St. Louis, Mo., March 19, 2004 -- Penn State senior All-American Josh Moore was the talk of the tournament Friday at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo., as the No. 6 seeded Nittany Lion upset two-time defending champion Johnny Thompson of Oklahoma State to advance to the 133-pound semifinals. Fellow senior All-American Pat Cummins joined him in reaching in the semifinals and earning the second All-America honors of their careers. Meanwhile, freshman Matt Storniolo advanced to within one match of earning All-America honors in the consolation bracket as three Nittany Lions remained alive in the tournament.

Penn State came out strong in the morning going 4-1 before being dealt a couple of tough consolation round losses that knocked two wrestlers out and finishing Friday¡¯s early session with a 5-2 mark. The Nittany Lions continued to stand 11th in the team scoring with 32.5 points. Oklahoma State led the team race with 61 ahead of a quickly advancing Iowa team with 55 points.

Moore electrified the arena early on in the quarterfinal round as he cradled Thompson, the No. 3 seed, in the first period to jump out to a 5-0 lead. The arena roared and rose to its feet with the move and quickly became vocal supporters of Moore who was looking to take out one of the strongest individuals on the dominating Cowboy roster.

Thompson made things interesting in the second period as he took the down position, forced an interlocking hands penalty on Moore and escaped. He then got in for a takedown and Moore escaped to hold a 6-5 lead going into the third. Moore started down and escaped, but Thompson tied the match at 7-7 with a takedown. Moore again escaped easily and when Thompson shot in deep again appeared to have locked up a cradle similar to his first period move and rolled Thompson to his back. However, officials ruled he had no control as the crowd, now glued to the mat, voiced its displeasure. No points were awarded and the wrestlers started again on their feet. Moore fought off a couple of late attempts and held on for the 8-7 upset to the delight of the energized crowd.

The win improved Moore to 43-7 on the year, tying him for third all-time in single-season win total at Penn State. He will take on No. 7 seed Darrel Vasquez of Cal Poly, who upset No. 2 seed Eddie Jayne in his quarterfinal match-up, in the Friday night¡¯s semifinal.

Cummins¡¯ quarterfinal was equally as thrilling as the No. 2 seeded Nittany Lion was forced to overtime by another Cowboy, No. 10 seeded Will Gruenwald. Again, the Nittany Lion had the crowd on his side as fans rooted against the team favorite Oklahoma State. The pair wrestled through a scoreless first period before Cummins took down in the second and got on the board with an escape. The Cowboy responded with a takedown and Cummins escaped easily to tie the match at 2-2 going into the third period. Gruenwald started down and escaped. Cummins shot in deep on a single leg and as the Cowboy attempted to drag him out of the circle the Nittany Lion readjusted on the ankle and pulled him back on the mat for the takedown. Gruenwald escaped to send the match to overtime. In the first one-minute period Cummins had one take down attempt thwarted before shooting a double leg on the winded Cowboy and converting with 30 seconds remaining for the 6-4, overtime win.

Cummins, who improved to 37-4 on the year, will take on No. 3 seed Matt Feast of Penn in the semifinal. The pair have already met four times on the year with Cummins holding a 3-1 edge. All the matches have been decided by one point or in overtime and Feast won the last meeting posting a 6-5 win in Rec Hall.

In other action, Storniolo, the No. 8 seed at 149, kept his All-America hopes alive with a pair of wins in consolation action. He dominated Ben Young of Slippery Rock in his first match of the day turning him four times for near fall points and then recording a third period takedown for a 15-0 technical fall at 6:47. In his next match, he took on Patrick Williams of Arizona State. Again he controlled the action posting an escape, takedown and two near fall points in the second period to take a 5-0 decision. He will face No. 7 seeded Jeremy Spates of Missouri Friday night for right to be called an All-American. Storniolo defeated Spates earlier on the year, 6-5 at the National Duals. In other consolation action, Eric Bradley started the day with a hard fought 8-6 win over Luke Calvert of Army at 184 pounds. Calvert took the early lead in that match leading 4-2 after the first period. But, Bradley responded with a pair of second period takedowns and a third period escape for the win. In his second match, he got in trouble early as Ohio State¡¯s Blake Kaplan caught him in the first period and turned him to his back for a five-point move. The pair split two escapes in the following two periods, but Bradley was unable to generate any offense to comeback and fell 7-3 ending his tournament. Bradley, the Big Ten Champion, ends a strong sophomore campaign with a 36-5 record after going 2-2 in the NCAA Tournament.

James Woodall also had his tournament ended on Friday as he lost his consolation match with No. 10 seed Travis Paulson of Iowa State, 10-1. Woodall had his first NCAA Tournament ended with a 1-2 mark and ends the season with a 23-15 record. Action continues Friday night starting at 7:00 p.m. (Eastern).

 Penn State¡¯s 2004 NCAA Tournament Scores First Round -- 4-2 Second Round -- 2-2 Quarterfinals -- 2-0 Consolations -- 4-3 Tournament: 12-7 125 -- Adam Smith -- Out of Tournament First Round L, 3-2 to (10) Vic Moreno, Cal Poly Consolations L, 5-3 to (8) Joe Dubuque, Indiana NCAA: 0-2 Season: 27-15 133 -- (6) Josh Moore -- All-American First Round W, F;1:02 over Don Fisch, Rider Second Round W, 1-0 over (11) Ed Gutnik, Wisconsin Quarterfinal W, 8-7 over (3) Johnny Thompson, Oklahoma State Semifinal Vs. (7) Darrel Vasquez, Cal Poly NCAA: 3-0 Season: 43-7 149 -- (8) Matt Storniolo First Round W, F;2:28 over Sam Alvarengo, VMI Second Round L, 8-3 to David Dies, Brown Consolations W, TF15-0;6:47 over Ben Young, Slippery Rock W, 5-0 over Patrick Williams, Arizona State NCAA: 3-1 Season: 34-9 157 -- (7) James Woodall -- Out of Tournament First Round L, 10-2 to (4) Jake Percival, Ohio Consolations W, 10-4 over Brad Cieleski, Slippery Rock L, 10-1 to (10) Travis Paulson, Iowa State NCAA: 1-2 Season: 23-15 184 -- (4) Eric Bradley -- Out of Tournament First Round W, 6-2 over Nick Halsey, Cal Poly Second Round L, 2-2;2ndtb to Ben Wissel, Purdue Consolation W, 8-6 over Luke Calvert, Army L, 7-3 to Blake Kaplan, Ohio State NCAA: 2-2 Season: 36-5 Hwt. -- (2) Pat Cummins -- All-American First Round W, 12-4 over Payan Zarrinpour, Sacred Heart Second Round W, 11-1 over Jareck Horton, Wisconsin Quarterfinal W, 6-4;sv over (10) Will Gruenwald, Oklahoma State Vs. (3) Matt Feast, Penn NCAA: 3-0 Season: 37-4