The Penn State wrestling team's early season success had reached a peak Saturday at Fitzgerald Field House.

The Nittany Lions led No. 22 Pittsburgh midway through the match against the Panthers.

After redshirt sophomore Nate Parker's overtime victory against Pittsburgh sophomore Justin Giovinco in the 141 pound match, the Lions held a 12-3 advantage.

Three Panther victories later, including a pin by freshman 157-pounder Zach Doll over Lion freshman Aaron Wright, the Lions were down 15-12 and needed either a pin or wins in the last two matches to remain undefeated.

They got the first victory from redshirt sophomore Mark Becks at 174, but redshirt junior Jeff Knupp was narrowly defeated by junior Dan Stine in the 184 pound match.

Stine's escape from Knupp's reversal with less than 15 seconds remaining in the match gave him an 8-7 decision and the Panthers an 18-15 victory.

Things continued to go downhill in the Lions second match of the day in Morgantown, W.V., where they lost to West Virginia 22-10. The Mountaineers took the last five matches and seven of 10 from the Lions on the day. The Lions (2-2) were swept for just the third time in 18 double-dual meets.

"Our guys wrestled hard," coach Troy Sunderland said. "We just didn't get the points when we needed them and didn't win the matches we needed to win. It was really disappointing to go down to the wire with Pittsburgh and not come out with a win. And against West Virginia, we lost some matches in which I felt we had the advantage.

"I just told all the guys that we were a better team than what the scores showed. We wrestled better than the score against West Virginia, and the Pittsburgh match went down to the wire and we wrestled tough against them."

Knupp wrestled his first match in four weeks in the Pittsburgh match, still recovering from the high ankle sprain he suffered in the Penn State Open. He wasn't used in the West Virginia meet, in which Curt Thompson wrestled in his place.

Knupp held a 4-2 lead after the first two periods of the match. In the third period, Stine flipped Knupp off his back for a near fall to go up 5-4 before Knupp tied the match with an escape.

A takedown by Stine with 47 seconds to go gave him a 7-5 lead. Knupp tied it up with a reversal close to the buzzer, but Stine's escape clinched the meet for the Panthers.

The Lions did get a few positives from the day, the most notable being the debut of redshirt junior Bob Jones, a starting defensive end on the football team, who was back on the mat for the first time since being a two-time state champion in high school. Jones, a heavyweight, pulled out an overtime takedown to win the match 11-9.

"He was a great surprise," Sunderland said. "He's been doing really well in the wrestling room. He hasn't wrestled since high school, but he showed us he's a real good athlete with a natural feel for wrestling."

Jones lost to West Virginia's Ryan Kehler, the No. 3 heavyweight in the country, 13-3 in his second match.

Sunderland was also pleased with the wrestling of Parker, Josh Moore, and the combination of Dave Heckard and Pete Mielnik at 197 pounds.

Parker, ranked 19th in the Intermat rankings at 141 pounds, came through with a win over Pittsburgh's Justin Giovinco, ranked 15th by Intermat and 12th by the Amateur Wrestling News, and came through with a 10-2 major decision victory over Joe Finch in the West Virginia match.

Josh Moore had two wins at 125 pounds, and Mielnik and Heckard combined to win both 197 pound matches on the day after finishing first and third respectively at the Wilkes Open Dec. 29.

The Lions wrestle No. 7 Lehigh at 1 p.m. Sunday in Rec Hall.