Beginning this weekend, the No. 10 Penn State wrestling team (9-2) will plunge headfirst into its Big Ten dual meet schedule.

The Nittany Lions will square off against undefeated No. 17 Wisconsin (14-0) at 8 tonight in Madison, Wisc., before traveling to Minneapolis, Minn., to take on the No. 1 Golden Gophers (11-1) at 3 p.m. Sunday.

"It's really a new season for the Big Ten dual meets," Penn State head coach Troy Sunderland said. "It's hard to really describe and give our kids who haven't wrestled in a Big Ten dual meet the feeling of it without actually experiencing it."

Four bouts will pit ranked wrestlers against each other, between the Lions and their opponents. Tonight, No. 3 Phil Davis will take on No. 11 Dallas Herbst at 197 pounds. And on Sunday, No. 2 Mark McKnight will face No. 5 Jayson Ness at 125, No. 7 James Yonushonis will wrestle No. 12 Gabriel Dretsch at 174 and No. 13 Aaron Anspach will take on defending national champion and No. 1 Cole Konrad in heavyweight competition.

The toughest task, however, may fall to freshman Dan Vallimont, as he wrestles at 149 pounds. Vallimont will face No. 8 Tyler Turner tonight, only to have go on and face Minnesota's Dustin Schlatter, ranked No. 1, on Sunday.

"It's a big challenge for [Vallimont]," Sunderland said. "He trains very hard and has continued to make gains and improvements. No question, it's going to be a big challenge, but he's gotta be excited about that opportunity to wrestle the best guy in the country and one of the best guys in the country to see where he's at and how he needs to perform to get better."

As in years past, the Big Ten is no cakewalk for any team, as four teams are ranked in the top 10 and another five are ranked in the top 25.

In its final eight matches of the season, Penn State will face seven ranked teams. The only unranked team remaining on the Lions' schedule is Ohio State, which, while not currently ranked in the top 25, has received votes and is right on the cusp of the rankings.

The road to the Big Ten Championships is a very tough path for any team to tread.

The last few weeks have seen several changes for the Lions, with lineup changes taking place since mid-December and senior Nathan Galloway leaving the team earlier this week because of communication issues with the coaching staff.

In the 157-pound weight class, the Lions have removed redshirt status from freshman Bubba Jenkins.

According to Sunderland, the coaching staff has been keeping a close eye on several weight classes, one of them being the 157-pound weight class.

By moving Jenkins to compete at 157, Sunderland said he hopes to provide the freshman with more experience and put his team in a place to win some matches in a weight class at which the Lions have struggled this year.

"It's kind of like a season within a season in the Big Ten Conference," Sunderland said. "And we just have to be prepared every time we step on the mat to go a full seven minutes."