It was clear the Penn State wrestling team needed a spark after losing two matches last weekend and trailing No. 10 Lehigh 13-9, moving into the heart of the Mountain Hawks lineup.

Freshman Aaron Wright was that spark.

Wright , who had just lost by a crucial pin in the Pittsburgh match last week, got a fall of his own 31 seconds into his match against senior 157 pounder Ryan Bernholz, ranked No. 15 in the Intermat.

The pin got the Nittany Lions a 15-13 lead and revived the Lions from the brink of defeat.

Mountain Hawk junior Chris Vitale, ranked No. 12 at 165 pounds, won the next match over Nittany Lion senior Jeremy Sauve, but Lion sophomore Mark Becks came up with a clutch victory, a 5-3 decision over freshman Brad Dillon to clinch an 18-17 shocker.

The upset moved the Lions' record to 3-2 overall, and dropped Lehigh's mark to 7-3. It was the Lions' first victory over a top-10 team in coach Troy Sunderland's coaching tenure. The last such occasion came against No. 3 Minnesota 21-13 at the Bryce Jordan Center on Feb. 6 1998, under since-retired John Fritz.

"This was a big win," Sunderland said. "It will definitely help our confidence a little. I kept telling them this week we were not as bad as we felt after last week. They came out today and wrestled hard."

Penn State redshirt junior captain Jeff Knupp got the Lions out on the right foot with an overtime win against Lehigh's Rob Rohn in the 184 pound match. The two veterans, ranked No. 13 and No. 12 respectively, had a close match in last year's dual, with Rohn winning in a 5-2 decision.

"This was a great feeling. It was a big win I needed to get myself up to the next level, Knupp said. "I was really disappointed that I let the team down last week. I feel like, as the captain, I should come through with wins in meets like that, and I didn't. Today, it was really nice to get a win and get the team off on the right foot."

Redshirt freshman Josh Moore continued an undefeated dual meet season with a thrilling overtime win against freshman Terrance Clendenin. After a scoreless overtime period, Clendenin chose to start the second overtime down, forcing Moore to ride him out and not allow him to escape to get the victory. The win moved his overall record to 23-5 on the year and 5-0 in dual meets.

Both the Mountain Hawks and Nittany Lions were missing wrestlers at 149 pounds. Lehigh's highest ranked wrestler, No. 4 Dave Esposito, was unable to go, as was Penn State's Nate Wachter, who was out with a skin infection. Sunderland expects Wachter to be ready for the next meet.

Coach Sunderland added a new wrinkle to practice this week. On Friday, Sunderland brought the team upstairs, out of the room and on to the Rec Hall mat dressed in uniform for an inter-squad meet.

"I was really nervous to go up there," Knupp said. "Even though there was nobody there and the meet didn't count. It was really a good mental exercise, getting us used to that type of atmosphere before the meet."

Penn State will host the Cliff Keen/NWCA National Duals at The Bryce Jordan Center, beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday and continuing on Sunday at 11 a.m. Sixteen teams will travel to Happy Valley including the Oklahoma State, Iowa, Minnesota, and Iowa State, the top four teams.

Coach Sunderland expects the upset to up the Lions confidence going into the meet.

"This will help our confidence a little," he said. "But we're going to have to battle every step of the way next weekend, and for the rest of our season really. We're just going to have to keep our guys healthy and get them rested for the rest of the season."