By: Guy Cipriano

Centre Daily Times

June 23, 2010 11:39am EDT

Penn State doesn't need to leave Pennsylvania to begin or end its 2010-11 wrestling season. The Nittany Lions aren't leaving the state for their marquee match, either.

The program’s second schedule under coach Cael Sanderson announced Tuesday is a stark contrast to the one the program constructed in 2009-10.

The Nittany Lions are wrestling 10 times in Pennsylvania. That total includes seven dual meets at Rec Hall. Penn State wrestled just five home matches during Sanderson’s first season.

The upcoming season begins Nov. 12 at Bloomsburg. It ends March 19 with the conclusion of the three-day NCAA Championships in Philadelphia.

“First, we made sure we had a schedule that challenged us and got us to where we needed to be in March,” Sanderson said between youth camp sessions Tuesday.

Penn State hosts Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin

“Getting more home duals was also real important. That’s part of building a fan base. We need to have matches in State College.”

The fan base should swell to impressive levels on Jan. 30 when Iowa visits Rec Hall. The Hawkeyes captured their third straight NCAA title this past season.

Penn State averaged 4,341 fans per home meet during 2009-10 despite a lackluster schedule. The Nittany Lions are primed to increase their average crowd because rival Lehigh (Nov. 14) and Ohio State (Dec. 19) join Iowa on the home schedule.

Sanderson said there have been discussions about moving a match to the Bryce Jordan Center. But for at least one more year, Penn State will wrestle its entire home schedule at Rec Hall.

“We like Rec Hall,” Sanderson said. “We like the history and it’s a great atmosphere. We get to use our own locker room. It feels like home to us. If we would move to the Bryce Jordan Center, we might get more fans, but it’s not the same as staying in Rec Hall.”

Penn State’s home schedule also includes the annual Nittany Lion Open (Dec. 5) and duals against Lock Haven (Dec. 12), Pitt (Jan. 21), Illinois (Feb. 11) and Wisconsin (Feb. 18). Besides Blooms-burg, the Nittany Lions are wrestling Indiana (Jan. 23), Michigan State (Feb. 4), Michigan (Feb. 6) and Minnesota (Feb. 13) on the road. The Big Ten Championships are March 5-6 at Purdue.

Sanderson said the Nittany Lions received an invitation to the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals. Penn State is bypassing the prestigious event to return to the Virginia Duals.

“We feel like the Virginia Duals are something we need,” Sanderson said. “We had the opportunity to see Oklahoma and Oklahoma State there last year and it could be our only chance to see those guys this year. We debated back and forth which tournament we should go to.”

The Nittany Lions are returning to November’s Sprawl and Brawl Duals in Vestal, N.Y., for a second straight year. They replaced the Reno Tournament of Champions with the Southern Scuffle in Greensboro, N.C., as their holiday tournament.

“We want to stay as close to home as often as we can,” Sanderson said. “But that’s not easy to get the competition we need. Traveling out of State College is not easy and we travel quite a bit in the Big Ten. It’s good to get opportunities to wrestle nearby and stay rested.”