Grapplers set for two ranked teams

It is the last of the regular season matches for the Penn State wrestling team, but the season is just beginning.

"We have to keep our intensity," Fritz said. "That's what we're looking for."

The No. 5 Lions (14-4) will look for that intensity and much more as they tangle with No. 19 Lock Haven (11-5) at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Rec Hall and return tomorrow at 1 p.m. for a date with No. 25 Lehigh (8-7).

"We seem to wrestle them late every year," Lock Haven coach Carl Poff said. "It's good to wrestle a team such as Penn State because it prepares us well."

The Golden Eagles will challenge the Lions in a number of matches, but most notably at 142, 150 and 177 pounds where they send their returning All-Americans to the mat.

At 142, No. 1 Cary Kolat (16-0) of Lack Haven faces No. 10 Clint Musser (22-9). Kolat is coming off a national championship year, while Musser is coming off a suspension for a violation of team policy.

"We've worked out together," Kolat said. "I know his style. He knows my style."

Freshman Shad Benton (16-7), who was 2-0 last week in lifting the Lions in both matches, faces No. 5 Mike Rogers (22-2), a three-time Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference champion and last season's Eastern Wrestling League title winner at 150.

Lion Frank Morici continues to see tough competition, as he matches up with No. 6 Mike Geurin (21-2). While Geurin is on pace to successfully defend his PSAC title and win his third EWL championship, Morici is having his best season in a Lion singlet.

"I've been following Frank," Poff said. "He's wrestling well, and Benton's wrestling extremely well."

Poff and the Golden Eagles think they can successfully counter the Lions at those weights, but Poff also added he is less sure how to answer the Lions' top wrestlers -- No. 1 Kerry McCoy (30-0) at heavyweight and 167-pounder Glenn Pritzlaff (30-2), who fell from No. 2 to No. 3 in this week's Amateur Wrestling News poll following his loss on Feb. 8 to Wisconsin's Kevin Wilmot, who now has that No. 2 slot.

"Both are really good," Lehigh coach Greg Strobel said. "Pritzlaff is having a banner year. He's going to be hard to counter."

The Engineers will try to counter McCoy with its lone ranked wrestler, No. 12 Bill Closson, who Strobel feels has much more work to do before being considered in the same class as McCoy.

The progression of both wrestlers has been in opposing coaches' minds because both have been becoming more dominant, especially on their riding. Fritz attributes that improvement to assistant coaches Hachiro Oishi and Sanshiro Abe.

"Oishi and Abe work with a lot of individuals with different things and lately a lot of things on top," Fritz said after McCoy's match last Friday with Ohio State's Nick Nutter.

McCoy controlled the bout by riding Nutter for most of the match before pinning him. McCoy and Pritzlaff may once again rely on the assistants' advice against the Engineers. Lehigh does not have the names and rankings of other teams, but Fritz warned the Engineers have a balanced lineup.

"I don't know if they have a weak weight," Fritz said.

If Lehigh can steal some matches, something that Strobel thinks his team needs to do, the Lions may find themselves in the same predicament as last week when they needed to rally to tie both the Buckeyes and Clarion before eventually winning.

"We've got a fairly solid lineup," Strobel said. "We're close to some teams, but we don't have the depth and power of Penn State."