No. 2 Penn State hosts No. 4 Minnesota at noon today in a match that will be televised live by the Big Ten Network. At the same time, 180 miles to the east, No. 8 Lehigh will be taking on No. 7 Illinois.
If the Nittany Lions and Mountain Hawks each take care of business at home - which is no sure thing - they'll likely be joined in the top 10 rankings by the surprising Pitt Panthers.
Rande Stottlemyer's team beat the sixth-ranked team in the country for a second consecutive weekend. After beating Lehigh on the road a week ago, Pitt stopped No. 6 Michigan on Saturday night. Zac Thomusseit scored a takedown with two seconds left in overtime for a 3-1 victory that sealed the Panthers' 19-13 victory.
You can watch every match from the dual, plus an interview with Pitt assistant Jason Peters, at flowrestling.com.
Even though Michigan was without several starters, including defending national champion Kellen Russell, it was a big win for the Panthers. I have an email in to Pitt asking when the last time the Panthers were ranked so high, but haven't heard back yet. I can't remember it having happened there in the past two decades, although there might have been a brief appearance in top 10 earlier this decade.
The Panthers won't wrestle another dual meet for nearly three weeks, when No. 10 Ohio State visits on Dec. 9. After that, the schedule gets considerably easier. It's possible that Pitt might not face another ranked team until closing out the dual-meet season with a home match against Edinboro on Feb. 17 and at Penn State on Feb. 19.
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Speaking of the Nittany Lions, the defending champions found a way to shine even when the team wasn't in action. Five Penn State wrestlers won titles at the Mercyhurst Laker Open. Kyle Moran (141 pounds), Seth Beitz (149), Matt Brown (174), Justin Ortega (197) and Jon Gingrich (285) each claimed championships in Erie.
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