For the No. 12 Penn State wrestling team, this weekend is much more than a return to the confines of its state-of-the-art Rec Hall facilities.

It's a chance for the road-weary Nittany Lions to come home and lick their wounds before getting back to action this weekend.

This week has allowed the team a chance to train in its own wrestling room with some sort of regularity for the first time since mid-December. It's a chance to concentrate on schoolwork rather than catch flights and ride on buses and, most importantly, a chance to sleep in their own beds.

"We've been travelling a lot for at least three weekends, and it's starting to put a wear on some of the guys, especially the guys that are cutting a lot of weight," co-captain Aaron Anspach said.

The Lions, who have not wrestled at home since their Dec. 15 dual meet with Lock Haven, started off the road trip with a win against Cornell and posted a 3-1 record in the Virginia Duals the next week. The only blemish was a, 19-17, bonus point loss to Edinboro, a team typically among the best in the country, in the finals.

Then Penn State ran into some real turbulence on its travels, however, as it kicked off Big Ten competition this past weekend.

After losing another dual on bonus points to No. 9 Wisconsin Friday, 17-16, the team got steamrolled by No. 1 Minnesota, 31-12, Sunday.

Chalk the losses up to inexperience in some weight classes, the long road trip or a combination of both, but just don't say it was because of a lack of heart.

The losses will only fuel this team -- a call to refocus and redouble its efforts to make a run deep into the Big Ten Championships in February.

The Lions will look to the familiar setting of Rec Hall to get their Big Ten season back on track this weekend.

"It's just hard to not be in your home atmosphere and lose weight and not eat," Anspach said. "Having these home matches, especially with these last couple of losses, we'll be able to regroup and get back on track."

Being back at home and practicing in their own facilities should pay dividends for all the wrestlers, and the raucous home crowd that weekend duals usually bring should provide Penn State with the boost it needs to refocus its efforts.

"It's important after traveling as much as we have the past couple of weeks to be home in the familiar place at Rec Hall, and getting the chance to wrestle in front of a home crowd," head coach Troy Sunderland said. "The guys are anxious to get back. Traveling takes its toll with flights and bus trips and all that sort of thing. It's nice, but the bottom line is wherever the mat is rolled out, we gotta perform and wrestle."

So, while the road losses may be disheartening, they are certainly not the sign of a loss of heart.