He will be seeded eighth entering the tournament. He did manage to qualify in his first Big Ten tournament last season, in which he finished seventh, and he also boasts a 17-9 overall record this season and a 7-5 dual meet record. Among those victories is a win over No. 17 Karl Nadolsky of Michigan State, who has defeated No. 2 Adam Tirapelle of Illinois and No. 8 Mike Zadick of Iowa.
"That just shows me that if I can beat Nadolsky, then I should be able to hang with those two guys," Wachter said. "If I can wrestle at the same level I did against him, I can go a long way."
Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland thinks Wachter's knowledge of his ability to compete with wrestlers of those caliber will be a lot of help.
"Just the fact that he knows that he has a legit ability to win against guys like that will benefit him," Sunderland said. "He just has to go out and wrestle smart matches."
Wachter has been suffering from a shoulder injury, and acknowledges that he will wrestle a little less aggressive than he would like in order to keep the shoulder from popping out.
"If I'm in a front headlock position, I'm going to try to stay compact, and hope the guy doesn't pull on my arm," Wachter said. "I also won't be taking as many shots. I've been working a lot this week on finishing the shots I do take."
Freshman Aaron Wright will be starting at 157 pounds, and will try to finish a rocky season with an NCAA qualification.
"I definitley want to make it to nationals," Wright said.
"If I don't place in the top seven, I'll know I really have a lot to do over the offseason, and if I do make it, it will be a real relief, and a chance to go to nationals which is something not too many people have done," he added.
Wright will be one of a number of Nittany Lions who will have to wrestle better than his seed. Wright will not be among the eight seeded wrestlers at 157 pounds. His season highlight came when he pinned No. 11 ranked Ryan Bernholz of Lehigh, but after that clutch performance, he lost eleven straight matches, and finished the season with just one win in the Big Ten, and a 7-22 overall record.
He will face a field that includes four ranked wrestlers, including No. 1 T. J. Williams of Iowa.
Sophomore 165-pounder Doc Vecchio will also try to erase memories of a tough Big Ten season with his tournament performance. Vecchio will also be unseeded after a 12-19 season in which he was 0-6 in Big Ten dual meets.
"Everyone's been telling me that this is the start of a new season," Vecchio said.
"No one is probably expecting me to do anything, so I get to go out there with nothing to lose."
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