For the most part, we’ve become spoiled by Penn State's five returning NCAA champions this season. In each outing, they are expected to rack up wins, and so far they've delivered at every opportunity.

Because of this continued dominance, our attention has shifted to Nittany Lions freshman 141-pounder Nick Lee, who has been ascending up the rankings since coming out of his redshirt.

Lee has passed a number of tests this year, and his upcoming bout is once again the match to watch. On Friday, the eighth-ranked Lee will meet #10 Tommy Thorn as #2 Penn State hosts #20 Minnesota at Rec Hall in University Park, PA. 

Nick Lee goes big to pin Josh Alber in the Southern Scuffle semis:

Thorn is coming into Friday’s bout after collecting wins in the last four consecutive Big Ten dual meets (decision over Javier Gasca, 6-0; major dec. over #11 Joey McKenna, 13-3; dec. over #12 Mike Carr, 11-6; major dec. over Sal Profaci, 12-4).

Tommy Thorn majors Joey McKenna at Ohio State:

Lee, who made his debut against Profaci with a 9-5 win, has been flawless in his last four outings as well. This will be Lee's biggest competition since finishing second at the Southern Scuffle. At that tournament, he collected his first win over a top 10 wrestler, when he pinned #9 Josh Alber before being pinned himself by Oklahoma State freshman Kaden Gfeller in the finals.

A few wrinkles that have yet to be ironed out are at 125 and 197lb. When will we see new PSU transfer Carson Kuhn and will it be Anthony Cassar or Shakur Rasheed manning the 197 spot for the Nittany Lions? 

Projected Matchups

125: #8 Ethan Lizak, MN vs. Devin Schnupp, PSU

133: #12 Mitch McKee, MN vs. Corey Keener, PSU

141: #10 Tommy Thorn, MN vs. #8 Nick Lee, PSU

149: #20 Steve Bleise, MN vs. #1 Zain Retherford, PSU

157: Jake Short, MN vs. #1 Jason Nolf, PSU

165: #8 Nick Wanzek, MN vs. #1 Vincenzo Joseph, PSU

174: Chris Pfarr, MN vs. #2 Mark Hall, PSU

184: Owen Webster, MN vs. #1 Bo Nickal, PSU

197: Bobby Steveson, MN vs. Anthony Cassar or Shakur Rasheed, PSU

285: Rylee Striefel, MN vs. #6 Nick Nevills, PSU