The outcome of day two of the Virginia Duals was on the opposite end of the spectrum from the opening day for the No. 23 Penn State wrestling team.

After a pair of opening day victories, against Appalachian State, 38-0, and Army 26-9, the Nittany Lions (3-6) lost a pair of dual meet decisions. In the semifinals, Penn State dropped a close decision to No. 9 Missouri (10-0), 19-16, and followed that performance up with another defeat to Big Ten rival No. 18 Wisconsin (8-5), 26-12.

The Lions opened Saturday's action against Missouri with a big victory at 141, when Marat Tomeav upset No. 13 J.P. Reese, 4-3. Tomeav has bumped up a weight class and split time with Jarrad Turner in the absence of Scott Moore. Jason and James Woodall both fell victim to major decisions at 149 and 157 pounds, respectively.

With the Lions trailing by five, junior Doc Vecchio came through for Penn State, winning by a decision versus No. 9 Tyron Woodley, 6-3. The Tigers won three of the next four bouts to take a 10-point lead.

A major decision by freshman Adam Smith kept the Lions alive to upset the Tigers with a pin, but No. 11 Josh Moore could only manage a decision over Chris McCormick, 5-2, giving the win to the Tigers.

Penn State took to the mat a few hours later against Wisconsin, and appeared a step slow. The Badgers grabbed a quick 10-0 lead after three bouts.

"We came out flat against Wisconsin," Vecchio said. "We just were not sharp."

Despite wins by Vecchio and junior Mark Becks (19-3) and a forfeit win for Josh Moore (30-3), the Lions weren't able to overcome the large lead by the Badgers.

It was hard to believe that only one day earlier, Penn State dominated the opening day of the Virginia Duals, outscoring opponents 64-9, which included their first shutout since Feb. 13, 1993, against Lehigh.

"We came back strong today," Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland said following the first day of competition on WKPS radio. "We had a real good week of practice. We worked them pretty hard on Monday and Tuesday. We sent a strong message that this is not what we expect from a Penn State wrestling program, and they came out and responded today."

The Lions amassed seven decisions, two falls and a technical fall against Appalachian State.

In the second match of the day Army jumped out early on Penn State, 6-0. In a crucial bout at 157, James Woodall, still not a 100 percent due to a knee injury, earned a decisive victory, 11-7.

"James came out and really tried to turn the momentum back towards our way when we were down 6-0," Sunderland said. "He really had to battle, and he's not in the best form yet because of the knee injury. Hopefully our fans will give him a couple more weeks and he'll really show what he can do."

After that, Penn State went on a roll and won six of the remaining matches. Becks, Pete Mielnik, Josh Walker and Smith all recorded decisions in the middle of the streak.

Penn State is off next week, and will be in action at Rec Hall on Sunday Jan. 27 against Indiana, to kick off their Big Ten season. The Lions got their first taste of Big Ten competition against Wisconsin, which gives them a reminder how tough the conference is.

"Wrestling Wisconsin shows us the type competition in the conference," Vecchio said. "They are one of the weaker teams, too. We know what we're up against."