St. Louis, Mo., March 17, 2005 - Freshman Phil Davis (Harrisburg, Pa.) wreaked havoc on ranked wrestlers and junior Eric Bradley (Plaistow, N.H.) experienced a near replay of last year's tournament as the two Nittany Lions advanced to the quarterfinals Thursday on the first day of the 2005 NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo., Three other Nittany Lions (Adam Smith, Nate Galloway and Joel Edwards) remained alive in the consolation bracket and one (Bryan Heller) had his tournament ended as Penn State went 9-5 on the day. Davis (197), unseeded in his first NCAA Tournament, pulled off a pair of impressive upsets of top 10 seeds to move into a quarterfinal match-up with No. 2 seed Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State.

Davis cruised to a 7-1 win over No. 10 seed Jerry Rinaldi, a wrestler he defeated previously on the year, in the first round. In the second, he faced No. 7 seed Ryan Bader of Arizona State. Davis posted a first period takedown for the early lead and added an escape in the third for a 3-1 decision in which he appeared to be in control. The win improved his season record to 35-8 tying him for second all-time on the Penn State freshman wins chart with Greg Elinsky (1983-84) and Jamarr Billman (1997-98).

Two-time Big Ten champion Eric Bradley, the No. 4 seed at 184 in his second NCAA appearance, moved into the quarterfinals after an 11-minute nail-biter with Purdue's Ben Wissel that was almost an exact replay of their meeting at last season's NCAA Championships. Wissel prevailed in that one winning 2-2 on riding time advantage after the second overtime ride-out. The pair followed the same path this year as each recorded an escape in regulation and went to overtime tied 1-1. Neither man scored in the first one minute overtime period and both escaped after taking the down position in the first round of 30-second ride-outs. Neither man scored again in the second one-minute period, and Wissel started down to start the second round of ride-outs. As he did in last year's NCAA meeting, Bradley rode him for the entire period.

However, Bradley (28-3) turned the tables on Wissel in the next period as he quickly escaped and grabbed the 3-2 double-overtime win. Bradley had also squeezed out a 2-1 win over T..J. Morrison in the first round and will now face his nemesis, No. 5 seed Brian Glynn of Illinois, in the quarterfinals. The pair have met five times over the last two seasons, including a Bradley victory in the Big Ten final two weeks ago. Glynn holds a 3-2 lead in the series, but Bradley is 2-1 on the season. Every match has been decided by two points or less, including three one-pointers this season.

Sophomore Nate Galloway (30-15) provided the first highlight of the day. After getting off to a strong start in his second NCAA Tournament appearance with a 5-3 win over Virginia's Paul Bjorlo in his pigtail match at 157, the State College High graduate pulled Penn State's first upset of the tournament as he knocked off No. 7 seed Matt Lebe 7-4, in the first round. Galloway broke open a tight match by turning Lebe to his back after the Mounaineer took down to start the third period. In his second round match-up, Galloway faced No. 10 seed Brian Stith. Stith got the opening takedown and controlled the action from there adding an escape and riding time point for a 4-2 win. Galloway dropped into the consolation bracket where he will face No. 4 seed Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov.

Senior Adam Smith, making his third straight NCAA appearance, posted an opening round NCAA win for the first time on his career as he was never threatened in a 6-2 win over Shawn Cordell at 125 pounds. The win moved Smith into a second round match with No. 1 seed Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma. Smith posted a big 7-5 upset of Hazewinkel at last year's National Duals, but couldn't overcome the top ranked wrestler this time as Hazewinkel broke open a close match by throwing Smith to the mat for a takedown and two-point near-fall in the second period and went on to an 8-2 victory. Smith (24-13) dropped into the consolation bracket where he will face Matt Pitts. Junior Joel Edwards (hwt.) returned after a disappointing first round loss to Peter Ziminski to post his first NCAA win in the consolation round. Edwards led Ziminski 6-3 when Eastern Illinois wrestler recorded at defensive pin at 1:52. Edwards showed no signs of a hangover as he dominated the action against Chris Cowen in the consolation round recording takedowns in each of the first two periods and a reversal in the third for a 7-1 win.

Edwards went on to down Adam LoPiccolo 5-3 and will face Oklahoma's Jake Hager in the next round. Freshman Bryan Heller (133) had his first NCAA tournament ended on the day. He started with a tough overtime defeat to Bloomsburg's Tony Curto after holding a 7-6 lead and riding time advantage in the closing seconds of the match. Curto bulled his way in and overpowered the Nittany Lion for a takedown that sent the match into overtime. The two went into overtime tied at 8-8 when Curto again went right after Heller and scored the winning takedown just nine seconds into the overtime period. Heller then faced T.J. Enright, a wrestler he lost a pair of close matches to this season, in the consolation round. He suffered the same fate this time as Enright scored a third period takedown to take a 6-5 lead and held on for the victory. Heller ends his first season on the mat with a 22-17 record.

Action continues Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. (ET) and can be heard on WBLF (970 AM).

Penn State NCAA Tournament Scores Tournament Overall: 9-5 Pigtails: 1-1 First Round: 4-1 Second Round: 2-2 Consolation Rounds: 2-1 125 - Adam Smith W, 6-2 vs. Shawn Cordell, W. Va. L, 8-2 to (1) Sam Hazewinkel, Oklahoma Vs. Matt Pitts, Chattanooga Season Record: 24-13 Tournament Record: 1-1 133 - Bryan Heller - Out of Tournament L, 10-8;sv to Tony Curto, Bloomsburg L, 6-5 to T.J. Enright, Ohio State Season Record: 22-17 Tournament Record: 0-2 157 - Nathan Galloway W, 5-3 vs. Paul Bjorlo, Virginia W, 7-4 vs. (7) Matt Lebe, West Virginia L, 4-2 to (10) Brian Stith, Arizona St. Vs. (4) Muzaffar Abdurakhmanov, American Season Record: 30-15 Tournament Record: 2-1 184 - (4) Eric Bradley W, 2-1 vs. T.J. Morrison, Rider W, 3-2;tb2 over Ben Wissel, Purdue Quarterfinal - Friday Vs. (5) Brian Glynn, Illinois Season Record: 28-3 Tournament Record: 2-0 197 - Phil Davis W, 7-1 vs. (10) Jerry Rinaldi, Cornell W, 3-1 vs. (7) Ryan Bader, Arizona St. Quarterfinal - Friday Vs. (2) Jake Rosholt, Oklahoma St. Season Record: 35-8 Tournament Record: 2-0 Hwt. - Joel Edwards L, F;1:52 to Peter Ziminski, Eastern Illinois W, 7-1 vs. Chris Cowen, Drexel W, 5-3 vs. Adam LoPiccolo, American Vs. Jake Hager, Oklahoma Season Record: 24-15 Tournament Record: 2-1