Round two

National Dual Championships draw wrestlers to Iowa for second time this month

Penn State -- owner of the year's biggest college wrestling upset, a stunning 25-17 dual meet victory over Iowa in the Hawkeyes' own backyard on Jan. 3 -- returns to the scene of the crime for this weekend's Cliff Keen/National Wrestling Coaches Association National Dual Championships.

The Lions enter the 16-team field seeded a disappointing fifth, but with an atypical amount of attention directed their way. Penn State's previous dual meet wins over second-seeded Iowa and third-seeded Michigan have Lion coach John Fritz ready for the best that opponents have to give.

"What we probably did with our last performance in Iowa was make everybody else ready for us," Fritz said. "It's going to be a real good competition and we have to be ready.

Many of the nation's top teams will make an appearance. Besides Iowa and Michigan, top-seeded Minnesota will also participate. Arizona State is seeded fourth, Iowa State sixth, Oklahoma seventh and Nebraska eighth. Only the top eight teams receive seeds.

The Lions, who have battled key injuries all season long, will have only one starter scratched this weekend.

Junior Jason Betz, Penn State's 126-pounder, is recuperating from an illness and will not wrestle at his regular weight class, if he wrestles at all. Betz, who currently weighs around 145, will accompany the team on the trip and, according to Fritz, will back up 134-pounder Biff Walizer, a fifth-year senior.

Redshirt junior Eddie Jayne will replace Betz at 126. Fritz said Jayne, who wrestled for Betz earlier in the season while he was recovering from a skin infection, has his vote of confidence heading into his first competition since the Wilkes Open on Dec. 28-29.

Lion 118-pounder Jeremy Hunter is back in action as well after a bout with the flu last weekend. Hunter, a sophomore, missed both the Michigan and Michigan State home dual meets but has since recovered.

Redshirt junior Clint Musser will join Hunter among Penn State returnees at the National Duals. Musser, the Lions' starting 150-pounder, was suspended for last weekend's matches by Fritz following his arrest at an Iowa City nightclub after Penn State's win over Iowa.

In the upperweights, Penn State's co-captains -- redshirt junior Glenn Pritzlaff (167) and fifth-year senior Rob Neidlinger (177) -- will headline once again. Both returned to action against Michigan last week after lengthy bouts with injuries, Pritzlaff with a high ankle sprain, Neidlinger with a separated shoulder.

Neidlinger, who registered first-period pins in each of his last two outings, said both he and the Lions are ready to go strong at the National Duals.