The roller coaster ride that has been the Penn State wrestling season will be making stops at Wisconsin and Minnesota this weekend for the Nittany Lions first road trip since Jan. 6.
The No. 22 ranked Nittany Lions will be in Madison tonight at 7 for a battle with the 9-7-1 Badgers, who just fell out of the national rankings with three straight losses to then- unranked Purdue, No. 5 Michigan and No. 3 Iowa.
They will then travel to Minneapolis to try and pull out an upset against No. 1 Minnesota.
Despite Wisconsin's dropoff, Penn State will not be looking past the capable Big Ten foe.
"We can't be looking ahead," Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland said. "It's going to be another tough Big Ten dual meet. They've got some tough kids."
The Nittany Lions will be going into the meet a bit undermanned. Sophomore Nate Wachter will likely sit out the rest of the dual season, nursing his shoulder for the Big Ten tournament, and No. 17 ranked 141-pounder Nate Parker will also stay home for the weekend, still on suspension for an unspecified team violation.
"Nothing's been finalized yet," Sunderland said. "That's all I want to say about that."
Sophomore Brent Narkiewicz will wrestle in Wachter's spot at 149 pounds, while his freshman brother Eric will start at 141 pounds in Parker's stead.
Redshirt freshman Josh Moore is listed as probable for the weekend after sitting out five meets with a shoulder injury.
The Badgers will be waiting in Madison with a talented squad despite their recent troubles. Wisconsin is led by No.1 Don Pritzlaff at 165 pounds, the defending national champion at his weight class. He has compiled a 30-1 record this season.
Lion 133-pounder Marat Tomaev will be tested by No. 10 Kevin Black. Heavyweight Bob Jones will also get another opportunity to prove his talent to the Big Ten and the nation against No. 20 heavyweight Justin Staebler. Narkiewicz will draw No. 13 Grant Hoerr at 141-pounds.
On Sunday, the Nittany Lions will likely be wrestling the most solid team in college wrestling. The top-ranked Golden Gophers have no individuals ranked No. 1, but they all of their starters are ranked in the top 15, and nine in the top 10.
"The Minnesota meet is going to be a battle," assistant coach Eric Childs said. "We just have to go out and try to win every battle on the mat."
Their highest ranked wrestler is redshirt freshman Garret Lowney, rated No. 2 in the country at heavyweight. Lowney won a bronze medal in the 213-pound Greco-Roman weight class at the Sydney Olympics, and is 10-0 this season.
Minnesota also has returning All-Americans at 125 pounds in No. 4 ranked LeRoy Vega, No. 3 Jared Lawrence at 149 pounds, No. 6 Luke Becker at 157, and No. 7 Brad Pike at 165.
The Lions have kicked their training into high gear to try and prepare for the Big Ten Championships, which will be held March 3 and 4.
"We just want the kids to pick the intensity up," coach Sunderland said. "We have to make sure that they're getting what they need out of practice.
"We've been having shorter practices recently, but they've been much more intense. They might be sore going into dual meets, but we need to make sure they're ready for the Big Ten tournament, because that's what really matters."
