John Hughes sat against a wall in the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex last Thursday. Penn State wrestlers, still catching their breath from a tough practice that just ended, looked up at their assistant coach. "Tomorrow, come prepared," Hughes said. "We will push you, we will test you, physically and mentally."

Following Penn State's win over Lock Haven in its final dual match of the season just more than a week ago, Nittany Lion wrestlers have been training hard for the first of two championship tournaments. Tomorrow, Penn State will realize its postseason dreams in Minneapolis, Minn., at the Big Ten tournament. The top seven in each weight class will qualify for the national tournament on March 20. Penn State's highest-seeded grapplers are senior co-captain Phil Davis and sophomore Dan Vallimont. Both are No. 2 seeds at 197- and 157-pounds, respectively.

"We are anxious. The kids have been training all year for this," Penn State head coach Troy Sunderland said Tuesday. "We had a good week or so of training since Lock Haven. We've looked pretty sharp. Friday was one of our hardest practices." While Penn State put together a good dual season, finishing 14-5 overall, the Lions stumbled three times in conference duals with losses to Ohio State, Illinois and the top-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes. All three have two No. 1 seeds.

Penn State wrestlers went 1-7 in matches against top-seeded wrestlers during the regular season. Garrett Scott, seeded fifth at 141-pounds, beat Michigan's No. 1 Kellen Russell 4-3 in Rec Hall. Davis lost to Northwestern's No. 1 Mike Tamillow and Vallmont lost to Illinois' No. 1 Mike Poeta. Davis is the only Lion who has ever seen the podium at the Big Ten tournament. Davis won the title his sophomore year, but finished fifth last year.

Despite his wrestlers' records against the top seeds and relative inexperience, Sunderland said it could come down to whoever is ready to wrestle. "It can really be wide open," Sunderland said. "The matchups are going to be critical. As it's been a lot of this year, it'll be who's on any given weekend. I think [we're] ready to go."

Thanks to Travis Johnson and the "Daily Collegian" (PSU) for the article