After a disappointing finish at the Big Ten tournament in 2001, the Penn State wrestling team improved in all aspects, this weekend.

The Nittany Lions bettered their overall team finish by four spots, and finished sixth, in Champaign, Ill. The Lions qualified seven wrestlers to NCAA Championships, one more than a year ago.

For consecutive years, Minnesota was crowned the Big Ten Champions.

Penn State's highest finisher was junior tri-captain Doc Vecchio. The 165-pounder, went in seeded third and came away with a third place finish. In the consolation finals, he knocked off Purdue's Oscar Santiago, for the second time this year, by a score of, 9-4. Vecchio ended the weekend with three victories and only one defeat that came against Ohio State's John Clark.

Vecchio was pleased with his overall performance, as he bounced back following a tough loss.

"I got a good draw and wrestled a good first match only needing one win to qualify, so that took the pressure off me," Vecchio said. "Then I lost a close one, and then came back and wrestled hard to get third. It was a pretty good weekend for me."

The only three Lions not to qualify were all freshmen, Adam Smith, James Woodall and Todd Brennan. The freshman trio posted a 1-6 record, with only Woodall winning his first match before dropping a pair.

After going in as the top seed, Scott Moore lost a pair of matches and finished fourth. Moore, the only top seed not to reach the finals, lost by fall to Minnesota's Chad Erikson in 5:47 seconds in the semifinals, and lost in the consolation finals to Indiana's Coyte Cooper by fall in 1:58.

Mark Becks returned to the mat, with a sudden victory loss to Viktor Sveda, 9-7, before rebounding to defeat Wisconsin's Ralph Denisco, 8-4. Becks re-aggravated his knee, and medically forfeited both of his matches on Sunday, finishing in sixth place.

Both Nate Wachter and Pat Cummins needed a victory in the consolation finals in order to qualify for nationals. Wachter, defeated Purdue's Dan Jakowski for the third time this year, and for the second time this weekend with a decision, 8-2. Cummins after trailing early, cruised to an 8-3 victory over Wisconsin's Justin Staebler, 8-3.

The lone senior Pete Mielnik, posted a 4-2 record and finished fifth, after defeating Michigan State's John Wechter, 7-5, in an extra session. Marat Tomaev lost a pair to Iowa's Cliff Moore, including in the consolation finals giving him a sixth place finish for the second year.

The seven Lions that qualified will compete in at NCAA Championships in two weeks from March 21-23, at the Pepsi Arena, in Albany, NY.