ST. LOUIS. Mo. - Greed and gluttony aren't widely embraced as character traits.

Except around the University of Iowa wrestling room.

Yes, the Hawkeyes are greedy heading into today's first round of the NCAA National Wrestling Championships at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Iowa is an overwhelming favorite to win its 22nd team crown.

And in order fulfill that expectation, the Hawkeyes say all nine of their qualifiers needed to be extra greedy this weekend.

"They say this is a team championship," defending 149-pound national champion Brent Metcalf said. "But really it is won through individual efforts. You worry about yourself. You be greedy. You be selfish.

"You do what you need to do to get the job done, and the team accomplishments will come along with it."

Eight of Iowa's nine qualifiers are seeded seventh or better, and five of them have reached the podium during their careers.

The Hawkeyes will be challenged by in-state rival Iowa State, which enters the tournament as the only team to have qualified its entire 10-man lineup.

Cornell College has three of its qualifiers seeded third or better - Troy Nickerson at 125, Jordan Leen at 157 and Mack Lewnes at 165 - and is considered a contender, as are Nebraska and Missouri.

"Do we have an extra target on our back because we're the defending champions?" questioned Iowa 165-pounder Ryan Morningstar. "I don't think so. When you wear the black and gold singlet, you always have a target on your back.

"When Iowa wasn't winning a couple of years ago, people were still looking to knock us down a peg.

"We're ready. We're going to worry about ourselves, control the things we can control and not get distracted from what each of us individuals needs to do to make ourselves succeed. If we can make that happen, everything else will fall into place."

Metcalf became more succinct when pressed on what Iowa wants to accomplish this weekend.

"Losing is not an option when it comes to my philosophy and this program's philosophy," he explained. "For each of us, it is all or nothing. From that perspective, you are going out there to win at all cost, do whatever it takes to win."

In Ames, the Cyclones have six returning all-Americans and definitely feel they are in the hunt for the program's ninth team championship.

In order to do so, ISU feels all 10 of its qualifiers need to score big points.

"We need everybody to go out and wrestle, fight for themselves, score bonus points," Cyclones head coach Cael Sanderson said. "If you are scoring bonus points, that means you are in the right frame of mind. You're trying to go out there and dominate.

"Bonus points are a reflection of that attitude, and that's the attitude we have to have going in there. We have the opportunity to win, but we have to earn it."

ISU is lead by two-time national runner-up Jake Varner at 197 and top-seeded David Zabriskie at heavyweight.

In Cedar Falls, University of Northern Iowa head coach Brad Penrith was struck by a video he recently saw.

While six of his Panther wrestlers have made the NCAA field, including fourth-seeded and returning all-American Moza Fay at 165, a big positive for a program that finished 20th last year, Penrith isn't thinking in positive terms.

"I watched this video, a motivational speaker, and he wasn't talking about positives," Penrith recalled. "He was talking about possibilities, and possibilities do have a lot of positives in them.

"There are also negatives in possibilities, and that is one thing you have to focus on. If I don't attack, I might not win. But if I attack and perform to my ability, the possibility is I could be a national champ or stand on the podium.

"The possibilities for our qualifiers are endless if they go out there and do what they need to do to succeed."

Fay was UNI's first all-American since 2005, snapping a two-year dry spell for the Panthers.

Alex Dolly at 184 and Andrew Anderson at 197 are each wrestling in their fourth national tournament.

There are five defending national champions back in the field - Angel Escobedo of Indiana at 125, J. Jaggers of Ohio State at 141, Metcalf at 149, Leen of Cornell at 157, Jake Herbert of Northwestern and Mike Pucillo of Ohio State, both at 184.

Herbert won in 2007, but took an Olympic redshirt last season.

Contact Jim Nelson at (319) 291-1521 or jim.nelson@wcfcourier.com