LOCK HAVEN - It's a home meet, but with a different twist.

Instead of running out of their locker room at the Thomas Fieldhouse, Lock Haven wrestlers will board the bus and head 30 minutes to Bellefonte High School.

"It's still our home court and Rider has to come to us," LHU head coach Robbie Waller said.

As the Bald Eagles open the dual-meet portion of the 2009-2010 schedule, Waller is excited about the opportunity to start within the Bellefonte and Centre County communities.

"It's something that I've been accustomed to for the last seven years as an assistant coach and I want to continue to do it here," the first-year head coach said. "I just think it's great for any community that's willing to do it, and accepts the opportunity to host a Division I wrestling match.

"I knew that Mike Maney was an All-American here and a part of Lock Haven history. That was where I started. It benefits us on a lot of ends. It allows us to wrestling in a different environment and gets us out to a great tradition like Bellefonte. It's a new gym, so we are hoping to pack the house."

Waller and his new coaching staff got an up-close look at his wrestlers last weekend at the Binghamton Open.

What did he learn?

He saw aggressiveness.

He watched two of his wrestlers, Brock Parker and Kevin Dufresne, battle deep through the consolation bracket.

"Winning five matches on the way back through is a tough thing to do in any setting. They were two of our warriors," Waller said with a smile.

Yet, he knows there is still a long way to go.

"We had some slow starts," Waller said. "It was a great tournament with several top 25 teams including Cornell. We ran into those kids a lot, which is good. That helped our guys understand where they are at and where they need to go. That was a great tournament for us.

"I just think the slow start was due to a big tournament. I saw a lot of aggressiveness. We have to improve in some areas, of course, but I was happy with the effort."

Two of the returning Bald Eagles from the 2007-2008 season showed their potential.

After using a red-shirts last year, Jeremie Cook and John Trumbetti kicked off with some strong starts.

Cook finished fourth in Binghamton with a 3-2 record, while Trumbetti was 5-2 and a fifth-place ending.

"With Jeremie and Johnny losing to All-Americans, they found out where they are at," Waller said. "Jeremie was a hair away from beating an All-American last year. Johnny ran into his New Jersey nemesis in Cornell's Mike Grey, and lost in a barnbarner, 15-9. He made some mistakes in that match, and we can improve on them. We had four other guys a round from placing. It proves that our kids are ready to compete and are willing to do what it takes to improve."

Rider comes rolling into Centre County with an 0-1 record after losing to nationally-ranked Lehigh 31-3 in the opener. The New Jersey school was picked as preseason No. 2 in the CAA.

The Broncs were also a part of the Binghamton Open where several athletes had successful tournaments.

That includes heavyweight Ed Bordas, who won his weight classification. Bordas, ranked No. 19 nationally, is a two-time CAA champ and a national qualifier.

He'll run into Lock Haven's Dan Craig, who didn't participate in last weekend's event.

"That match is going to have some fireworks," Waller said. "He's ready to go, and I think that Dan has embraced this challenge. We've worked on some things he needs to do to come away a winner in this match. It's going to be up to him to execute."

Rider also had several top 4 finishers at Binghamton, including Jim Resnick (174, 2nd), Rob Morrison (165, 3rd) and Matt Bradley (141, 4th).

"I expect to see a lot of aggressiveness," Waller said. "They are very efficient in all situations of wrestling. They are good on their feet and on top, and they get out when they are on the bottom. They are very consistent in all positions. We need to quickly find out where we can exploit them and where we can attack."

It's going to be an early-season tune-up for Lock Haven (0-0) with two weekends of wrestling ahead.

Thanksgiving weekend, LHU hosts its annual Mat-Town Open.

The following Saturday, the Bald Eagles travel to Edinboro for the PSAC Championships.

"We have to wrestle hard. You can't win if you don't wrestle hard. That's the bottom line," Waller said. "Every match until the conference and national tournaments are evaluations of some questions. Are we getting better? Are we aggressive? Are you finishing periods? Are we winning periods? It comes down to wrestling hard. We have to come out every single match and just battle."

LHU Tentative Lineup

125: Nick Hyatt, rs jr; 133: John Trumbetti, rs so; 141: Owen Wilkinson, jr; 149: Brock Parker, so; 157: Jude Tropona, so, or Seth Creasy, rs so; 165: Kevin Dufresne, so; 174: Aaron Ernest, so; 184: Jeremie Cook, rs jr; 197: Harry Turner, rs fr; 285: Dan Craig, jr.

Rider Tentative Lineup

125: Tim Trivisonna; 133: Filiberto Colon; 141: Matt Bradley; 149: Michael Kessler; 157: Zac Cibula; 165: Rob Morrison; 174: Mike Ward or Jim Resnick; 184: Mike Miller; 197: Tyler Smith; 285: Ed Bordas.