The Penn State wrestling team is looking for a little thievery.

At least, that's the plan for the group of 10 this weekend. The Nittany Lions venture to Iowa City, Iowa, poised for a run at the Big Ten Championship. With nine of 10 wrestlers ranked heading into the biggest team meet of the season, the No. 16 Lions look to steal the team title from favorites Illinois and Michigan, each entering the tournament with four No. 1-ranked wrestlers apiece. At a press conference Tuesday, Penn State coach Troy Sunderland cited the history of favorites being upset at the tournament.

"Anything can happen, but they just have the depths of the teams from top to bottom," Sunderland said. "We've had a couple of guys step up who have beat guys who maybe they shouldn't have beat on paper, and now's the time to do that."

The Lions' best shot at an individual champion is reigning 184-pound victor Eric Bradley, who is the No. 2 seed.

There is more to this tournament than the team aspect though. The top seven wrestlers in each class will qualify for the NCAA Championships, held in St. Louis March 17-19.

Penn State has six wrestlers, including Bradley, that just need to finish in their current seeding to advance.

Sunderland said seeding is key to getting a trip to Nationals.

"It's important for our guys to get the seeds," Sunderland said. "In the best case scenario, they can get in there and not have No. 1 or No. 2 seeds right off the bat and hopefully get into the rounds they need to be in to place and qualify to Nationals. But I think the main thing is that, like I told the kids yesterday, you throw the seeds out in the Big Ten Tournament and you have to be ready to wrestle right away."

The group of six includes Adam Smith, DeWitt Driscoll, Bryan Heller, Nate Galloway, and Phil Davis. Jack Decker at 149-pounds and heavyweight Joel Edwards sit just outside this group with eight seeds.

Driscoll did not compete in the last dual two weeks ago because he strained his knee, but he will perform at Big Tens. Aside from that, the team is healthy and looking to avoid last-minute colds and illnesses.

"[There's] just a little bit of concern with DeWitt. He's going to be fine. He looked good in practice yesterday and his conditioning looks good," Sunderland said." He hurt his knee a little bit but I think it's fine and that was long ago. We're healthy and hopefully we won't bite any bugs and things that are going around. They've seen that and hopefully they have an immunity against that."

With winning the team championship a slim chance at best, considering the strengths of Illinois and Michigan and that the meet is held on Iowa's home turf, the goal is to get as many guys through to Nationals.

It sounds easy. Finish seventh out of 10 and you're in. But this just illustrates the strength of the conference. While many conferences, especially the Big Twelve, complain about the number of seeds the Big Ten has, the numbers don't lie. The number of seeds for Nationals is based on the performance of the conference the year before.

"Sometimes it sounds a lot easier than it is to qualify," Sunderland said. "The depth of the Big Ten and the caliber of the competition is very difficult and tough and you have to be ready to go right away."

Sunderland feels it's possible to get all 10 guys through, even senior Jarrad Turner at 165 pounds, the lone unranked wrestler. Turner, who jumped from 157 pounds earlier this season, has had a tough time with the adjustment.

Yet some solid workouts since the close of the Big Ten schedule are breeding optimism that all ten guys will make it to wrestling's version of "The Big Dance."

"We have the talent," Bradley said. "Some guys didn't have the greatest season but if they can start bringing some of the matches they've been having in the wrestling room to the mat come competition time, I think we can bring all ten guys."