The Penn State wrestling team would probably be happy to see a cupcake on the schedule this week after tough losses to Pittsburgh and West Virginia last week.

Instead, they had to get ready for their oldest rival — Lehigh, a squad that also happens to be ranked in the top ten in the country.

The Engineers will invade Rec Hall Sunday at 1 p.m. They are ranked No. 10 in the nation in the Intermat rankings at 7-2, despite losing by ten points to Michigan and by one in a squeaker against North Carolina last weekend.

They also have six of their ten starters ranked in Intermat's top 20, two in the top ten.

The match will be the 85th between the Engineers and Nittany Lions in a series that dates back to 1911.

Penn State is 54-27-3 in the series.

Despite last week's losses, the spirits in the wrestling room have not been down this week, and the coaching staff isn't worried that the squad will be down for the Lehigh match.

"Our guys were obviously not satisfied with the two losses," coach Troy Sunderland said. "But the morale has been good, we've had some tough practices, and we've made it known that we won't accept losing at Penn State, especially the way we wrestled Saturday night (at West Virginia)."

"We're going to be facing a great team at home this week in Lehigh, with a lot of great wrestlers. If our guys can't get motivated for this meet they shouldn't be here."

Lehigh's highest ranked wrestler is senior Dave Esposito at No. 4 in the 149 pound weight class. Coach Sunderland will be sending sophomore Nate Wachter into that match, after he sat out last weekend with a shoulder injury.

The Engineers' other top ten wrestler is 197 pound sophomore John Trenge, ranked No. 8 at that weight class. Coach Sunderland will be choosing between fifth-year senior Dave Heckard and redshirt junior Pete Mielnik at the weight class. Both are nursing minor injuries, Heckard a finger injury, and Mielnik a knee irritation, so the decision will be made at game time.

Lehigh also has ranked wrestlers at 157 in No. 11 Ryan Bernholz, No. 12 Chris Vitale at 165, and No. 16 Shawn Laughlin at heavyweight.

The most intriguing matchup of the meet may be the rematch between Lion redshirt junior Jeff Knupp and Lehigh senior Rob Rohn. At last year's match at Lehigh, Rohn defeated Knupp on a last second escape. They are ranked No. 13 and No. 12 respectively at 184 pounds, but Knupp is still recovering from the high ankle sprain that kept him out for a four-week stretch.

"I'm feeling a lot better this week," Knupp said. "I really wasn't near 100 percent last week, but I expect to be ready to go for the meet. "

The Lions will have an advantage in the lighter weights. Redshirt sophomore Nate Parker, who moved up four spots in the Intermat rankings to No. 15, matches up against senior Matt Goldstein.

Penn State redshirt freshman Josh Moore, the Lions winningest wrestler at 22-5, will likely be favored over freshman Terrance Clendenin at 125 pounds.

Though the Lehigh squad is loaded with ranked wrestlers, the Nittany Lions are not about to be intimidated.

"We definitely respect their talent," Knupp said. "But we're not intimidated in the slightest. Lehigh is one of our biggest rivals, and we all know we have to get up for this match. Nobody from Penn State ever wants to lose to Lehigh."