After a semester of training and sparring, the boxing team welcomed in a new wave of fresh faces to the squad. There will be 12 new members of the Penn State boxing team, which almost doubles the current roster, as 14 members return from last year's team.

The recruits had to go through a strenuous tryout and conditioning process before securing their spots on the squad. Before they could even enter the ring, the boxing hopefuls had to pass a fitness test that included running from the Intramural Building to Rec Hall (a distance of 1.8 miles) in less than 13 minutes.

The contenders then needed to complete 50 pushups in a minute and 60 sit-ups in a minute-and-a-half to gain a spot between the ropes where they would then spar another fighter who was hoping to make the team. The fights lasted three rounds that were two minutes each. Each of the boxers could fight up to two times, as the fights were spaced two weeks apart.

After the first set of fights, four fighters found their way onto the squad. Just because they were pitted against each other, it did not mean that both fighters would not make the team.

"Two of the first guys to fight each other wound up both making the team," said Chris Picerni, a junior on the team who guided many of the inexperienced boxers through the tryout process.

The second tryout produced the bulk of the latest additions to the team. Many of the boxers attempting to make the team had never fought before, and the inexperience was apparent.

The instances of poor technique included fighters turning their backs after onslaughts of punches, two-handed or backhand punches, and even headlocks. One candidate for the team even used what is usually a ritual peace offering, the tapping of the gloves before the fight, to set up a vicious right cross.

With some of the hopefuls, the level of skill was immediately apparent.

"For some of the guys, you can tell who has fought before and who hasn't. Sometimes you can tell right off the bat who is a fighter and who is not. I would say that is true about 50 percent of the time," Picerni said.

The inexperience led to a bevy of bloody noses and swollen eyes. A few times, fights had to be stopped because a knockout was only a few haymakers away. There are relatively few knockouts in collegiate boxing because of the protective headgear as well as the somewhat protective judging of the National Collegiate Boxing Association referees.

The boxers who successfully tried out are now full-fledged members of the Penn State boxing team, as they graduated up from the club, which was the organization that conducted the conditioning before the tryouts. More than 50 students started out in the club, but at every stage, fatigue or lack of desire would wind up weeding out several individuals who once had aspirations of making the squad.

Some fighters who made the team, such as freshman Mike Dondero, had fighting experience before, so they were more challenged by the conditioning aspect.

"In the beginning, the running was pretty hard because I didn't feel like I was as fast as everybody. A lot of people struggled with the running, but the conditioning is necessary to be able to go for the entire fight," Dondero said.

Making the team also will mean new sacrifices for the rookies. Monday, Wednesday and Friday sprints at 6 a.m. will mean that the new boxers' Thursdays will have to be a little less thirsty.

"We mix it up, on some days we do sprints, some days we do distance, sometimes we do stairs," Dondero said.

Making the team does not mean that a fighter needs no further improvement either.

"We are looking for guys with good technique, and not necessarily guys who are going to go for the knockout with every punch," Picerni said.

The fighters also realize that they still have a ways to go.

"I realize that I have things to work on. For example, when I am fighting, I sometimes drop my hands, so I need to improve that," freshman Austin Iorio said.

The boxers will have some steady guidance from the more established boxers on the team, and head coach Ed Davis. The two parties collaborated on the decision making process as far as who would make the team.

Davis continued to assail his fighters with a steady flow of pointers, inspiration, and advice. During both the sparring and the training, Davis constantly barked at the pugilists, "Don't be tired!"

He constantly tells them what to tell their bodies, and also uses little idiosyncrasies that will hopefully translate into the little extra power or energy his fighters will need in the waning seconds of the rounds.

The new members of the team could be seeing action as soon as January, when the season gets underway.

The team is optimistic about the new class of talent: "This is one of the best groups of fighters I have seen in my entire time here," Picerni told the fighters after the last round of sparring.