St. Louis, Mo., March 18, 2004 - Penn State senior All-Americans Josh Moore and Pat Cummins each advanced to the quarterfinals on an up and down day for the Nittany Lion wrestling team on the opening day of the 2004 NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo.

Penn State kept five men alive in the tournament and stood 11th in the team standing with 15.5 points. Oklahoma State led the team race with 30 points followed by Illinois (28).

All four of Penn State¡¯s seeded wrestlers advanced easily in the opening round as Moore, Matt Storniolo, Eric Bradley and Cummins earned a spot in the second round. The Lions two unseeded wrestlers, Adam Smith and James Woodall, both fell into the consolation bracket with first round losses. After going 4-2 in the first round, Penn State went 3-3 in the evening session including a heartbreaker in the championship bracket. Penn State¡¯s four championship round wrestlers went 2-2 while Penn State went 1-1 in the consolation rounds with Woodall staying alive and Smith falling out of the tournament.

Moore moved on to a 133-pound quarterfinal match-up with two-time defending champion Johnny Thompson of Oklahoma State, the No. 3 seed. Moore, the No. 6 seed, avenged a loss to Wisconsin¡¯s Ed Gutnik in the third place match of the Big Ten Championships (14-4) by earning a 1-0 decision over the Badger Thursday. The pair wrestled through two scoreless periods with Gutnik choosing to start neutral in the second period. With the choice in the third, Moore took down and escaped for the deciding point.

Moore had earned Penn State¡¯s first win of the day in the first round as he began his third NCAA Tournament with a quick 1:02 fall over Don Fisch of Rider. It was his Penn State record 24th of the season as he improved to 42-7 for the season, the sixth-best single-season win total in Nittany Lion history.

Cummins continued to roll through the heavyweight bracket as he put an 11-1 decision on Wisconsin¡¯s Jareck Horton in the second round to earn a quarterfinal match-up with No. 10 seed Will Gruenwald of Oklahoma State. Cummins dominated the match racking up a pair of third period nearfalls for the final margin.

In the last match of the morning session, Cummins, the No. 2 seed, posted a 12-4 major decision win over Ryan Zarrinpour of Sacred Heart. Cummins wore the first opponent of his third NCAA Tournament out as he posted a pair of third period takedowns to pull away.

Penn State did not have as much luck in its other two championship bracket matches. Storniolo met an opponent in unseeded David Dies of Brown that beat him at his strength, mat wrestling. Dies, who knocked off No. 9 seed Ty Eustice of Iowa earlier, got the early takedown and held a 2-1 lead going into the second period of the 149-pound battle. Storniolo took down and got turned for a two-point nearfall. He then reversed Dies, but was then reversed himself. With a riding time point Dies finished a scoreless third period with an 8-3 win.

Storniolo followed Moore¡¯s lead in the first round as he decked his first NCAA opponent, Sam Alvarenga of VMI, in 2:28. Storniolo, the No. 8 seed, will face Ben Young of Slippery Rock in the consolation bracket.

Bradley, who posted a 6-2 decision over Nick Halsey of Cal Poly in the first round, suffered the heartbreaker of the tournament in his 184-pound second-round match. The No. 4 seed, Bradley took on unseeded Ben Wissel of Purdue who he downed (7-5) on his way to a Big Ten title two weeks ago. This one was an epic struggle of wills as both wrestlers fought off deep shots in the first two periods. Bradley took a 1-0 lead into the third after escaping from the down position in the second. Wissel tied it up with an escape of his own in the third and then fought off a deep Bradley takedown attempt to send the match to overtime. He will face Luke Calvert of Army in consolation action.

Neither wrestler scored in the first one-minute period, but Bradley once again got in deep without converting. Both men escaped in the following 30-second periods (Bradley first taking down and then Wissel), but Wissel built up a 19 second riding time advantage that would soon be a factor. After another minute period in which Wissel continually took injury time that appeared to be more of a breather, the match went into a second series of 30-second ride-outs. This time Wissel took down first and was unable to get out. Bradley took the down position with his opportunity to escape and get the win, but was unable to get out and Wissel took the victory on the strength of his 19-second riding time advantage.

Penn State¡¯s morning started with a tough loss for Smith at 125 pounds. The unseeded Smith held a 1-0 lead going into the third period against No. 10 seed Vic Moreno of Cal Poly. However, Moreno escaped from the down position and then posted the go ahead takedown with 13 seconds remaining and held on for a 3-2 victory. Smith then had the unfortunate luck to fall into a consolation match-up with No. 8 seed Joe Dubuque of Indiana. The Hoosier pulled out a hard fought 5-2 win to end Smith¡¯s second NCAA appearance. He ends the season with a 27-15 mark.

Woodall ran into a tough first round opponent in No. 4 seed Jake Percival of Ohio at 157 pounds. Woodall battled hard but fell 10-2 to the Bobcat. He rebounded in the consolation bracket with a 10-4 victory over Brad Cieleski of Slippery Rock. Woodall took control from the beginning in that match getting a first period takedown and nearfall points. He will next face No. 10 seed Travis Paulson of Iowa State.

Action continues Friday morning starting at 11:00 a.m. (Eastern).

 Penn State¡¯s 2004 NCAA Tournament Scores First Round -- 4-2 Second Round -- 2-2 Consolations -- 1-1 Tournament: 7-5 125 -- Adam Smith -- Out of Tournament First Round L, 3-2 to (10) Vic Moreno, Cal Poly Consolations L, 5-2 to (8) Joe Dubuque, Indiana NCAA: 0-2 Season: 27-15 133 -- (6) Josh Moore First Round W, F;1:02 over Don Fisch, Rider Second Round W, 1-0 over (11) Ed Gutnik, Wisconsin Quarterfinal Vs. (3) Johnny Thompson, Oklahoma State NCAA: 2-0 Season: 42-7 149 -- (8) Matt Storniolo First Round W, F;2:28 over Sam Alvarengo, VMI Second Round L, 8-3 to David Dies, Brown Consolations Vs. Ben Young, Slippery Rock NCAA: 1-1 Season: 32-9 157 -- (7) James Woodall First Round L, 10-2 to (4) Jake Percival, Ohio Consolations W, 10-4 over Brad Cieleski, Slippery Rock Vs. (10) Travis Paulson, Iowa State NCAA: 1-1 Season: 23-14 184 -- (4) Eric Bradley First Round W, 6-2 over Nick Halsey, Cal Poly Second Round L, 2-2;2ndtb to Ben Wissel, Purdue Consolation Vs. Luke Calvert, Army NCAA: 1-1 Season: 35-4 Hwt. -- (2) Pat Cummins First Round W, 12-4 over Payan Zarrinpour, Sacred Heart Second Round W, 11-1 over Jareck Horton, Wisconsin Quarterfinal Vs. (10) Will Gruenwald, Oklahoma State NCAA: 2-0 Season: 36-4