When asked about his team's upcoming weekend with matches against Northwestern and wrestling superpower Iowa, Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland sighed, chuckled and asked, "Can I reschedule?"

Sunderland's Nittany Lions (6-8, 0-2 Big Ten) will finish up a rough stretch with the two Big Ten matches at Rec Hall this weekend, with Northwestern voyaging to Rec Hall Friday night at 7, and the Hawkeyes will be in town 1 p.m. Sunday. The Iowa match will be their sixth dual in a nine-day period.

Penn State, ranked No. 21 in this week's Intermat poll, will finally get to see an unranked opponent in Northwestern, the first they've faced since losing to West Virginia, Jan. 6.

The Wildcats are 3-8-1 this season, with their only wins against Eastern Illinois, Minnesota Morris and Embry-Riddle. They have just one ranked wrestler in No. 16 ranked heavyweight Josh Saul. Nittany Lion junior Bob Jones will have the assignment of wrestling him, coming off two wins, including his first pin in Wednesday night's action.

Sunderland still expects all Big Ten matches to be tough.

"It's gonna be a battle," Sunderland said. "It's another Big Ten team, and we're going to have to come back out Friday and wrestle like we did against Penn."

They will have to do much more than that to get a win Sunday, when No. 3 Iowa marches into Rec Hall. The Hawkeyes, six-time defending NCAA champions, have won 20 national titles in the last 25 years, and are no less stacked this year than usual.

Iowa has wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in every class but 197 and heavyweight. This includes No. 1 ranked wrestlers at 133 pounds in Eric Juergens, 141 pounds in Doug Schwab, and 157 pounds in T.J. Williams. Hawkeye 125 pounder Jody Strittmatter, ranked No. 2 in the country, has also been extremely dominant.

Iowa is somewhat weak in the heavyweights. Ryan Fulsass and Josh Liddle are their only two unranked wrestlers at 197 pounds and heavyweight respectively, so Penn State will have a good chance of coming out with points there with either redshirt junior Pete Mielnik or fifth-year senior Dave Heckerd at 197 and Jones at heavyweight.

"I think we're capable of coming out with wins in both of those matches," Sunderland said. "Either Heckerd or Mielnik should be able to win at 197, but again, they're going to have to come out and be ready to battle."

Redshirt junior Jeff Knupp, No. 15 at 184 pounds will need to put up a much better performance Sunday to get a win over No. 9 Jessman Smith in one of two battles of ranked wrestlers. Josh Millard upset Knupp in the Lock Haven meet, but he did manage a defeat of Smith last year at Big Tens. Redshirt sophomore Nate Parker, No. 17 at 141 pounds will be going up against No.1 Schwab in the other match.

The Lions may need a few miraculous shockers to come out triumphant, but Sunderland won't concede before the match is wrestled.

"We just have to go out and wrestle our best," Sunderland said. "Our guys have to believe they can get some upsets and get some wins. We have to go out and battle, and let Iowa know that they've been through a war. We can't give them too much respect.

"There are a couple of places where if our guys come out and wrestle hard and show their ability, they can surprise some people."