This year, Penn State boxers will have a shot to win national championships, a luxury not afforded last year.

Three boxers from the Penn State team will fight this weekend at the national championships in Reno, Nev. Similarly, last year three boxers qualified for nationals but were not able to attend because of filing faux pas.

The fighters who will attend this year are Mory Diane, a 175-pound fighter, Joe McDonald, who fights at 185 pounds, and the 145-pound Ian McGroarty.

Diane was the only fighter of the trio who qualified last year, but at least this time he'll be able to make the trek across the country.

"[Diane] is hitting more than he ever has before and he is hitting faster and harder," Penn State boxing coach Ed Davis said. Davis, who wasn't at regionals a few weeks back, will make the voyage to nationals.

All three of the fighters that the club sent to regionals made it to nationals, but one boxer's journey was more difficult than the others.

McDonald did not come in first or second at his weight class, which would guarantee an automatic bid for nationals.

He was relegated to hoping for a wild-card bid, which was based on his undefeated regular season record, rather than the loss at regionals that he suffered while battling an illness.

"While I was sick, I lost a couple pounds, and it is only possible to put on one to three pounds of legitimate weight a week, but I put it all back on with specific foods that [Davis] showed me," McDonald said.

Said Davis:

McGroarty has been using an intense, technical training regiment to prepare for the national championships.

"I haven't sparred in a while, but I have been doing a lot of mitt work [hitting mitts with gloves on]. I prefer using them because you can see an opponent and the punches coming at you and you can move around, just like in a fight. I don't like using a bag, because a bag can't hit back," he said.

McGroarty comes into the match with a 2-1 regular season record and a second place finish at regionals.

Diane also finished second at regionals, and has a one win and two highly contested losses in the regular season.

Throughout the year, Diane fought an intense schedule, as he faced three reigning national champions, all from Army. The fighters had won titles at 175 pounds, 185 and 195.

Davis feels that all of his fighters have a legitimate chance to emerge from their weight classes victorious.

"Wouldn't it be something if our little program could produce a couple of national champions?" Davis mused, just before leaving the team's last practice.

Each of the fighters has made it this far using different, contrasting fighting tactics.

Diane's style is somewhat unorthodox, as he dips and ducks frequently and pops up to deliver strong, furious flurries.

McGroarty is a very accurate, tactical puncher who quickly can throw complex, definite combinations, while McDonald has a more classical style, simply sitting inside and brawling with his opponents, going punch for punch.

Davis seemed excited about the prospective for both of his senior fighters, as well as the junior McGroarty.

"If [McDonald] and [Diane] win now, they will walk out of here like legends," Davis said. "If [McGroarty] wins, he has the chance to come back here next year and walk around like the big man on campus.

"Winning a national championship is the kind of thing that can change your life," Davis said. "It can give you that extra mental edge so you can get better grades then a better job. It can result in a better house or a better wife. It can change your life."