The time was right for some McCoy magic.

The wrestling team trailed Lehigh 17-12 heading into the heavyweight contest on Saturday. Kerry McCoy needed a pin to give the Lions a dramatic, one-point win.

But Lehigh heavyweight Bill Closson was not about to let that happen. McCoy rode him for almost five minutes during the match, but could not turn Closson onto his back. McCoy won by decision, 6-3.

McCoy gave Closson an uncharacteristic shove after the match. The referee called him for unsportsmanlike conduct, which meant a one-point deduction from Penn State's team score, giving Lehigh a 17-14 win.

"This kind of thing's been happening all year," McCoy said of his cautious opponents. "I guess it just built up."

Closson's offense was non-existent -- he was penalized for stalling four times in the match. One more stall warning would have given McCoy a win by disqualification and six team points to Penn State -- and the dual-meet win.

"He just laid there," McCoy said. "My main idea was to get stalling calls, get six points that way. By him just laying there and laying there -- I got frustrated because I wasn't getting the call, and because he was just laying there."

Closson bowed sarcastically to the 2,754 in attendance at Rec Hall, leaving the mat to a shower of boos.

"I told (Closson) before the match to go out there and get a win," Lehigh Coach Bob Latessa said. "But he had it in his head to go out and not get pinned, no matter what I said to him."

The loss dropped the Lions to 5-10 for the season, and it marked the Engineers' first victory against Penn State since 1981. And unlike other losses the Lions have suffered this year, Coach John Fritz was not pleased with the effort of his team.

"I don't think we wrestled as hard and aggressive and intense as we needed to," he said.

Two particular problem areas were at 150, where John Hughes lost to Steve Cassidy, and 177, where Matt Hardy was dominated by Cory Brechbill.

Fritz used Hughes at 150 pounds -- instead of at his customary 142 -- so that the Lions' top middleweight would face No. 7 Cassidy. Neither wrestler recorded a takedown in regulation or overtime. Cassidy won when he rode Hughes out for the 30-second overtime period.

"I had a good feeling that (Hughes) would win that match," Fritz said. "He's had problems there before -- what he does off the bottom. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise if it gets him to work on that before Big Tens and nationals."

Hardy, who has been steadily improving all season, was manhandled by Lehigh's Brechbill, 11-1.

"(Hardy) just didn't have it tonight," Fritz said. "He hasn't wrestled like that in a while."

The Lions led throughout the match, starting with a 3-0 lead when John Strittmatter collected his first dual-meet win in Rec Hall. He defeated Mike Sferra, 7-2.

Other Lions collecting wins included Jeff Tufano, Clint Musser and Glenn Pritzlaff, who won his first Ridge Riley Award, awarded to the most-valuable Lion wrestler at each home dual meet.

"It's a nice honor," Pritzlaff said. "I was surprised. I guess I looked a lot better than I thought I looked out there."

The Lions will have two more chances to snap their five-match losing streak before the end of the dual-meet season. Next Saturday, they embark on a one-day road trip with matches at West Virginia and against Pitt at Chartiers Valley High School.