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came against Lock Haven's Dillon Gavlock by injury default.) But in the latter half of the match against McFadden, Rasheed felt his energy slip away and the strength in his legs subside. McFadden, meanwhile, hit his stride, and tallied an escape and three takedowns in the 6nal period in order to send it into overtime. Then, he completed his comeback and prevailed over Rasheed. "That match was di7erent," Rasheed later recalled. "I felt that I was dominating the whole match, and then that hap- pened." As he explained, part of the third-period exhaustion had to do with making weight at 165. At the Nittany Lion Open in early December, he carried a jug of water around Rec Hall with him as he worked to stay hydrated a9er the morning's weigh-ins. Later that day, he fell to teammate Geno Morelli, 3-2, in the championship round. The result prompted head coach Cael Sanderson to start Morelli in the Wisconsin dual one week later a9er Rasheed had started the previous four. Drawing third- ranked Isaac Jordan, Morelli, who trans- ferred to PSU from Pitt a year ago, came just moments away from a headline-mak- ing upset before Jordan scored the go- ahead takedown with just 1.2 seconds le9. With Shakur's early struggles and Morel- li's gutsy e7ort against Wisconsin, the 165-pound weight class, which once ap- peared to be locked down by Rasheed, is open again. "It seems like we have a weight like this every year, where it's just back and forth," Sanderson said. "You think things are get- ting settled and then something changes or somebody beats somebody." Asked if the starting spot could be 6- nalized by the results of Southern Scu8e (Jan. 1-2), Sanderson replied, "That would be nice." With the biggest regular-season tour- nament on the horizon, Rasheed goes back to the drawing board in hope of giving his best e7ort – and weigh-in – in Chat- tanooga, Tenn. "I've got to get used to the weight cut," he said. "It wasn't about my conditioning. It wasn't about my training. I work hard. Everybody in this room works hard. It's just, I have to cut the weight right. When I don't do it right, it shows out there. My legs just shut down on me [against Mc- Fadden]; I couldn't move my legs. It wasn't like I couldn't breathe. It was more like I couldn't move a muscle. Now I know to drink more water, eat right and I'll be OK. I feel better and better every time I weigh in. I can go a full seven minutes without [that happening]. I feel great. It's all about progress. You live and learn." Rasheed measures close to 6-foot-2 and is taller than many of his 165-pound op- ponents. While his height enables him to defend takedown attempts and also take shots from a distance – "I've done that my whole life," he said. "I've always felt like I can wrap around. That's just the way I grew up" – it's a hurdle in making weight. Rasheed has drawn on advice from four- time All-American and two-time NCAA champion David Taylor, who is now a res- ident athlete with the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club. Taylor, too, was tall for his weight class when he wrestled at 157 and 165 pounds during his PSU career, and the two employ a similar style based upon their lengthy range. "I have to get consistent with my weight, and I can't let myself blow up and then get it back down because I'm not going to feel good," Rasheed said. "[Taylor] has helped me a lot." Sanderson remains con6dent in Rasheed's ability and believes that once his weight is more consistently regulated, he'll surrender fewer of those third-period letdowns, and maybe none at all. "Shakur is just showing some of his po- tential," Sanderson said. "He needs some mat time and some experience and some time to get comfortable with his weight, but I think I'm very optimistic about him at this point." ■

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