At last.

After redshirting last year, and battling injuries and teammates for lineup spots this season, the Woodall twins, Jason and James, finally made their varsity debuts for the Penn State wrestling team this past weekend.

While both themselves and their team struggled in three defeats, the Woodalls showed flashes of brilliant wrestling that have had Nittany Lion fans abuzz in anticipation ever since the St. Dupont natives signed with Penn State.

They also showed why head coach Troy Sunderland was extremely reluctant to use the redshirt option last year.

The Woodalls were at their best against Pittsburgh, the weekend's opening dual meet.

With the Lions and the Panthers tied at 3-3 two matches in, the meet reached a critical point. The next two matches, Jason Woodall vs. Justin Giovinco at 149 and James Woodall vs. Zach Doll at 157, were considered toss-ups heading in and would go a long way towards determining a winner.

After giving up the initial takedown to Giovinco, Woodall picked up two escapes to tie the bout at two in the second period.

In one dramatic move on the edge of the mat, Woodall took Giovinco down and to his back for a four-point move and a 6-2 lead. Woodall held on for a 6-3 win.

"That was a big move, I really needed those points," Jason Woodall said. "I wrestled him (Giovinco) last week at the Wilkes (Open), and I knew he was tough but I also knew I could beat him."

Unlike his brother, James Woodall came out on fire and put on a takedown clinic against Doll, jumping out to a 6-2 lead.

However, Doll battled back and the bout went into sudden-death overtime tied at nine.

With his conditioning suffering due to inactivity and an injured knee, Woodall dug deep in the overtime period.

After fighting off a Doll attempt, Woodall got a takedown and took Doll to his back, nearly picking up the pin, for a 13-9 victory.

"I was really excited about my first dual-meet," Woodall said. "There was a lot of pressure and I was just glad to get it out of the way."

Although he got the win, James Woodall knew he could have and should have wrestled better.

"My conditioning is not where I want it to be, it's almost there but it definitely needs to get better. Overall I'm just not wrestling my best, I need to work harder," James said.

Despite picking up these two crucial victories, the Lions squandered away chances in an 18-12 loss.

After the Pitt match, things went downhill for both Jason and James. Nate Wachter took over for Jason at 149 and James dropped an 11-5 decision to Joe Carr, who James said was one of the best wrestlers he ever faced, in the Lions' 23-15 loss to West Virginia.

Both Jason and James dropped decisions in Penn State's 32-6 loss to Lehigh yesterday.

"They're still just freshmen," coach Sunderland said. "But they go out there and mix it up and make things interesting. They still need to show the intensity they show in practice every day."

Finding highlights during this weekend's 0-3 showing will be an extremely tough job for the Lion coaching staff.

But with the debut of the Woodall's they have increased the depth of their lineup found two potential starters and, in James, found their first All-American caliber wrestler at 157 pounds since Clint Musser's run to the NCAA finals in 1999.