Penn State's All-American wrestler enjoyed yesterday's first two sessions of the NCAA Championships at The Bryce Jordan Center, both individually and team-wise.

Pritzlaff netted two victories to advance to today's quarterfinal round. His second win, a 5-2 decision against Pittsburgh's Nick Mengerink, didn't come easy.

"That's not the greatest match I wrestled," Pritzlaff said, "but he's a very hard guy to wrestle.

"He's an All-American, he's a great competitor, he's tough. So, to beat him any day . . . you gotta be wrestling good."

Also helping Pritzlaff to rest easy last night was the performance of his teammates.

Pritzlaff's fellow co-captain, 157-pounder Clint Musser, as well as Jeremy Hunter at 125 pounds and surprise 184-pounder Ross Thatcher, all rambled through two straight opponents to move forward in their respective weight classes.

Thatcher's appearance in the round of eight may have been the biggest surprise for Penn State coach Troy Sunderland. Thatcher injured his ankle Jan. 23, didn't wrestle for more than a month, then returned to action and finished third at Big Tens March 6-7.

The junior continued that momentum yesterday with two wins, one of which came at the expense of Arizona State's returning All-American Casey Strand. Strand had defeated Thatcher handily earlier this season.

Also etching his name in the next round of winner's bracket competition was Musser, Penn State's 157-pound senior.

Musser said his offense is picking up and he likes his title chances.

"I feel real good," Musser said. "I feel I'm real solid.

"I'm taking a lot of good shots."

Five other Lions qualifiers weren't so lucky.

Both heavyweight Mark Janus and 165-pounder Alex Leykikh defeated first-round foes, only to fall in the next round of action.

Leykikh's loss was particularly painful.

After leading throughout his match with Minnesota's No. 5 Josh Holiday, Leykikh gave up the tying score to even the match at 5-5 when the final buzzer ended.

In overtime, Holiday tripped Leykikh to the mat for the winning takedown and a spot in the quarterfinals.

"(Alex) wrestled his guts out," Musser said. "But I wish we could have got the win."

Along with Janus and Leykikh, other Lions who suffered losses yesterday but are still alive in the consolation brackets are Biff Walizer (149 pounds) and Brett Calabretta (197 pounds).

After coming within one win of notching All-American status twice in his career, Walizer lost his first bout to fall to the consolation bracket.

Despite facing a long road to placing in the top eight, Sunderland said Walizer is a seasoned veteran and should be able to rebound for today's sessions.

"Biff's an experienced wrestler," Sunderland said. "He takes the losses in stride."