It's never fun wearing a bulls-eye, but that's the price of success.

Fortunately for the Penn State Judo Club, Guido Lang (senior-finance) is adept at handling the role of a marked man. On March 15-16 at the National Collegiate Judo Championships in San Jose, Ca, Lang successfully defended his 220-pound title and the Judo Club solidified its prominence, ranking fourth nationally.

"The fact that we are fairly inexperienced fighters ranking fourth in the nation means that our hard work and dedication has paid off," said Judo Club president John Cirrinicione (junior-business administration). "I am very proud of this team and I look forward to competing next year."

Along with Simon Bai (junior-mechanical engineering) and Shintaro Taniguchi (freshman-aerospace engineering), both entering their first national competition, Lang went to San Jose knowing he was in for a series of difficult matches.

"What made it more difficult this time was that my opponents knew my favorite techniques and did a good job defending them for a while," he said. "In the end, though, I was able to break their defenses and push through."

Adding to the significance of the performance, Lang managed to win all three matches, including the finals, by ipon. Ipon is the judo equivalent of a pin in wrestling or a knockout in boxing: automatic victory. For the senior, this provided an extra sense of enjoyment to his achievement.

"It is a clear win," Lang said. "There is no arguing with referees about unfair decisions or anything like that afterwards."

As if winning the Collegiate Championship was not a big enough task, Lang also acted as the interim head coach in place of Hachiro Oishi, who did not make the trip.

"Guido acted as temporary head coach during my fights, giving me advice and pointers," said Bai. "He not only gave me incentive to kick butt, but also to perform my techniques with more precision."

Although he lost his two matches at 161 pounds, Bai remains optimistic and determined to succeed.

"Nationals are only over for 2002," he said. "I need to keep on this training regimen and, time permitting, increase my competition experience by going to more tournaments."

Taniguchi, who won two matches and lost two at 133 pounds, placed fifth in his weight class.

"I am going to practice grip fighting and use my left side," he said. "I need to try many things in order to win the title next year."

While the event is over for this year, it is a success to even compete at Nationals. An athlete must attain the rank of black belt to be eligible. Brown belts, the rank right below black, are also eligible, if they have a letter from their coach.

"This is quite literally a coach vouching for the quality of his athlete," said Cirrinicione. "Gaining this acknowledgement from Coach Oishi is no easy task, and should be viewed as an achievement in and of itself."

Following this tournament, the schedule remains busy for the veteran Lang. He'll start working with his workout partner, Donnie Christine of PSU Judo, and begin training for his next event.

"I can't ease up right now," Lang said. "I will increase on the conditioning part as well as prepare for certain opponents."

Lang did not reach his current level without a lot of training, and he has a word of advice for anyone looking to accomplish his successes.

"People just starting out need to be hungry for victory, but still be willing to go step by step," he said.

"Many people think it is all about the color of your belt, but what matters is how you can apply your skills in competition."