Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland, who endured a trying day Saturday at the 2008 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, was able to smile at the end of the night, if only a little. When told that, as bad as things had gone for his Nittany Lions, Iowa’s Tom Brands had suffered an even worse night, he smiled for an instant. Then reality set in. His Nittany Lions had stumbled to sixth in the team race and two of his wrestlers had been eliminated. Another might have had his season ended by a potential season-ending injury.

Host Minnesota, fueld by a disastrous round by Iowa, vaulted into the lead with 106 points. Iowa is second with 93.5, followed by Illinois in third with 79, Michigan fourth with 78, Ohio State fifth with 76.5 and Penn State in sixth with 68. The rest of the field is: Indiana, 7th, 66.5; Wisconsin, 8th, 66; Northwestern, 9th, 65; Purdue, 10th, 39.5; and Michigan State, 11th, 30. It was a crazy, crazy day. Sunderland can attest to that. “It was another rollercoaster Big Ten (tournament). You’re up, you’re down,” he said.

Here’s where Penn State stands. The Nittany Lions have qualified five wrestlers for the NCAA tournament, three more are in contention and two have been eliminated. A pair of No. 2 seeds, Dan Vallimont (157) and Phil Davis (197) will wrestle in today’s championship finals, which are scheduled to start at 3 p.m. “Vallimont and Davis have been solid,” Sunderland said. “We had some big wins from them.”

Bubba Jenkins (4th, 149), Dave Rella (7th, 165) and Phil Bomberger (5th, 184) are scheduled for third-round consolation bouts, starting at 1 p.m. That trio can finish as high as third or as low as sixth, but all three have qualified for nationals. Mark McKnight (6th, 125), Tim Haas (8th, 133) and Garrett Scott (5th,141) all face crucial seventh-place bouts. A win assures a berth to the NCAA tournament.

Second-seeded Vallimont earned his semifinal berth with a pair of close decisions. He doubled up Ohio State’s Jason Johnstone 4-2, before edging Iowa’s seventh-seeded Ryan Morningstar 3-2 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, against sixth-seeded Jeff Marsh of Michigan, Vallimont won 8-5 to earn a finals berth against No. 1 seed Michael Poeta of Illinois. Davis, the No. 2 seed, breezed into his semifinal bout. He started with a pigtail fall in 4:59 over Ohio State’s John Weakley and then majored Iowa’s Chad Beatty 15-6. In the semifinals, Davis was in control throughout, blanking Patrick Bond of Illinois 6-0. He’ll face No. 1 seed and defending champion Mike Tamillow of Northwestern in the final.

No. 4 seed Jenkins opened his day with a 6-5 win over fourth-seeded Lance Palmer of Ohio State. In the semifinals, he was blitzed 15-3 by No. 1 seed Brett Metcalf of Iowa. Seventh seed Rella narrowly missed a berth in the semifinals when he fell 3-2 to No. 2 Eric Tannenbaum of Michigan on 1:06 of riding time. In the second round of consolations, he pulled off the upset, 5-4, over No. 3 seed Tyler Safratowich of Minnesota. Fifth seed Bomberger missed a golden opportunity to advance to the semifinals when he slipped against No. 4 seed Roger Kish of Minnesota 5-4 in the quarterfinals. In the second round of consolations, he hung on for a 4-3 win over A.J. Kissel of Purdue.

McKnight, the sixth seed, lost in the quarterfinals to third-seeded Angel Escobedo of Indiana 4-0. In the first round of consolations, he defeated Michigan’s Michael Watts 6-2. He then fell in the second round of consolations 9-6 to Nikko Triggas of Ohio State. Haas, seeded eighth, lost by major decision to top seed Jimmy Kennedy of Illinois 10-2 in the quarterfinals. In the first round of consolations, he defeated Michigan’s Chris Diehl 5-2. No. 4 seed Zach Tanelli then pinned Haas in 2:48 in the second round of consolations.

Scott, a No. 5 seed, started his day with a first period pin of Pur-due’s Matt Redmond. He was knocked into the consolation bracket by Iowa No. 4 seed Dan LeClere, 2-1, giving up a controversial takedown with three seconds left. In the second round of consolations, he had to injury default in 5:00. Leading in the match, Scott’s knee was bent at a grotesque angle and he cried out in agony. He resumed wrestling, but a short time later, he couldn’t continue and had to default. “I’m not real optimistic he’s going to be able to go, from what our trainer said,” Sunderland said of Scott. “It doesn’t look good at this point.”

The upset bug bit sixth-seeded Erwin in a pigtail bout. Unseeded Trevor Perry of Indiana caught him in a headlock and pinned him in 1:20. In the first round of consolations, he was leading Illinois No. 5 seed John Dergo 3-1 with less than a minute to go when he was taken down to his back for a five-point move and lost 6-3.

Thanks to Andy Elder and the "Centre Daily Times" (State College, Pa.) for the article