It wasn't exactly the best way to end the season, but the Penn State wrestling team has to be happy to be finished with dual meets.

The roller coaster dual meet season ended in another dip this weekend, in which the Nittany Lions had two more losses tacked on to their now 7-13 record, which sets a new school mark for losses in a season.

The Lions finished the year with a 1-7 Big Ten record.

Penn State lost to No. 14 Michigan State yesterday in East Lansing 23-12 after falling to No. 5 Michigan 26-12 Friday night in Ann Arbor.

Lion sophomore Nate Wachter got a big 5-4 win against No. 17 ranked Karl Nadolski at 149-pounds in his first match in more than two weeks. That cut the Michigan State lead to 7-3 after the Spartans had opened it with a decision and a major decision.

The Lions would get just one more win — from redshirt sophomore Mark Becks at 174-pounds — before the Spartans clinched the match when No. 12 ranked 197-pounder Nik Fekete defeated redshirt junior Pete Mielnik.

Junior heavyweight Bob Jones managed a pin at heavyweight over Mike Keenan after the lead became insurmountable.

Michigan State picked up a crucial win at 157-pounds when Spartan Charlie Sageman defeated Lion freshman Aaron Wright 5-3 with an overtime takedown. Wright had a 3-1 lead at one point, but gave up his second penalty point of the match for stalling, and Sageman escaped to force overtime.

"I was really disappointed not to come away with a win today," Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland said. "Aaron Wright's loss was critical. If we get that, (redshirt freshman) Josh Moore has a chance to win the meet for us."

Penn State was never really close to a victory against Michigan Friday. The Wolverines won the meet's first five matches, two by technical fall, and clinched the meet with two matches still to wrestle, but Sunderland did get some encouragement in a few individual performances.

Moore got his biggest win of the season over No. 9 ranked 125-pounder A.J. Grant. Moore won the match 4-1, getting two points for a second period near-fall.

"Josh did a tremendous job tonight," Sunderland said. "He definitely showed he's one of the top kids in the country. Hopefully this win gets him some confidence and he can stay healthy."

Redshirt freshman Marat Tomaev got his revenge against No. 8 ranked 133-pounder Foley Dowd. In their last match, Tomaev broke his ankle trying to escape Dowd's grip. This time Tomaev came away with a 8-4 victory.

"We didn't have to motivate Marat too much tonight," Sunderland said. "I just asked 'You remember who this guy is, right?' and he remembered who he was."

The Lions will now have two weeks to prepare for the Big Ten tournament at Northwestern March 3 and 4. Sunderland will be doing a lot of work on his wrestlers' technique during the time off.

"We've got to maintain our conditioning," he said. "And we have to improve defensively. We have to do a lot of technical work and hope our guys stay healthy."