UNIVERSITY PARK — Frank Martellotti trained as hard as his teammates on the Penn Statewrestling team for more than a year with one stark contrast between them.

Martellotti’s work was done with the knowledge he wouldn’t be taking the mat for the Nittany Lions in any meaningful match anytime soon — no matter how hard he pushed himself.

Last Sunday, Martellotti — who spent the last spring and fall semesters academically ineligible to compete — sat on a bus bound for Battle Creek, Mich. As his headphones pumped music into his ears and the Jean Claude Van Damme action flick Bloodsport projected from the TV screen, Martellotti’s return drew closer and closer.

Over 450 miles later, the Penn State 133-pounder made his long-awaited dual meet return for Penn State.

His opponent, Michigan State’s Brandon Fifield, wasted little time getting in on Martellotti’s legs for an early takedown.

It was gut check time. “I was kind of flat I guess, coming out. But that first takedown kind of woke me up and I think it was big,” said Martellotti, who went on to overcome Fifield 7-5. “I guess one good thing I did was keep my head in the match after that, because a year ago I don’t think I would’ve done that.”

It’s part of a new outlook for the talented sophomore from Pittsburgh. In addition to his training inside the Lorenzo Wrestling Complex, Martellotti had to devote more and more time to his schoolwork in order to return to action.

After falling behind last winter, Martellotti was able to raise his grades to a level that jived with Penn State’s lofty standards this fall.

“He hasn’t been on the mat for a year, basically,” Nittany Lion coach Cael Sanderson said. “So I think getting (him) back on the mat, we saw some really good things in there and he showed just kind of who he is and what he’s capable of.

“But he can wrestle even much better than that and he will once he gets a little time and some experience back in there.”

Last season, Martellotti was a crucial ingredient of the Lions’ dual match formula as a true freshman.

When then-starter Brad Pataky missed early portions of the season, Martellotti stepped in and wrestled like a seasoned veteran. He compiled a 7-0 record in duals and lost just three times, all of those losses coming at the Southern Scuffle, two of which were to highly ranked opponents.

Martellotti placed sixth at 125 pounds at last year’s Scuffle. But due to his grades, his season was finished on Dec. 30.

When this season began, Martellotti knew he wouldn’t be able to wrestle officially until he pulled his grades up. So he contributed in a different way.

Martellotti took on the task of working with and mentoring true freshman 125-pounder and fellow Western Pennsylvania product Megaludis. Although Martellotti said much of the mentoring process has been mutual.

“He definitely doesn’t wrestle like a true freshman,” Martellotti said. “He’s definitely a good practice partner. He’ll push you. He pushes me. Where he can help my conditioning, I can help his technique.”

And if Martellotti knows one thing, it’s that his conditioning, having wrestled just a handful of times so far this season — unattached bouts at the Nittany Lion Open and the team’s opening Intrasquad match in addition to his bout with Fifield — can be much better.

Following the seven-minute affair with Fifield, Martellotti said he felt winded and a bit rusty.

“That’s a tough first match,” Penn State senior Frank Molinaro said. “Those aren’t always the best matches and that was like Frankie’s first wrestle-off. So considering he was kind of thrown into (wrestling) a pretty solid kid, that kid was good in high school, the first match right out of the gates, down to weight, he did a good job and he’s only going to get better.”

And many of his teammates have expressed the belief that collectively, they will only benefit from Martellotti’s availability.

Junior transfer Derek Reber had started every dual meet bout at 133 for Penn State before Sunday’s dual in Battle Creek. Reber went 2-3 and suffered an ankle injury that slowed him down early.

While Sanderson hasn’t definitively said whether Martellotti or Reber will see the bulk of the action at 133 moving forward, he and the rest of the team knows they have one more option than they did at the beginning of the season.

“That’s one of the things that I think is really starting to show is that we have depth,” sophomore David Taylor said. “That’s what you need to build national championship teams, you need guys who push each other in the room every single day. If something happens you’ve got another guy who can step in who’s just as good, so it’s definitely good and it’s reassuring knowing that we have two really quality guys at that weight.”

Travis Johnson can be reached at 231-4629.