As the collegiate wrestling season is drawing to a close, three teams -- Minnesota, Oklahoma State and Iowa -- find themselves in strong position to win the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships. The championships, which are being held in Happy Valley for the first time since 1968, will get underway at 11 a.m. today and finish Saturday in The Bryce Jordan Center.

Despite the strong competition ahead from these three, Nittany Lions coach Troy Sunderland is optimistic Penn State, third-place finisher at Big Tens, can pull off an upset.

"We did surprise some people at the Big Ten (Championships), with the way our year has gone and with some of the seeds we had going into the tournament," the first-year coach said. "Hopefully, some of the Big Three can get knocked off and move aside for us to come on in. But it's definitely going to be a real tough tournament for us."

Leading the Big Three is Minnesota, which is coming off a team title at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago. Headed by Golden Gophers coach J. Robinson, Minnesota comes to State College with momentum, having beaten Iowa and ending the Hawkeyes' 25-year domination at the Big Ten Championships.

"It's a three-team race and that's the way it is on paper," Robinson said. "(Winning Big Tens) helps a little bit with our guys' confidence coming into this tournament knowing that they are the Big Ten champions and it validates, in our minds, that they are contenders."

Several Minnesota wrestlers are strong contenders to win individual championships, as six of its nine qualifiers are ranked in the top five in their respective weight classes, including last year's champion in the 190-pound bracket, Tim Hartung. He will wrestle at 197 pounds.

Behind Robinson's squad is Oklahoma State, which does not enjoy the luxury of coming off a conference championship. The Cowboys fell at the hands of potential dark horse Oklahoma, the only team in the nation to qualify 10 wrestlers, in the Big 12 Championships.

Oklahoma State's Eric Guerrero, at 133, and Mark Smith, at 174, are favorites to win individual championships, but Jimmy Arias, at 157, is nursing torn cartilage in his upper torso. At 125, Teague Moore is a returning national champion.

The Hawkeyes, led by 149-pounder T.J. Williams, round out the Big Three. Iowa will look to compensate for its second-place finish at Big Tens with its fifth-straight national title.

"Since then we've focused on the NCAA Tournament," Iowa coach Jim Zalesky said. "Losing (Big Tens) you take in stride and this is what you shoot for anyway."

For the home-mat team, Sunderland's No. 6 squad should benefit from the home-crowd advantage. Furthermore, the Lions boast three All-Americans -- Jeremy Hunter, Clint Musser and Glenn Pritzlaff -- in their lineup. Penn State also enjoys senior experience and determination from Biff Walizer, Musser, Alex Leykikh, Pritzlaff and Brett Calibretta.

Also representing Penn State are Nate Parker, Ross Thatcher and Mark Janus.