At the beginning of the season, Penn State wrestling captains Eric Bradley, Adam Smith and Josh Walker talked about how the team may need to rest up toward the end of the dual meet season to prepare for the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. This time last year, Smith and Bradley were worn down, and both exited earlier than they liked in the NCAA Tournament.

As the No. 13 Nittany Lions (10-9, 3-4 Big Ten) prepared for their final dual meet of the season against Ohio State (7-11, 0-7) at 7:30 tonight at the Bryce Jordan Center, the wrestlers were on their own. The Penn State coaching staff pinpointed this week as a time to let the wrestlers train individually as they saw fit in order to rest up and stay fresh. The Lions were free to work out on their own until yesterday, when they had their only workout of the week as a team.

"When we sat down and did our practice schedule, this was a week that we really wanted to let them go on their own," Penn State coach Troy Sunderland said. "Hopefully they're going to be fresh and ready to go."

While the Lions did rest, they are not overlooking the Buckeyes despite their 0-7 conference record. Ohio State has two ranked wrestlers, No. 16 T.J. Enright at 133 pounds and No. 6 J.D. Bergman at 197 pounds. Bergman, an All-American who finished third in the nation at 197 pounds last year as a freshman, will give No. 13 Phil Davis all he can handle, and Enright beat No. 19 Bryan Heller at Midlands back in December. Also at Midlands, Nathaniel Augustson defeated James Yonushonis at 174 pounds and heavyweight Kirk Nail was just knocked out of the rankings this week. If the Lions wish to finish the Big Ten season at .500, they must stay focused.

"I think [the Buckeyes'] record is a bit deceiving," Sunderland said. "They might not have the rankings, but they got some tough kids. We're not taking them lightly. Our kids need to be ready for a tough match."

Penn State should have no problems being ready. There is plenty of motivation to close out the season on a winning note. For one, the Lions do not want to finish with a losing record in the Big Ten and be the only team to lose to Ohio State in the conference. Second, a win would give the team a nice boost of confidence heading into tournament season. Lastly, Penn State will be wrestling in the Bryce Jordan Center for the first time all season, and just the seventh time ever for a dual meet.

"It's definitely a different atmosphere," Sunderland said. "We're accustomed to wrestling in Rec Hall. There's a neat atmosphere there, but the Bryce Jordan Center is a new, neat arena to wrestle in."