ST. LOUIS -- There were plenty of long faces in the Penn State camp Saturday night at the NCAA wrestling championships.

Josh Moore and Pat Cummins had just lost in the national finals, ending the tournament on a pretty sour note. Earlier in the weekend, four Lions wrestlers -- Adam Smith, Matt Storniolo, James Woodall and Eric Bradley -- were eliminated before securing All-American status. As a team, Penn State scored 46.5 points and finished 12th, well below teams they had beaten in dual meets earlier in the season, such as Lehigh and Ohio State.

Pretty rough, huh?

No, not really. Not when things are put in perspective, not when you can think all of the way back to that year long ago: 2002. I was in my first tour of duty on The Daily Collegian's wrestling beat when my colleague Rob Spruck, who has since moved onto bigger and better things like editing this masterpiece, and I traveled to Albany, N.Y., to watch Penn State in that season's NCAA tournament.

We had quite a time, what with the 12-degree high temperatures and the fact that we were both under 21. But, even with those things working against us, we fared better than the Lions did.

Penn State finished 35th in that tournament, scored 13.5 team points and had one All-American, eighth place finisher Doc Vecchio at 165 pounds.

Ouch. Say a poll was conducted among the loyal followers of the Penn State program that traveled to Albany. Say they were asked if they would take a 12th-place finish and two NCAA finalists in 2004, or if they would be disappointed with that type of performance.

You can see where I'm going with this. In some weird and twisted way, the fact that the Lions left St. Louis disappointed in their performance is a good thing. It shows that progress has been made in two short seasons.

Had the Lions gotten some breaks, they could have easily scored over 60 team points and finished in the top 10.

The point is that nothing came easily for Penn State. The Lions lost some heartbreaking matches, were shafted on a few calls, wrestled poorly at times and still finished 12th.

They have gotten back to the point where they can slightly underachieve and still be better than all but 11 of the 73 teams that were represented.

Much of the thanks for this has to go to Moore and Cummins. That duo, as well as the other seniors on the roster, has seen and experienced some pretty dark days. In that less-than-glorious 2002 tournament, Cummins went 1-2, losing by major decision to some guy named Tommy Rowlands, and did not place. Moore didn't even compete because of a knee injury. Just two years later, there they were, the focus of the sport's attention; wrestling for national championships; about to go down, win or lose, as two of the finest wrestlers in Penn State history.

That's where the four aforementioned guys that were eliminated early -- Smith, Storniolo, Woodall and Bradley -- step in. It's their job next season to make everyone miss Moore and Cummins just a little bit less.

The talent is there for Penn State to have another very good season in 2004-2005. Storniolo and Bradley should be among the title contenders at their weights. Smith, Woodall and others like DeWitt Driscoll and Joel Edwards have that much more experience and Nathan Galloway will return from being redshirted. The lineup should be very well balanced, potent in both the dual meet campaign and in tournaments. It may not be enough to derail Oklahoma State, but it could be enough to put a 12th-place finish to shame.