The sweet science of boxing will make its triumphant return to Penn State this weekend.

Saturday, the Penn State boxing club will host the Penn State Invitational starting at 7 p.m. in the White Building.

The format of the tournament will be 13 individual bouts in nine weight classes. There will be no team title and each fighter will compete in only one match. Each bout will be three two-minute rounds.

Other competing schools are Shippensburg, Lock Haven, VMI, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, UNLV and the University of Nevada-Reno.

Standouts for Penn State include 156-pound Alex Komlev and 139-pound Doug Bayly. In his three years of boxing, Komlev has reached nationals each time.

"It's another fight, but it's more pressure," said Komlev.

Bayly has also made three trips to the finals, finishing second in his weight class last year.

Filling out the Penn State squad is 112-pound Jon Whitbred, 132-pound John Baer, 139-pound Nick Baer, 156-pound John Boor, 165-pound Miles Rivas, 165-pound Tom Shortledge and heavyweight Rick Slader. The team has been training together since September for two hours a day, five days a week.

Since this is the team's first test of the season, the boxers are not sure where they stand.

"I think this will go a long way in determining how good this team is," said Penn State coach Bill Wrable. "It's really hard to gauge right now."

Aside from being new to the season, many fighters are new to the ring. According to Wrable, the team is pretty evenly divided between upper classmen and freshman. However, this does not worry Komlev.

"They're looking good," Komlev said. "For a home show, I think the majority should win."

As for the competition, watch out for UNLV, Army and Navy, according to Komlev and Wrable.

"UNLV always had a good team, also Navy," said Komlev. "UNLV boxes a different style."

Local collegiate judges will score the rounds in a 20-point system. Under this system, points are awarded for punches landed not the power of the punch. For every three punches, one point is awarded.