Before the 1989 season began, Chuck Ehrlich knew tonight’s triangular with Penn State and Iowa would be a difficult meet to win.

However, there was no way the NIU men’s gymnastics coach could have predicted that he would face the two national powers with a Huskie squad decimated by injuries.

Seventh-ranked Penn State and ninth-ranked Iowa visit Chick Evans Field House tonight for a 7 p.m. matchup with an NIU team that will be without at least three of its top tumblers.

“In 25 years of coaching I’ve never been in this situation,” said Ehrlich, whose squad enters the action with a 2-4 dual-meet record. “I’ve had teams that didn’t have good gymnasts. This team has good gymnasts but we’ve just had so many injuries.

“It’s like playing basketball with four players or playing football with nine players.”

The Huskies will be without the services of Carlos Fulcher (hyperextended back), Steve Killings (calf injury) and Oivind Haarstad (broken foot), each of whom have probably seen their last action of the season. Meanwhile, Ehrlich will find out today if Wilson Aihara (back spasms) will be able to compete.

Penn State’s solid lineup features two standouts—Adam Carton and Mark Sohn. Carton is strong all-around performer, while Sohn is a returning national champion on the pommel horse. Keith Couseneau, the top-rated parallel bars performer in the country, is the the Hawkeyes’ key tumbler. Penn State is 8-2 in dual-meet action, while Iowa boasts a 6-2 mark.