In the first period of a match this year against Northwestern's Dustin Fox -- the then-ranked No. 4 heavyweight in the country -- Penn State heavyweight Aaron Anspach went careening off the mat and into the stands with a loud thud that echoed throughout Rec Hall.

Anspach's head made solid contact with the front row bleachers, eliciting a loud gasp from the 3,000 onlookers.

As the audience held its collective breath, Anspach was quickly surrounded by coaches and trainers.

But in no more than a minute, the senior co-captain was back on his feet and in the middle of the ring, ready to face off against Fox again.

Seemingly, nothing has come easy for Anspach, now the No. 3 ranked heavyweight in the country after defeating Fox and Iowa's No. 6 Matt Fields two weeks ago. This year is the first in which the senior co-captain has seen a full season's worth of competition since his high school career at Columbia High School ended.

Anspach took a redshirt in the 2002-2003 season, his first at Penn State. Competing in several open tournaments, Anspach compiled a 17-10 record and shared first place honors at the Edinboro Open -- a promising start for someone who would eventually bear the mantle of heavyweight at Penn State.

But Anspach's journey to become the next great Lions' heavyweight took a different course when he suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

"To this year, it hasn't been really ideal I would say," Anspach said of his career at Penn State. "My first year here, like I was basically a redshirt, and I was behind [former Nittany Lion heavyweight] Pat Cummins. ... But I ended up getting hurt like right away."

While the torn labrum wasn't immediately crippling for his wrestling performance, it did hinder other physical abilities.

According to emedicine.com, the labrum is a ligament of soft tissue in the ball and socket joint that provides stability to the shoulder.

"It wasn't so severe where I had to get surgery right away," he said, "but it was so nagging that, over time, it became like, 'I have to get this taken care of, or I'm not going to be able to wrestle.' "

So Anspach went under the knife in the offseason to repair the torn labrum.

"We just kept on pushing him on [saying], 'Hey, you can do this, you can get better.' But it was something that he totally had to want," Aaron's father Jim Anspach said.

For Aaron Anspach, though, there was never a second thought about returning to the mats.

Rehabilitation and regaining strength in his right shoulder would be mere speed bumps, he thought.

Anspach returned midway through the 2003-2004 season, wrestling his way to a 7-3 record in open tournaments, enough to warrant a trip with USA wrestling to tour China.

But after returning from China, Anspach once again ran into troubles with his shoulder.

"I would say I kinda missed my freshman and sophomore year[s] just because it was like a nagging injury that turned into like a rehabbing injury," Anspach said. "... Pat Cummins left after my sophomore year and I was like, 'This is my time to finally step in and get on the mat' and I was injured again with a torn labrum and this was very severe."

So for the second time, Anspach would have to undergo major surgery on his right shoulder.

"It's kinda funny [the doctors put an] Achilles' [tendon] from a dead dude in my arm," he said with a laugh. "So, some people ask me, they're like, 'How does that feel?' I'm like, 'I think it's stronger than my other arm cause I got extra parts in there.' "

Even his family has noticed the difference that the surgical implant has made.

"We kept always joking saying, 'Aaron, watch, it's going to be the Achilles tendon of a basketball player or something else,' but it must be a pretty strong individual because it's held together," Jim Anspach said.

For most people, one surgery might be enough to make them forfeit their dreams, but Aaron Anspach has never been one to give up easily.

He admitted, however, that there were times when he thought whether or not it would be worth it to continue, but those thoughts were quickly dashed by support from his family.

After Anspach's surgery, one of the coaches gave him Lance Armstrong's book about returning to competition after his battle with cancer.

"It was just really inspirational to me because, coming out of that surgery, the doctors were like, 'All right now you have like a 40 percent chance' -- I think it was 40 -- 'that this is going to tear again.' And that really plays on your mind you know," Anspach said.

According to Penn State assistant coach Dave Hart, the man in charge of Penn State's upper weight classes, the senior from Columbia, Pa., never let on that he would give up wrestling.

"He never said [that he wanted to quit] to me," Hart said. "I think when you injure yourself badly the first time, the average person can get through it, but the second time, even the tough people start to second guess, because that's like a year rehab, and there's no guarantee that it's going to come back some day.

"You could reinjure it just as easily, but I talked to him in the locker room after the second surgery and he was like, 'I'll be back.' So I never really heard him say much like that, so I figured he would be."

Making good on the promise to his coaches, Anspach undertook the task of getting himself healthy enough to return to the wrestling mat.

During his second go around with rehab, Anspach again received a steady flow of support from his teammates, coaches and family.

He even had a partner to go though the long hours with as his teammate, Tim Haas, now Anspach's roommate, was rehabbing a knee injury at the same time.

"[Tim] and I kinda went through it together, the whole process of recuperating and healing," Anspach said. "So it was kinda nice I had a partner to go through the whole process with, instead of like by myself where it could be kinda lonesome."

Aaron Anspach returned to the Penn State lineup last year after a medical redshirt season in 2004-2005, and he split time with the Lions' other heavyweight, Joel Edwards, on his way to compiling a 14-8 overall record.

The duo split time throughout the season, with Edwards eventually going on to compete in the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA tournament.

This past summer, Anspach entered the offseason in good health and jumped on the opportunity to be the starting heavyweight wrestler for Penn State.

"I went into the summer being like, 'I have to make this summer the most productive time of my life just because this could be my last chance', " he said. "I think I was only home twice maybe. And I just lifted to what [Penn State strength and conditioning] coach Eric Childs said and worked out the way coach Hart told me. And it paid off. They know what they're talking about."

Coming into this season, there were murmurs among the Penn State wrestling faithful that Anspach had completely rebuilt his body and was going to be a force at heavyweight.

The senior did not disappoint either, going undefeated at the Lions' pre-season Wrestle-Offs and compiling an overall record of 14-2 and a Big Ten record of 5-1 so far this season, with his only conference loss coming to No. 1 Cole Konrad from Minnesota.

"Unfortunately, he was really at the point he is now two years ago," Penn State head coach Troy Sunderland said, "but he had the second shoulder injury, and that's really been a limiting factor in his development. But you know, he's obviously proved that he's one of the best heavyweights in the country this year."

So for Anspach, things are finally coming together in his senior season, but he may not be done yet.

He has petitioned the NCAA for another year of eligibility because of his medical redshirt, and so far, things seem to be working out in his favor.

All of the letters and paperwork have been filed, he said. Now, all that's left to do is wait for a response.

But even if another year is not forthcoming, Anspach can look back on this season as one that has validated his career at Penn State.

"Slowly, his dream has been coming together to, first of all, be part of the Penn State lineup, be healthy enough to work out with the guys up there and then to be the starting heavyweight," Jim Anspach said. "That's finally come true. And I think right now on the step level, his next challenge is becoming All-American and then, hopefully, he'll be awarded another year and if not this year, maybe the following year he's after a national title is what he's after."

And Aaron's coaches agreed, nothing short of the top spot on the podium and a gold medal around his neck will suffice.

"We knew how tough he was," Hart said. "... For us it's no big surprise. I mean, I guess it's validation, but he needs to be standing on the top of the podium. For him, being All-American is not the goal.

"He needs to be a champ."