With all six of its qualifiers going into the NCAA Wrestling Championships today through Saturday in Iowa City, the unseeded Penn State wrestling team will need a lot to happen to continue a streak of success in the tournament.

At least one Nittany Lion finished in the top eight to qualify for All-American status in each of the past 20 seasons, and the Lions haven't finished lower than 20th in team scoring since 1980.

The Lions, who recently dropped out of the Intermat team rankings, once again failed to have a single wrestler ranked in the top 20 at any weight class, and all six will have to constantly wrestle beyond their seeds to advance.

"They're all capable of pulling some upsets," Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland said. "They've proven all year and at Big Tens that they can beat the top wrestlers in the nation, they have just been inconsistent in doing that."

Despite finishing sixth in the Big Ten, with three wins this season over top 10 wrestlers, 133-pounder Marat Tomaev will be opening up his tournament today against No. 2 seed Johnny Thompson of Oklahoma State.

Redshirt freshman 125-pounder Josh Moore will also likely be facing the No. 2 seed at his weight class early on in the tournament. He will match up against unseeded, unranked George Cintron from North Carolina State in the first round.

"I feel pretty confident after Big Tens," he said. "If I wrestle the same at nationals as I did there, I should be able to do really well. Hopefully I'll get a couple breaks and finish in the top eight."

Sophomore 149-pounder Nate Wachter will face a grappler very familiar to Penn State fans in his first round bout. Former Nittany Lion Jamarr Billman transferred to Lock Haven and earned a No. 7 seed in this tournament. At Penn State, Billman placed fifth at the NCAA tournament as a freshman in 1998 to earn All-American status. Billman pinned Wachter in a dual meet earlier this season.

Redshirt sophomore Mark Becks will begin his quest for NCAA glory in the 174-pound weight class against unseeded John Kopinsky from Missouri. The winner will probably be up against No. 4 seed Tyrone Lewis of Oklahoma State in the second round.

Redshirt junior 197-pounder Pete Mielnik will open his tournament up by going straight into the fire as well. He is slated to wrestle No. 8 seed Wayman May from Oklahoma in his first match. Should he pull the upset there, he will likely face No. 9 seed Nick Preston of Ohio State.

Junior heavyweight Bob Jones will try to continue his remarkable run in his first year of collegiate wrestling. The defensive end turned national qualifier will try to add All-American status to his list of accomplishments.

His journey through nationals will begin against unseeded David Kimble from North Carolina-Greensboro, but will face a tough roadblock in No. 2 seed Tommy Rowlands from Ohio State should they both advance past their first round bouts.

Any of these six would need to shock the world to realize their dreams of being All-Americans, but the Nittany Lions are keeping hope that anything can happen.

"Every year, somebody pulls an upset," assistant coach Dave Hart said. "This year it just has to be us."