"He could have wrestled," Sunderland said. "The way the semester ended for him … the main thing that we wanted to do was make sure his focus is where it needs to be for Jamarr Billman first as a person, instead of a wrestler."

Sunderland added he is making some inquiries into Billman's grades. He said the Penn State coaching staff will speak to Billman's professors "to see exactly where we stand."

With Billman sidelined, the bad breaks continued for Sunderland during his squad's match versus Pittsburgh. Alex Leykikh, Penn State's 165-pound starter, defeated Pittsburgh's Brian Pardini 7-3 in the opening dual meet. But in the process, Leykikh suffered a hyper-extended elbow and Sunderland was forced to forfeit at 165 against Lehigh. The severity of the injury is unclear.

Leykikh's injury followed the loss of heavyweight Mark Janus for four to six weeks with a severe ankle injury. Other Lion wrestlers missing action this season because of injuries include Biff Walizer, Nate Parker and team co-captain Glenn Pritzlaff.

Even with the luckless early going, Sunderland's squad remains undefeated in dual meet action, coupled with a strong tournament showing at the Wilkes Open on Dec. 27-28 (two champions ( Billman and Walizer), as well as previous solid outings at the East Stroudsburg Open, Lock Haven's Mat-Town and the Penn State Open.

Sunderland will guide his team to Iowa City, Iowa, this weekend to participate in the National Team Dual Championships. The field will include such ranked teams as No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Iowa, No. 5 Oklahoma, as well as eight other ranked opponents.

Against Lehigh, Penn State trailed 6-3 early, but stormed back to register the 10- point win by picking up big bonus points. The Lions won six of the 10 dual meet bouts versus the Engineers, posting two falls and three major decisions.

With Team Duals this weekend and regular-season meets scheduled against Iowa, Purdue and four other nationally ranked teams in the next two months, Sunderland and his Lions know the importance of racking up bonus points.

"Some guys were really looking for those bonus points (against Lehigh)," Sunderland said. "Hopefully, that will continue."

"Anytime there's a situation where you can get extra points, you have to go after it," Penn State co-captain Clint Musser said. "When you're missing a person or two from the lineup, then it's kind of unsaid that you have to go out there and get as many extra points as you can."