State matches in an interview with WRSC-AM (1390). "We'll be back in March for Nationals at Iowa. We've got to do some work between now and then."

The sixth-place Lions were up and down all weekend, as one might expect from a team that includes nine freshmen in its 15-man traveling squad. Here are the highlights and lowlights from a busy weekend of wrestling action:

Highlights:

-- No. 1 Kerry McCoy. He went 5-0, including an impressive pin of No. 4 Tolly Thompson of Nebraska. He has run his winning streak to 73 matches, including a 26-0 mark this season.

-- Freshman Clint Musser's win in a grudge rematch against Phil Judge of Michigan State. Musser was the victim of what he felt was a bad call at the end of regulation last Sunday against Judge. This time, Musser rode Judge out in the second overtime to gain his revenge.

-- Tony Bobulinski's dramatic overtime ride-out win over Chris Bono in the Iowa State match to keep the Lions' upset hopes alive.

"It's a tribute to him after five years of hard work," Fritz told WRSC. "He's beating some of the top kids in the country because he's put himself in that position, because he's earned it."

-- Penn State's authoritative victory over Pitt Saturday night. The Lions easily disposed of their intrastate rival, 23-10. The team was bolstered by Matt Hardy's upset of No. 10 Brian Matusic, who transferred from Penn State to Pitt after last season.

Lowlights:

-- 177-pounder Rob Neidlinger's knee injury during the Pitt match Saturday night. Fritz said Neidlinger may have strained ligaments in his knee, but the severity of the injury remains to be seen.

-- Penn State's 24-12 loss to Michigan State. For the second time in a week, the Lions were crushed by their Big Ten rival. By virtue of their fourth-place finish, the Spartans have made their claim on the No. 2 spot in the conference.

-- Eddie Jayne's failure to make weight yesterday. He was consequently on the sidelines for the Lions' two matches. The 118-pounder has been hampered all season by a knee injury that has restricted his movement and hindered his ability to get down to weight.

-- The controversial nature of Hardy's loss in the Nebraska match. In the last few seconds of the overtime ride-out period, Hardy was very close to scoring a match-winning reversal on Cornhusker Erik Josephson. The referee, however, ruled that the Lions' 167-pounder did not attain control.

The Lions will have two weeks to recover from their six matches in two days. Their next matches are on an Oklahoma road trip at the beginning of next month -- Feb. 3 against the Sooners and Feb. 4 at Oklahoma State.