Heading into the season, the Penn State wrestling team was not happy with its No. 17 preseason ranking (Intermatwrestle.com), and it was determined to prove that ranking wrong.

At 1 p.m. Sunday in Edinboro, Pa., the No. 17 Nittany Lions (1-1) will get an early season shot to prove they are better than their ranking as they take on No. 19 Edinboro (3-0). Penn State knows the matches won't be easy.

"Edinboro has a solid team," Penn State coach Troy Sunderland said. "They train well, and Tim Flynn is a good coach. They always seem to get up for us."

Sunderland pointed out Shawn Bunch at 133 pounds, Nate Yetzer at 165 pounds, and Joe Hennis at heavyweight particularly as dangerous.

"Bunch and Yetzer are real tough," he said. "Their heavyweight is a dangerous wrestler. He can throw and pin a lot of people. They have some tough kids. We have to be on our toes and ready to go."

In order to prepare for the start of the head-to-head dual meet season, the Lions have faced good competition such as No. 6 Lehigh and No. 7 Minnesota in their preseason tournaments. Penn State finished second at the first annual Pennsylvania State Dual Championships and Mat-Town USA behind Lehigh and Minnesota, respectively. The Lions also claimed the most champions at the East Stroudsburg Open and Nittany Lion Open with three champions in each.

"I think it was good to face a tough test like Lehigh early in the year," Sunderland said.

"Some of the tournaments that we had brought out some weaknesses and hopefully we can make some corrections and help our guys improve as much as they can."

Penn State spent its practice working on those weaknesses. The Lions worked hard on their bottom work, hand fighting, collar ties, and underhooks, specifically emphasizing the bottom work for the younger guys.

Sunderland has not committed on his starters at 133, 157, 174, and 197 pounds. Freshmen Bryan Heller and Tim Haas will compete at 133 while sophomores Nate Galloway and James Yonushonis look to have the advantage over Jarrad Turner and Brian Cantalupi at 157 and 174, respectively. With championships at the East Stroudsburg Open and last weekend at the Nittany Lion Open, freshman Phil Davis seems to have the edge over Joel Edwards at 197.

No matter who starts, the Lions know they must stay focused and build on their success from the preseason to start the season off on the right foot.

"We've had a good preseason," Sunderland said.

"We've had a couple of dual meets already with the PA Duals and good competition at Mat-Town, so we're anxious to get the dual meet season started. We want to finish the semester well with hopefully a big win against Edinboro this weekend."