Bolinsky, who would need merely an escape to earn a victory in his Penn State wrestling debut, responded to the support. In fact, he went above and beyond the call, reversing Wood, bring him to the mat and winning a clutch victory for himself and his team.

His victory was instrumental in Penn State's 23-12 win Saturday night against the Buckeyes (9-6, 0-2 Big Ten) and his defeat -- a pin against No. 3 Iowa's Wes Hand -- was symbolic of its woes, as the Lions (9-3, 1-1) suffered a 30-9 thumping yesterday afternoon against No. 3 Iowa (9-1, 2-0).

To Penn State's and Bolinksy's credit, the meet did not take place under the most ideal circumstances.

The Lions still were without many of its season starters due to injuries -- heavyweights Mark Janus and Matt Calabretta, 184 pounder Ross Thatcher (who suffered a high ankle sprain against the Buckeyes) and 165 pounder Alex Leykikh. Also, Penn State did not have the services of All-American Jamarr Billman, who sat in the stands, due to academic ineligibility.

"You just have to look at some of the match-ups," Sunderland said. "In some of those cases, we were just outgunned.

"With as many guys out of the lineup, it's tough to compete with teams like that."

Those guys -- Bolinsky, Andrew Buttville, Kevin Vile and Jean Celestin -- went a dismal 1-6 for the weekend, including 0-4 yesterday, giving the Lions little hope to tack on another victory to their 15-game home streak.

"It definitely hurts us as a team," Penn State senior co-captain Clint Musser said. "It's definitely effecting us as a team."

With Penn State's regulars out of the lineup, Iowa took advantage, as it notched 51 takedowns to the Lions' 12.

"I thought coming in that might hurt their mentality a little bit," Hawkeye coach Jim Zalesky said. "That wasn't the best team they had out there."

The mainstays on the Lion squad, however, were solid. The three remaining All-Americans in the starting lineup -- No. 3 125 pounder Jeremy Hunter, No. 3 157 pounder Musser and No. 2 174 pounder Glenn Pritzlaff -- posted a flawless mark of 6-0.

Freshman No. 18 133 pounder Nate Parker also continued to be erratic, going 1-1 on the home stint. He decisioned No. 17 Buckeye wrestler Robert Sessley 2-1 -- thanks to Sessley being penalized for an illegal scissor lock after Parker squirmed his way out of a takedown -- but was massacred by Eric Juergins 11-2.

Janus, who pinned Hand in last season's dual meet victory against Iowa, could have started, but Sunderland opted for Bolinsky with the match out of reach.

Leykikh, who weighed-in and suited up, also is expected to return to the lineup and participate in the team's next meet against No. 16 Purdue.

"It's not the end of the season by any means," Sunderland said. "The key is to get our health back and get our guys back in the lineup. The guys are going to have to wrestle with some pain."