St. Louis, Mo., March 16, 2004 - The No. 10 ranked Penn State wrestling team drew some favorable seeds and match-ups late Monday night when the NCAA released the brackets for the 2004 NCAA Wrestling Championships to be held March 18-20 in St. Louis, Mo.

Penn State had four of its six qualifiers seeded at their weight and all of those among the top eight. Leading the way for the Nittany Lions was heavyweight Pat Cummins who, despite being ranked No. 4 in all the major polls, was placed as the No. 2 seed in the bracket in his third NCAA Tournament. Three very close late season losses to top six ranked opponents had dropped the 2003 All-American from the No. 2 spot in the polls late in the year. However, the seeding committee looked at Cummins' impressive season resume and strong runner-up showing in the Big Ten Tournament and placed him opposite No. 1 seed Tommy Rowlands in the bracket as the top threat to the Buckeye's bid for a second NCAA title.

Cummins, who brings a 34-4 record into the tournament, posted 11 victories over top-10 ranked opponents on the year and fell in a close Big Ten Tournament final to Rowlands, 5-4. He is the only man in the field to have beaten Rowlands on the year, owning a 3-2 win in Columbus. He is 2-6 all-time against Rowlands, but 2-3 in the last two seasons with all but one match, Cummins' 10-4 victory in 2003, having been decided by one point or in overtime.

He will have a first round pigtail match-up with Payan Zarrinpour (30-8), a sophomore from Sacred Heart. Cummins has previously defeated all the major threats on his side of the bracket. He owns a 3-1 record this year against No. 3 seed Matt Feast (29-4) and is 4-2 all-time against the Penn Quaker. He is 2-1 on the year and 3-1 all-time against No. 6 seed Greg Wagner (32-8) of Michigan and is 2-0 all-time, with a pair of victories last year, against No. 7 seed Israel Blevins (27-7) of Purdue.

Big Ten Champion Eric Bradley (34-3) got the No. 4 seed at 184 pounds. The sophomore will face unseeded Nick Halsey (27-8) of Cal Poly-SLO in the first round in his first NCAA Tournament appearance. A win there would put him into a third round match between the winner of unseeded Paul Velekei (11-10) of Penn and Ben Wissell (30-7) of Purdue. Bradley defeated Wissell, 7-5, at the Big Ten Championships.

He is on the same side of the bracket as No. 1 seed and 2002 NCAA Champion Greg Jones (21-0) of West Virginia. If they both advance, they would meet in the semifinal. Jones beat Bradley, 7-2, earlier this year, one of only two wrestlers Bradley has lost to. Other major threats Bradley might meet in his quarter of the bracket include No. 5 seed Travis Pascoe (26-5) of Nebraska and No. 12 seed Paul Bradley (21-9) of Iowa, who he has beaten three times on the year including for the Big Ten title.

Senior Josh Moore (40-7) received the No. 6 seed at 133 pounds in his third NCAA Tournament appearance. The 2003 All-American will take on Don Fisch (30-5) of Rider in the first round. A win there would put him into a possible rematch with No. 11 seed Ed Gutnik (22-10) of Wisconsin. Gutnik beat Moore 14-4 in the Big Ten Tournament, but Moore owns a 5-0 victory over the Badger previously on the year. Defending NCAA Champion Johnny Thompson (23-6) of Oklahoma State, the No. 3 seed, also resides in Moore's quarter of the bracket and Big Ten Champion Mark Jayne (28-2), a wrestler Moore has split with on the year, holds the No. 2 seed in the bottom of the bracket. Cornell's Travis Lee (35-1), the 2003 NCAA Champion at 125, is the No. 1 seed and on the other half of the bracket.

Freshman Matt Storniolo (31-8), the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and runner-up at 149 pounds, was seeded No. 8 at 149. He will face Sam Alvarenga (33-14) of VMI in the first round. A win there could set up a possible rematch with either No. 9 seed Ty Eustice (23-8) of Iowa or fellow former State College Little Lion Matt Kocher (29-11) of Pittsburgh. Kocher, who has to get by a pigtail match to face Eustice, beat Storniolo on the year, 5-3 in overtime, while Storniolo owns a 2-1 record against Eustice, including a 2-0 victory in the Big Ten semifinals. Top seeded Jesse Jantzen (33-1) of Harvard also resides in Storniolo's quarter of the bracket. Big Ten Champion Ryan Churella (27-3) of Michigan, the No. 4 seed, and Lock Haven's Mike Maney (32-6), the No. 12 seed, are also notable wrestlers in Storniolo's half of the bracket that might stand between him and the finals.

Junior Adam Smith (27-13), making his second NCAA Tournament, was unseeded at 125 pounds. Smith, ranked No. 15, will face No. 10 seed Vic Moreno (20-4) of Cal-Poly-SLO in the first round. A win there could set up a match with No. 7 seed Tom Noto (30-7) of Hofstra. Big Ten runner-up Luke Eustice (23-2) of Iowa is the No. 2 seed and in Smith's quarter of the bracket. Nebraska's Jason Powell (21-2) is the No. 1 seed.

Junior James Woodall (22-13), was also unseeded at 157 pounds in his first NCAA appearance. He faces a first round match with No. 4 seed Jake Percival (34-0) of Ohio University. Woodall lost to Percival, 9-5, earlier on the year. An upset there would send him into a second round match with an unseeded wrestler. Big Ten Champion Alex Tirapelle (30-0) of Illinois is the No. 1 seed in Woodall's half of the bracket.

Competition begins at 12:00 p.m. (Eastern) on Thursday, March 18, in the Savvis Center in St. Louis.