For the Penn State wrestling team, this weekend's mission was simple. After losing four of their last five matches, the Nittany Lions needed to make a statement.

Mission accomplished.

Penn State (12-5, 3-3 Big Ten) began the turn-around weekend with a 25-8 victory against No. 10 Northwestern and finished with a 24-13 upset against No. 6 Iowa. The Lions snapped a 19-year home losing streak against the Hawkeyes.

The breakout weekend equalized the Lions'
conference record and boosted their confidence
as the tournament season nears.

"The wins are obviously very important," Penn State head coach Troy Sunderland said. "But just really the way our guys are wrestling with the attitude and confidence and really, like we talked about, the team kind of coming together and everyone putting in and battling for each other."

On an individual level, senior Bryan Heller has been an example of where the team stands after the weekend. Heller was on a five-match losing streak and battling a nasty virus a couple of weeks ago. He is healthy now and showed his strength in his 12-5 decision on Friday night.

Although he has one year left of eligibility, Heller decided to end his wrestling career and was honored in yesterday's Senior Day ceremony. He pinned No. 6 Alex Tsirtsis 3:31 into his final match at Rec Hall.

"I felt him getting a little weaker and weaker every time I shot," Heller said of his opponent. "He got in a funk and I just sat on him, and I was like, 'He's not moving.' The crowd went up the first time, and I knew I was close. I could hear the coaches yelling, 'He's pinned, he's pinned.' I knew he had to be close, so I sat tight and waited and waited and then I felt like I was going to get the pinning call."

After the call, the season-high crowd of 5, 841 stood up with a roar as the senior lifted his arms in the air, pointed over to his parents, and screamed in exhilaration.

Two other seniors in the lineup followed in Heller's footsteps with upset wins. Still undefeated in Big Ten play, No. 7 James Yonushonis took No. 2 Eric Luedke into a sudden death overtime in the 174-pound bout. The local senior only needed 13 seconds to score a takedown and finish his Rec Hall career with a sudden victory.

No. 13 Aaron Anspach had a difficult weekend on an individual level, but it didn't show. He first wore down Northwestern's No. 4 Dustin Fox in a 4-2 victory. Yesterday, Anspach capped off his stellar weekend with a 5-2 decision over No. 6 Matt Fields.

Junior No. 3 Phil Davis also proved to the wrestling world why he was the national runner-up last year. He began his weekend with an upset win against No. 2 Mike Tamillow, 8-2. Going into his match yesterday against an unexperienced freshman, Davis used his intimidation as a factor before he even laid a hand on him, he said. It didn't take long for his strategy to go into effect with a pin only 1:17 into the match.

Every grappler had at least one ranked opponent in this weekend's schedule, but the Lions trained hard this week, and the change in their attitude and style proved successful.

"As a team, we always think we're going to win," Heller said. "We're brainwashed like that. We're going to win no matter what happens. The whole team package. We're wrestling like champs."