Columbus, Ohio, March 7, 2004 ¨C Sophomore Eric Bradley finished a strong 4-0 run through the tournament to earn his first Big Ten title, but otherwise it was a tough day for Penn State as the Big Ten Wrestling Championships wrapped up Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.

With three men in finals matches and five others wrestling for placings, the Nittany Lions went 3-7 on the day and finished in fifth place in the team scoring with 90 points. The University of Iowa reclaimed the team title with 129.5 points holding off a late charge from three-time defending champion Minnesota (124.5). Illinois leapt into third with a strong final day posting a 98.5 score and Michigan was fourth with 96.

The Nittany Lions qualified six men to the NCAA Championships (March 18-20), marking their ninth-straight year with six or more, and once again brought home some awards hardware as State College native Matt Storniolo (149) was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Storniolo and senior Pat Cummins (Hwt.) both lost in their finals match-ups with number one seeds and took home second place finishes. Senior Josh Moore (133) finished fourth and junior James Woodall (157) sixth. Junior Adam Smith had a big win to finish seventh at 125 to join them in qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Sophomore DeWitt Driscoll and freshman James Yonushonis finished eighth at 141 and 174, respectively, coming up one place shy of earning an NCAA ticket.

Bradley controlled the action in his final match-up with No. 5 seed Paul Bradley (IA), a wrestler he had beat twice earlier on the year. Eric was the aggressor as the Hawkeye fought of several shots in a scoreless first period. Eric took down and escaped easily to start the second and once again had a couple of deep shots thwarted. Paul started the third down and evened things up with a quick escape, but Eric finally converted on a nice single leg midway through the period for a 3-1 lead. He let Paul out and then fought off a couple of last ditch attempts by the Hawkeye to claim his first Big Ten title with a 3-2 victory.

Bradley, the No. 2 seed, became Penn State¡¯s 12th Big Ten Champion (16th title overall) and will take a sterling 34-3 record into NCAA action.

Cummins, the No. 3 seed, lost yet another excruciatingly close match to No. 1 ranked and No. 1 seeded Tommy Rowlands (OSU). The pair battled through a scoreless first period in which Cummins was hit with a stall warning. Cummins took down in the second and escaped quickly, but was hit with another stall call to tie the match at 1-1. Rowlands then hit a takedown to take the lead. Cummins escaped to trail 3-2 heading into the final period. Rowlands started down and escaped after about 15 seconds for a 4-2 lead. Cummins then began to push the action and hit a nice takedown in the final minute to close to a 4-4 tie. But, with 51 seconds remaining in the period he elected to let Rowlands escape on a restart and then the Buckeye held him off in the closing seconds for a 5-4 win and his second Big Ten title.

Cummins fell to 34-4 on the year, but likely will move back up the rankings and have a strong chance at a No. 2 seed and possible rematch with Rowlands in the NCAA Tournament.

Storniolo dropped Penn State¡¯s first final match of the day as No. 1 seed Ryan Churella (MI) controlled the action on the mat and took a 5-0 decision in the 149 pound final. Storniolo, the No. 3 seed, was never able to get his offense going as he fought off two deep Churella shots in the first period for a 0-0 tie going into the second. Churella took down in the second and reversed Storniolo for a 2-0 lead. Storniolo took down in the third, but couldn¡¯t get out from under the Wolverine who turned him briefly for a two-point near-fall and added a riding time point. Storniolo went 2-1 in his first Big Ten appearance and will take a solid 31-8 record into the NCAA Tournament.

At 133, Moore won his opening match on the day, 8-5, over No. 5 seed Rene Hernandez (PU). Moore took the Boilermaker down in the first period and turned him twice for two three-point nearfalls and then held on for the win. He didn¡¯t have as much luck in his third place match with No. 4 seed Ed Gutnik (W). The Badger took the early lead with a pair of first period takedowns and a second period takedown and three near-fall points.

Leading 9-1 in the third, Gutnik took the top position. Moore worked for the pin for a 1:30 before turning Gutnik¡¯s shoulders, but the officials broke the hold feeling it to be potentially dangerous and reset the wrestlers much to the dismay of Moore and the Penn State bench. Moore was penalized one point for his reaction and then had another two-point penalty called on the restart when he attempted to pull back on Gutnik¡¯s head as the Badger prevailed 14-4.

Moore settled for a fourth place finish and his third trip to the NCAA Tournament where the returning All-America will bring a 40-7 record, his second straight 40-win season.

At 157, Woodall dropped his consolation semifinal match to No. 5 seed Brad Harper (PU) 7-3. Harper took the early lead with a takedown and three near-fall points in the first period and never looked back. Woodall fell into a fifth place match-up with No. 6 seed Matt Nagel (MN). Once again, he went to his back, this time Nagel finished it with a fall at 1:01. Woodall took sixth in the tournament and grabbed the first NCAA bid of his career. He will take a 22-13 record into the tournament after going 2-3 at the Big Tens.

At 125, Smith got a big win on the day as he took a 3-2 decision in his seventh place match over No. 7 seed Jon Velez (NU) to insure his second trip to the NCAA Tournament. Smith gave up an early takedown, but got the escape and racked up riding time in the second period when Velez took the down position. Smith escaped in the third and then fought Velez off using his riding time advantage for the win. He will take a 27-13 record into the NCAA Tournament.

At 141, Driscoll turned in a fantastic performance but came up just short in overtime against No. 2 seed Andy Simmons in their seventh place bout. The pair traded scoring throughout the match with Driscoll getting a first period reversal and escape to counter Simmons takedown and reversal of his own.

In the second, Simmons escaped from the down position, but Driscoll responded by taking him down to tie the score at 5-5 going into the third. Driscoll escaped to take the lead but was taken down by Simmons and then turned for a two-point near-fall. He responded by reversing Simmons, gave up the escape and the tied the match at 10-10 with a takedown in the closing seconds. In overtime, Simmons converted a takedown 21 seconds in for the 12-10 win and a ticket to nationals. Driscoll settled for eighth and likely finishes the year with a 12-15 record.

At 174, Yonushonis was down 5-1 going into the third period of his seventh place bout with No. 7 seed Nick Roy (MI). The Lion rallied with a pair of escapes, takedown and a stalling penalty point on the Wolverine, but came up short falling 9-6 and settling for eighth place. He likely finishes the year with a 15-16 record.

 Penn State¡¯s 2004 Big Ten Tournament Scores First Round ¨C 3-1 (6 byes) Quarterfinals ¨C 4-5 Semifinals ¨C 3-1 Finals ¨C 1-2 Placing Matches ¨C 1-4 Consolations ¨C 4-6 Tournament Record ¨C 16-19 NCAA Qualifiers ¨C 6 (Smith (125), Moore (133), Storniolo (149), Woodall (157), Bradley (184) & Cummins (Hwt.)) Place Winners ¨C 1st: Eric Bradley (184) 2nd: Matt Storniolo (149) & Pat Cummins (Hwt.) 4th: Josh Moore 6th:James Woodall (157) 7th: Adam Smith (125) 8th: DeWitt Driscoll (141) & James Yonushonis (174) 125 ¨C (8) Adam Smith ¨C 7th Place ¨C NCAA Qualified Quarterfinal L, 5-1 to (1) Luke Eustice (IA) Consolations L, 7-5 to (5) Mark Moos (MI) 7th Place bout W, 3-2 (7) Jon Velez (NU) Tournament: 1-2 Season: 27-13 133 ¨C (2) Josh Moore ¨C 4th Place - NCAA Qualified Quarterfinal W, F;2:33 over (7) Quincy Osborn (MN) Semifinals L, 13-5 to (3) Mark Jayne (ILL) Consolations W, 8-5 over (5) Rene Hernandez (PU) 3rd Place Bout L, 14-4 to (4) Ed Gutnik (W) Tournament: 2-2 Season: 40-7 141 ¨C (7) DeWitt Driscoll ¨C 8th Place Quarterfinal L, 15-9 to Doug Withstandley (PU) Consolations W, 14-11 over Paul Augle (NU) L, F;6:02 to (3) Coyte Cooper (IN) 7th Place Bout L, 12-10;sv (2) Andy Simmons (MSU) Tournament: 1-3 Season: 12-15 149 ¨C (3) Matt Storniolo ¨C 2nd Place ¨C NCAA Qualified Quarterfinal W, F;2:10 over (6) Dan Jankowski (PU) Semifinal W, 2-0 vs. (2) Ty Eustice (IA) Final L, 5-0 to (1) Ryan Churella (MI) Tournament: 2-1 Season: 31-8 157 ¨C (7) James Woodall ¨C 6th Place - NCAA Qualified First Round W, F;2:28 over Ryan Rhoades (OSU) Quarterfinal L, 9-5 to (2) Ryan Bertin (MI) Consolations W, 11-4 over (3) Tyler Turner (W) L, 7-3 to (5) Brad Harper (PU) 5th Place Bout L, F;1:01 to (6) Matt Nagel (MN) Tournament: 2-3 Season: 22-13 165 ¨C (8) Jarrad Turner ¨C out of Tournament Quarterfinal L, F;3:55 to (1) Johnny Clark (OSU) Consolations L, 3-2 to Matt McCarty (MSU) Tournament: 0-2 Season: 5-17 174 ¨C James Yonushonis ¨C 8th Place First Round L, 7-4 (7) Nick Roy (MI) Consolations W, 4-3 over (8) Anthony Magistrelli (OSU) L, 9-5 to (4) Ralph DeNisco (W) 7th Place Bout L, 9-6 to (7) Nick Roy (MI) Tournament: 1-3 Season: 15-16 184 ¨C (2) Eric Bradley ¨C Champion ¨C NCAA Qualified First Round W, 12-4 over Joseph Gulotta (NU) Quarterfinal W, 6-3 over (7) Nate Mesyn (MSU) Semifinal W, 7-5 over (6) Ben Wissel (PU) Final W, 3-2 over (5) Paul Bradley (IA) Tournament: 4-0 Season: 34-3 197 ¨C (7) Joel Edwards ¨C Out of Tournament First Round W, 3-1 over Chase Verdoorn (MI) Quarterfinal L, F;0:44 to (2) Ryan Fulsaas (IA) Consolations L, 10-7 to Jeff Clemens (MSU) Tournament: 1-2 Season: 21-11 Hwt. ¨C (3) Pat Cummins ¨C 2nd Place ¨C NCAA Qualified Quarterfinal W, F;4:31 over (6) Josh Buuck (IN) Semifinal W, 3-1 over (2) Greg Wagner (MI) Final L, 5-4 to (1) Tommy Rowlands (OSU) Tournament: 2-1 Season: 34-4