Wrestler Musser seeks vengeance at Big Ten Tourney
Editor's note: This is the fifth in a 10-part series previewing the 10 weight classes for the Big Ten Wrestling Championships beginning this Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich. This story previews the 157-pound class.

By RYAN HOCKENSMITH
Collegian Staff Writer

Penn State wrestler Clint Musser has a score to settle.

Actually, he has an entire scoreboard of scores to straighten out for this weekend's Big Ten Championships.

Musser's first order of business is with the home crowd.

According to Musser, the Wolverine fans were excessively abusive to him and his No. 10 Nittany Lions during the two teams' dual meet Feb. 19.

That night, No. 3 Musser (27-3) pummeled Charles Martelli 19-7 in the final bout of the evening. The Lions co-captain needed a technical fall to salvage a tie with the home team. When he didn't get it, Musser heard it from the Wolverines' faithful.

Musser hopes he can further de-claw the Wolverine crowd this weekend.

"Anytime I get to hammer on a Michigan guy, I love it," the senior said. "Anytime I can beat the crap out of one of them legally, I'm gonna do it."

Musser's hit list doesn't stop there.

Also included on Musser's Big Ten itinerary is a shot at Purdue's Willie Wineberg.

Wineberg, ranked No. 7, did not wrestle when his Boilermaker squad traveled to Rec Hall Jan. 31. The Purdue senior, 14-0 and ranked No. 6 at the time, did not wrestle because of an injury.

With Wineberg, now 18-1 overall, likely to get a No. 3 seed in the 157-pound bracket, Musser is salivating at a possible semifinal bout with fellow Ohio-native Wineberg.

"If he gets past the first round," Musser said, "then I'll get to see him. Now maybe I'll get to beat the crap out of him a little bit -- that'll be great."

The final stop on Musser's retribution train could come in a possible finals matchup against likely No. 1 seed, Chad Kraft of Minnesota. Last season, the two All-Americans split two matches. Musser nipped Kraft 2-1 in the semifinals of last season's Big Ten Championships, but Kraft came back two weeks later to top Musser 3-2 in the NCAA semifinals.

"Last year, (Kraft) won the big one," Musser said. "This year, I plan on winning the important one."

Kraft highlights a 157-pound contending field featuring six wrestlers currently ranked in the nation's top 20. The Golden Gopher finished third at last year's Big Tens, but rebounded to snag runner-up honors at NCAAs.

"Kraft and Musser, that'll be a battle if they both make it to finals," Penn State coach Troy Sunderland said. "Clint's got everything under control right now and he's wrestling well. Him and Kraft would be a good one right now."

Among the remaining title seekers are No. 8 Jamie Heidt of Iowa, Indiana's No. 13 Kevin Stanley and No. 16 Griff Powell of Illinois. Musser slipped past Heidt in overtime earlier this season and thumped Stanley last month in a dual meet.

Powell, who missed a Feb. 12 contest with Musser when the Lion senior didn't make weight, said the weight class is packed with talent. But that doesn't stop the freshman from being confident heading into Big Tens.

"Just like anybody," Powell said, "if I wrestle well, I can beat anybody."

Kraft's coach, J. Robinson, seemed to disagree.

"Chad and Musser are the top two at 157," Robinson said. "Everyone would be surprised if somebody else is in the finals besides those two guys."

Regardless of who's in his path, Musser promised wins -- and he sounds like he'll enjoy them.

"I've been waiting for this my entire life," he said. "I plan on being in the finals.

"The weight class is full of tough guys. It'll be fun to beat them all."