Penn State is searching for the big 10.

Troy Sunderland and the Penn State wrestling team are heading to Wisconsin for this weekend's Big Ten Championships with hopes of qualifying 10 wrestlers for Nationals.

"Optimistically," coach Sunderland said. "I think, realistically, we should be able to qualify seven, eight, nine kids and possibly all ten."

Eight of Penn State's 10 wrestlers are seeded. Wrestlers finishing in the top seven qualify for Nationals.

Here is how the weight classes will break down.

125 pounds

Adam Smith will need to be at his best to win the tough 125-pound bracket. Smith (21-18) is seeded No. 7 for the tournament. The bracket is fronted by Purdue's returning All-American, Chris Fleeger.

Fleeger, a returning All-Big Ten wrestler, outscored Smith 30-1 in two meetings this season. Rounding out the top three seeds are Michigan's A.J. Grant and Michigan State's Nick Simmons, who Smith lost to this season. The only ranked opponent Smith has beaten this year is No. 8 seed Bobbe Lowe of Minnesota.

133 pounds

Josh Moore (30-7) came back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury to record his third straight 30-win season.

The top seed at 133 is Ryan Lewis of Minnesota. Lewis, the defending Big Ten Outstanding Wrestler of the Year, defeated Moore this season. Moore also went 0-4 against Cliff Moore (Iowa, No. 2) and Foley Dowd (Michigan, No. 3) this year.

Moore defeated No. 4 seed Mark Jayne of Illinois in January.

141 pounds

Scott Moore, the No. 2 seed at 141, poses one of Penn State's best chances for a Big Ten title. The nation's leader in wins at 45-7, Moore has steam-rolled his way through most of the season. That includes all of his seeded Big Ten competition.

Moore pinned the No. 1 seed Coyte Cooper during the dual meet with Indiana. Moore also recorded pins against Ohio State's Jeff Ratliff (No. 4) and Iowa's Luke Moffitt (No. 6). He won by decision over Michigan State's Ryan L'Amoreaux (No. 5), Michigan's Clark Forward (No. 7) and Illinois' Cal Ferry (No. 8).

The only seeded wrestler Moore has not beaten this season is Northwestern's John Giacche, who is tied for the eighth seed, because the two wrestlers have not met this year.

149 pounds

A late-season run has put Nate Galloway (28-13) into the No. 8 seed.

The top seed, Jared Lawrence of Minnesota, owned Galloway earlier this season with a 25-7 technical fall. Galloway may be hurt by inexperience if he meets No. 2 seed Luke Eustice of Iowa. Galloway sat out the dual meet this season with Iowa.

The bright spot for Galloway was a pin he had against No. 4 seed Ryan Churella of Michigan.

157 pounds

An early-season injury limited action for Nate Wachter this season. Even so, he registered an 11-6 record and is the No. 7 seed. Wachter lost to top seed Keaton Anderson, but held the Ohio State wrestler to a 3-1 decision earlier this year.

Tough competition could come from No. 5 seed Joe Johnston and Minnesota's Luke Becker. Becker, the No. 2 seed, is the defending Big Ten Champion.

165 pounds

Doc Vecchio will make another run at All-American this postseason. Vecchio (24-16) finished third at last year's Big Ten tournament. Illinois' Matt Lackey and Ohio State's Johnny Clark are once again the top wrestlers at 165.

Vecchio, the No. 5 seed, lost to Lackey, Clark and Purdue's Oscar Santiago this year.

"I'm looking forward to Santiago," Vecchio said. "I lost a close one I really shouldn't have lost."

174 pounds

One of the two unseeded weight classes for Penn State comes at 174, where it will likely go with Dan Waters (6-10).

Waters had a tough time this season against the top four seeds, losing to Iowa's Tyler Nixt, Purdue's Ryan Lange, Ohio State's Blake Kaplan and Illinois' Brian Glynn. Combine that with inexperience -- Waters has not faced the other four seeds -- and a recent leg injury and it could be a tough road for Waters.

184 pounds

Mark Becks pulled in a No. 2 seed at 184. Becks (36-3) finished sixth last year at the Big Ten Championships.

This bracket could end up in a showdown between Becks and No. 1 seed Jessman Smith of Iowa. Smith accounts for two of the three losses Becks has had this season and his only dual-meet loss.

Becks expects to come home with a championship.

"When I first came to Penn State I had some pretty lofty goals for myself," Becks said. "Among them were winning a Big Ten and National title. And now I have a good opportunity to make that happen."

197 pounds

Ryan Cummins is the other unseeded wrestler for Penn State. Cummins (20-19) could not manage a victory against any of the seven seeded wrestlers he faced this year. The closest he came were a trio of two-point losses to Anton Talamantes (Ohio State, No. 4), Tyrone Byrd (Illinois, No. 7) and Jon Bush (Purdue, No. 8).

Heavyweight

Pat Cummins fell one win short of a 30-win season during his great year at heavyweight and capped it off with a No. 4 seed. The Big Ten tournament will be a test for Cummins (29-6), though, as he will compete in arguably the toughest bracket.

During a seven-match stretch this season, Cummins was scheduled to face every seeded heavyweight in the conference.

Meeting all of them except Michigan's Greg Wagner and Michigan State's John Wechter, Cummins went 3-3 during that stretch.