The last time a Penn State wrestler competed in St. Louis' Savvis Center, he won a national championship. His name was Jermey Hunter and in his final match as a collegiate wrestler, he took home the NCAA title at 125 pounds in 2000.

This morning at 11, six Penn State wrestlers begin their quests to do exactly what Hunter did. But it's a task easier said than done.

Over the next three days, 330 of the country's best wrestlers will compete for 10 individual championships, scoring team points in the process to determine the overall national team champion for 2004.

For Penn State, a team title is out of reach as they have only six wrestlers that qualified for the tournament. The top contenders for the team championship are Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Iowa, all teams with at least eight qualifiers and plenty of heavy hitting individuals capable of making championship runs.

However, that doesn't mean it will be a tournament without intrigue for Penn State. A high team finish is a distinct possibility and, also, there should be some outstanding individual matchups.

Even in the first round, some Lions' wrestlers could find themselves in some intense matches. Right off the bat at 125 pounds, unseeded Adam Smith will face Cal-Poly SLO's Vic Moreno, the tenth seed. Although Smith is the underdog on paper, there would be no shock if he came out on top

At 157, James Woodall has a slightly tougher task ahead of him. He is paired with the fourth seed Jake Percival, 34-0 on the season, from Ohio. While it may look like a mismatch at first, Woodall did give Percival a tough match at the Mat Town tournament earlier in the season.

For the fourth seeded Lions' wrestlers, Josh Moore at 133, Matt Storniolo at 149, Eric Bradley at 184 and Pat Cummins at heavyweight, the sterner competition may not come in the first round, but it will come.

The entire direction of Moore's tournament could come down to his second round match where he will likely meet Wisconsin's Ed Gutnik. Moore beat Gutnik 5-0 in a dual meet earlier this year, but at the Big Ten championships, Gutnik dominated Moore 14-4.

"I'm definitely looking for a little revenge," Moore said. "I got a little sloppy at Big Tens and he's probably thinking he's better than me right now. I just have to go out there and wrestle my match."

For Storniolo, the eighth seed, a national championship may be out of reach. Should he reach the quarterfinals, he will most likely meet Harvard's Jesse Jantzen, possibly pound for pound the best wrestler in the country.

It's the same story for Bradley, the fourth seed. Bradley's half of the bracket is chalk full of quality wrestlers and should Bradley survive that gauntlet to reach the semifinals he will most likely face the top seed Greg Jones of West Virginia, once again one of America's best regardless of weight.

Penn State's best chance for an individual championship since Hunter turned the trick four years ago likely rests on the wide shoulders of Cummins.

Cummins enters the tournament as the second seed and should have a smooth road to the semifinals. Once there, things get a bit trickier. In the semifinals, Cummins would most likely face Penn's Matt Feast or Michigan's Greg Wagner, both of whom beat Cummins late in the season. And then, waiting on the other side in the finals is the ultimate roadblock -- Tommy Rowlands from Ohio State.

Cummins and Rowlands have had a memorable series of matches over the past two seasons and this tournament could provide the ultimate conclusion.

"Pat deserves to be seeded where he is," Penn State head wrestling coach Troy Sunderland said. "He's beaten the top guys in the country all year and he's had an outstanding season. He'll be ready for this tournament."

The question is, after a disappointing Big Ten tournament, will everyone else be?

"We've moved on from Big Tens and we're focused on NCAAs," Sunderland said. "We've done what it takes to get these six guys prepared, but each kid reacts in is own way to the NCAA tournament. All of the things we've done this year, the travel, the injuries, the ups and downs, they will all help us this weekend."