Wrestlers riding momentum into dual meets

All season long, Penn State wrestling coach John Fritz has stressed improvement.

Week in and week out, the words have come from his mouth like drops of water from a leaky faucet: "We can still get better."

Even with the familiar Fritz adage firmly in place, last weekend might have been too tough an act to follow for the Nittany Lions.

Penn State, which upended then-No. 3 Minnesota 21-13 and manhandled Clarion 36-3 in its last two outings, travels to Ohio State (10-10-1, 1-5 Big Ten) and No. 14 Pittsburgh (11-3) for a pair of dual meets tonight and tomorrow.

But you won't hear it from them.

"Every team on our schedule is capable of beating us," Fritz said. "I think we've proven this year that the highest-ranked team doesn't always win."

Amen to that.

Penn State beat then-No. 2 Iowa on Jan. 3 in addition to upsetting Minnesota on Friday, but still managed to lose to Cornell on Nov. 22 and then-No. 11 West Virginia on Jan. 30.

Strange happenings, indeed.

That's why Fritz and the Lions won't make any mention of a sweep of the Buckeyes and Panthers. Lion co-captain and 167-pounder Glenn Pritzlaff said Ohio State and Pittsburgh aren't exactly Oklahoma State and Iowa, but still Penn State would have to show up to wrestle to earn its wins.

"Ohio State, I don't think is going to be a problem. But Pitt's got a solid lineup all the way through," the No. 6-ranked Pritzlaff said. "As long as we're ready and we show up to wrestle, we'll win. If not, we could have some trouble."

As its ranking suggests, Pittsburgh presents much more of a threat to the Lions than Ohio State -- especially the second time around.

Penn State eluded the rival Panthers 22-15 at the National Duals on Jan. 17. But if anything has been consistent about the Lions this year, it's that their reunion with an opponent is nothing but trouble.

Case-in-point: Penn State shocked Iowa 25-17, then Iowa smashed Penn State 23-9. Or another: Penn State beat West Virginia 25-13, then West Virginia reversed Penn State 18-13.

Is the trend believable?

Not according to Pittsburgh coach Rande Stottlemyer.

"I don't know that Penn State's any more susceptible to being beat this time around than they were at the Nationals Duals," Stottlemyer said. "But it's nice to know how they've done in their rematches. Hopefully history will repeat itself."

Like most teams, Stottlemyer said his Panthers are gearing toward the postseason. But he said they're not overlooking the rest of the dual-meet season -- and certainly not Penn State.

"Especially against Penn State, we want to be successful," Stottlemyer said. "I guess on paper we're an underdog, but you never mail in the results until you've wrestled."

Pritzlaff, meanwhile, remained firm in saying the dual meet's outcome rests in the hands of Penn State.

He said the weekend would go in the Lions' favor if they put their minds to the task at hand, adding last weekend's wins have no bearing on Ohio State and Pittsburgh.

"If we wrestle well, we shouldn't have a problem," Pritzlaff said. "As a team we did wrestle pretty well last weekend, but there's definitely room for improvement. There's always room for improvement."