State College, Pa., March 14, 2005 - The Penn State wrestling team's six qualifiers to the NCAA Championships, March 17-19 in St. Louis, Mo., found out their first round match-ups as the NCAA released the tournament brackets Monday.

Two-time Big Ten champion Eric Bradley was given the No. 4 seed at 184 pounds setting up a difficult road to the NCAA final. Bradley, 26-3 on the year and ranked No. 4 across the polls, will start his tournament with a first round bout with T.J. Morrison of Rider who finished third in the CAA Tournament. Familiar foes in No. 5 seeded Brian Glynn of Illinois, the man Bradley defeated in the Big Ten final in a close 3-1 bout, and Ben Wissel of Purdue, the man that knocked Bradley out of the 2004 NCAA tournament in double-overtime, reside in Bradley's quarter of the bracket and present possible match-ups along the road. Bradley will also likely have to go through No. 1 seed and two-time NCAA champion Greg Jones of West Virginia to reach the NCAA final. Jones is the only man to have taken Bradley down this season as he posted a pair of takedowns in a 6-2 win over the Nittany Lion in an early January dual meet.

No other Nittany Lion was seeded in the tournament. Senior Adam Smith (125), making his third straight NCAA appearance and coming off a best-ever fourth place Big Ten finish, will have a first round match-up with Shawn Cordell of West Virginian. Smith dismantled Cordell 14-4 earlier this season. A win in that match will likely set up a second round bout with No. 1 seed Sam Hazewinkel of Oklahoma. Freshman Bryan Heller (133) will have a first round match-up with Tony Curto of Bloomsburg in his first NCAA appearance. Curto finished fifth in the EWL Tournament. The winner of that match will face No. 9 seed Jason Borelli of Central Michigan, the winner of the MAC Tournament. Sophomore Nate Galloway (157), making his second NCAA appearance, will have a first round match-up with Paul Bjorlo of Virginia, the ACC champion. A win in that match would set up a re-match with No. 7 seed Matt Lebe of West Virginia. Galloway and Lebe have wrestled three times on the year with Lebe winning the first (4-2) and last (4-3) and Galloway the middle match (7-3).

Freshman Phil Davis (197), a fourth place finisher in the Big Ten Tournament, will have a first round match-up with No. 10 seed Jerry Rinaldi. Davis beat Rinaldi earlier this season 8-5 at the National Duals. The winner of that match will face the winner of a first round bout between No. 7 seed Ryan Bader of Arizona State, the Pac-10 runner-up, and Illinois' Tyrone Byrd. Davis has faced Byrd three times on the year winning the first two meetings but dropping a close 2-1 bout in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Junior Joel Edwards (Hwt.) drew a first round match-up with Peter Ziminski of Eastern Illinois, the runner-up in the Western qualifying tournament. The winner of that match will likely face 2003 NCAA champion Steve Mocco of Oklahoma State, the No. 1 seed. Action begins Thursday, March 17 at 11:00 a.m. (CT) at the Savvis Center in St. Louis.