Senior Greg Pieczynski will lead a young Penn State team at the 87th Big Ten Golf Championships outside of Chicago this weekend.

Lake Forest, Ill., April 28, 2006 - Penn State head coach Greg Nye's men's golf team will tee off at the Big Ten Championships hosted by Northwestern University at Conway Farms Golf Club outside of Chicago this weekend. Action got underway Friday morning and will continue through Sunday at the 7,168 yard, par 71 course. All 11 conference schools will compete in the 87th Big Ten Championship with 36 holes on Friday and 18 on Saturday and Sunday.

Penn State sends a relatively young squad to the competition with three sophomores, a freshman and a senior representing the Lions. Senior Greg Pieczynski will lead the group with sophomores Robert Rohanna, Harvin Groft, and Patrick Marshalek and freshman Matt Leon. Four Penn State golfers have earned All-Big Ten honors with Matt Abbott (2000 & 2001) being honored twice. Mark Leon, the older brother of Matt, was the last Lion to earn all-conference honors finishing fifth in 2005. Rohanna was 21st and Piecynski 54th last year among Penn State's returners.

Penn State is coming off a fourth place finish last weekend at the Rutherford Intercollegiate at the Penn State Blue Course. Penn State finished eighth in the Big Ten Championships last season and posted its best ever finish of third in 2000. Four Big Ten schools are ranked among the top 50 in the nation by Golfweek led by Northwestern (No. 31), Minnesota (33), Purdue (42) and Indiana (47).