It's college wrestling's equivalent to a play-in game. One last shot to get to the NCAA tournament.

Seventh place matches at the Big Ten tournament are, for the most part, an all or nothing proposition. Win and you're in, lose and your fate is in the hands of the 11 coaches to give you one of two wildcard slots.

This is the situation that faced Penn State's Nate Wachter and Pat Cummins this past Sunday at the 2002 Big Ten championships. After falling in the consolation quarterfinals on Saturday night, both Lions were left staring into the abyss of not qualifying for nationals.

With their backs against the wall, both Wachter and Cummins rose to the challenge.

Wachter, the seventh seed at 149 pounds, beat Purdue's unseeded Dan Jankowski for the second time during the tournament and third time this season, 8-2, to secure his place in Albany.

"Heading into the match, I wasn't nervous at all," Wachter said. "I went out there looking for the major decision. I knew I was the better wrestler, I was just trying to stop him from slowing me down."

For Cummins, the seventh seeded heavyweight, things did not come as easily. Wisconsin's Justin Staebler, the eighth seed, scored the match's first takedown and led the entire first period. Cummins came back to tie the bout at two, before turning Staebler with a tilt and cruising to an 8-3 win.

"I was more nervous at the beginning of the tournament than before the seventh place match," Cummins said. "I wasn't expecting to get a wild card if I lost, so I knew I had to take care of business."

As it turned out, neither Wachter nor Cummins would have received the coveted wildcard spots. Indiana's Greg Schaefer and Wisconsin's Ralph Denisco, both highly seeded wrestlers who were upset, were selected.

"Its definitely a good feeling to go into the wildcard meeting and not having to put the sell on for your wrestlers," Penn State head coach Troy Sunderland said.

During his tenure as head coach, Sunderland has had that luxury in every Big Ten tournament. Since the conference's allotment of qualification spots was raised to 72, giving all seventh place finishers a place at nationals, the Lions are 8-0 in the do or die matches.

"Our guys know that the situation is critical and they have the ability to rise to the occasion," Sunderland said. "They don't let the nerves and the stress get them down."

In addition to extending Wachter and Cummins' seasons, winning both seventh-place matches was critical for the team. After posting six qualifiers the past two seasons, having only five this year would be looked at as a step down, while seven keeps the program's momentum going.

"We definitely took a small incremental step," Sunderland said. "If you look at the team scores, we finished ahead of some teams that beat us during the season. It shows were heading in the right direction."

The next stop for the program is the NCAA tournament next week. While Wachter will be making his third trip, this year's tournament will be Cummins' national debut. Despite this, they both have the same goals.

"There are three returning All-Americans at my weight," Wachter said. "I'm looking to place. I had a good shot last year and I'll have another this year. We'll see what happens.

Cummins echoes his teammate' thoughts: "My goal all year was to be a an All-American. I think I'm up to the challenge."