Troy Sunderland rose to his feet and jumped up and down like he was trying to put a hole in the Rec Hall floor.

He looked to both sides of the gym, urging the 4,102 fans in attendance to do whatever they could to help Penn State's James Woodall notch an upset victory against No. 5 Ryan Bertin of Michigan.

Woodall was down early to Bertin, 4-2, but bounced back in the second period to take a 7-6 lead into the third. Bertin then scored an escape and a takedown to take a 9-8 lead with seconds remaining. Sunderland called anxiously for the crowd to help Woodall get one more takedown for the upset victory he had been waiting for all season.

But like so many times this season, Woodall came up just a little bit short and Bertin earned the 9-8 victory. Woodall's loss was one of the first things Sunderland addressed after an important Big Ten win.

"One of these days, we're gonna get James Woodall over the top," Sunderland said. "He can frustrate people if he keeps moving and doesn't stop."

The loss to Bertin was just one in a series of close losses in Big Ten action for the redshirt junior. Woodall is 20-9 on the season and won both his matches against Michigan State and Penn this weekend, but he is just 3-4 in Big Ten matches. Three out of his four Big Ten losses have come against opponents ranked in the top 10 at 157 pounds, and all of his losses have come by two points or less this season.

Penn State wrestling assistant coach John Hughes said Woodall's main problem has been he's too aggressive at the starts of matches. Against Bertin, Woodall gave up two early takedowns in the first period.

"James loses those matches early on mental mistakes," Hughes said. "He needs to be more controlled when he goes out there and can't give up easy points."

Woodall agreed and said he has been working on not giving up early takedowns. He said he sometimes goes on to the mat with the mindset that he has to get his opponent tired, and this causes him to get down early in matches.

Despite the two-point loss to Bertin, a two-point loss to No. 9 Joe Johnston of Iowa and a one-point overtime loss to No. 1 Alex Tirapelle of Illinois, Woodall said his confidence is still high with Big Ten championships just one week away.

"Even though I won't be seeded high, every wrestler knows I'm a threat and I could beat any one of them," Woodall said.

Woodall has won his last three matches, but the next real test will come in the Lions' Big Ten finale Friday at Minnesota when he will take on No. 12 Matt Nagel. While the close losses have been frustrating for Woodall, Hughes said they haven't been much easier on the coaches.

"We're out there with every one of our guys fighting and scrapping," Hughes said. "It's like we tell them, 'you guys only have to fight one match, we have to fight 10.' "