By Kelsey Detweiler, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Before practice began on Tuesday afternoon, Ed Ruth sat alone atop one of the few stationary bikes in the back of the Lorenzo Wrestling Room and slowly started to peddle.

As his 34 other teammates filed into the practice room to sign posters, get stretched out and check in with their coaches, Ruth recognized a certain commonality about the Penn State squad.

"It's always the same thing," said Ruth.

The defending national champion and No. 3 Penn State wrestling team is almost halfway through the 2012 regular season with five dual meet wins and one loss under its belt. But heading into the thick of the season with eight dual meets left, the returning All-American 174 pounder said that not much changes as the year progresses.

"As soon as you get on the mat you drill hard, wrestle hard and then come off of the mat," said Ruth. "Consistency is key."

Several of the Nittany Lions recognize head coach Cael Sanderson and his coaching staff for continually setting the bar higher and higher and never accepting anything less than seven minutes of battling on the mat.

Freshman 125 pounder Nico Megaludis used himself as a fresh example of the product that such a coaching strategy is able to produce.

"The season's a bit longer and you've got to be so mentally ready for each match," said Megaludis. "Like Coach Cody [Sanderson] says, it's all about adversity and that's the season adversity, so you've just got to always take that into account."

Megaludis is among one of the five members of his team who have earned four or more dual meet victories so far this season. The freshman's only loss came in the second dual of Penn State's 2011-'12 schedule against conference foe Minnesota.

"You've just got to focus on each match," said Megaludis. "We go out there to score points and to do that it's basically all about your attitude. We focus on having a lot of will power for the whole season, and we're getting better every day."

The newcomer stood in the middle of the practice room and pointed to a few neon signs that the coaching staff recently put up that read 'I CHOOSE' in bold letters. Megaludis said that the small signs are a constant reminder to him and his teammates that their destiny is theirs and only theirs to make.

So far this season, the Lions have chosen to continue pushing for every second that they are training, practicing and competing. Penn State has almost quadrupled their dual meet opponents' scores already this year, outscoring their competition 197-50 in just six duals.

The Penn State squad will head on the road at the end of this week for a tough weekend against Big Ten competition Northwestern and Wisconsin. And the following week, the Nittany Lions will host one of their most anticipated matches of the season as they welcome the Iowa Hawkeyes to Rec Hall.

Nittany Lion sophomore Frank Martellotti, who is expected to be stepping in at the 133 spot in the next few duals, said that he is excited to be back in the action surrounded by what he calls a uniquely talented group of athletes.

Martellotti said that outside of consistency and repetition of hard work, he also notices one other important key in the Penn State strategy: Execution.

"We're just more focused because it's closer to match time but we really have the same mentality," said Martellotti. "It's nothing really physically I think just mentally is the main change there - just getting focus on what we have to do and just going out there and doing it."