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UNIVERSITY PARK -- If Friday's wrestling showdown between No. 1 Penn State and No. 2 Iowa were couched in weather terms, Tuesday would have been the calm before the storm.
A coach and two wrestlers for each team addressed their respective media contingents and nary a cross word for the opponent was heard.
At University Park, associate head coach Cody Sanderson, 133-pounder Roman Bravo-Young and 197-pounder Max Dean spoke.
"It's just a match. Those (rankings) don't mean much," Bravo-Young said. "It will be cool, fun. It's more for the fans, and people online build it up more than it really is. It's not the main focus; it's just the next match on the schedule."
At Iowa City, Iowa, head coach Tom Brands, 125-pounder Spencer Lee and 285-pounder Tony Cassioppi met the media.
"Rankings don't mean anything in the grand scheme of things," Lee said. "It's just a number that people put to try to hype up matches. Because, at the end of the day, when two people walk out in the middle of the mat, you're both 0-0 and the ref blows the whistle, it's a seven-minute match and it's a fight."
Not exactly bulletin board material ahead of a dual meet that most wrestling fans, even those beyond the respective fan bases of Iowa and Penn State, have had circled since last fall.
The 8:30 p.m. dual meet will be televised by Big Ten Network and promises to deliver a high viewership beyond the 16,000 fans that will squeeze into the Bryce Jordan Center.
Neither team had yet announced lineups on Tuesday, but that didn't prevent some fans from spreading a rumor that Iowa would insert a backup into the lineup at 125 and shift Lee up a weight to wrestle Bravo-Young. RBY admitted that he had seen those rumors.
"I get tagged with all of that stuff all day long. I mean, I don't really care. If someone wants to wrestle, I'll wrestle. It'd probably do numbers; a lot of people would watch it," Bravo-Young said.
"Or you could wait until after the season and do pay-per-view or something. I'm all about wrestling the best. I've got nothing to lose against him. If he wants to wrestle, I'll wrestle. I'm always down to scrap. That'd be exciting. That's something that would wake me up every day."
Each of the coaches addressed what is sure to be an electric atmosphere.
"I think the environment's great. I mean you're getting 16,000 people in a 15,900-seat arena. That's awesome," Brands said.
Sanderson has memories of battles against Iowa going all the way back to his days as a wrestler at Iowa State.
"I don't know about extra adrenaline but I would say excitement is the word I would go with. It's a fun group to wrestle. Their history is undeniable," Sanderson said. "They bring a lot of, I don't know if I want to say attitude, but they like to come with some excitement. I think it will just be a great meet. It will be fun. 16,000 people, our fans, are looking forward to it."
Brands said that he knows his guys know what the rankings are, but like Lee, he said those are just numbers once the whistle blows.
"You talk about characteristics. They know the rankings. They know what's at stake. The environment is an opportunity. It's a fun environment. That's what you want," Brands said.
"Competitors thrive in those situations. The other thing is, how much do you crave a challenge? Then when that challenge is put in front of you, how much to you crave success? Are you going to will it to go your way? These are opportunities to do that."
Ready to do battle
Beyond the rumors, each team figures to send out its best lineup available. The possible matchups, based on each team's best lineups, provide some tantalizing pairings (Penn State wrestlers listed first):
125: Gary Steen vs. No. 1 Spencer Lee
133: No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young vs. No. 17 Brody Teske
141: No. 4 Beau Bartlett vs. No. 2 Real Woods
149: No. 13 Shayne Van Ness vs. No. 7 Max Murin
157: No. 9 Levi Haines vs. No. 15 Cobe Siebrecht
165: No. 5 Alex Facundo vs. No. 13 Patrick Kennedy
174: No. 1 Carter Starocci vs. No. 16 Nelson Brands
184: No. 1 Aaron Brooks vs. No. 12 Abe Assad
197: No. 4 Max Dean vs. No. 7 Jacob Warner
285: No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet vs. No. 3 Tony Cassioppi