The top star in international Greco-Roman wrestling is two-time Olympic champion Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria, who has also won the last two World Championship titles. Nazarian burst onto the world scene at the 1996 Olympics, when he won his first Olympic gold for Armenia, beating American Brandon Paulson in the finals. Moving to Bulgaria, he added a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics, pinning Korea's Kim In Sub in the finals.     Nazarian's big obstacle was winning a World Championship gold medal, which had eluded him for many years. But now, having won two in a row, he has established himself as a champion on a consistent basis. Nazarian is famous for lifting and slamming his opponents with a reverse lift. He scores big points on throws often. Beating Nazarian means stopping his explosive offense, something that has been difficult in recent seasons.    Emerging as his top challenger is Cuba's Roberto Monzon, who won a World silver in 2003 and a World bronze in both 2001 and 2002. Monzon will get his first taste of Olympic action, as Cuba was unable to qualify to compete at the 2000 Olympics in this division. Veteran American star Dennis Hall beat Monzon out in a dramatic showdown for the final 2000 Pan American spot in the Sydney Games, so the USA had an entry and Cuba had none. Since then, Monzon has moved to the top of the pack on the international level.    Also emerging as a serious challenger is U.S. star James Gruenwald, who was fourth in the 2003 World meet, losing by injury to Nazarian in the semifinals. Gruenwald had wrestled Nazarian according to his strategy before the injury and is confident in his ability to beat Nazarian.  Gruenwald was sixth in the 2000 Olympics, and has placed in the top 10 at every World-level event he has entered.     It took Gruenwald a number of years to defeat rival U.S. Dennis Hall, who had dominated the division in the 1990's. Ironically, Hall is now his teammate in Athens, after dropping down to 55 kg. Gruenwald also has a healthy rivalry with Monzon on the North American circuit, and has beaten his Cuban rival in the past. Gruenwald has seemed to recover from his severe shoulder injury, and has the experience and motivation to make a strong run for gold in Athens.    The 2001 World champion was Dilshod Aripov of Uzbekistan, who is expected to be a top challenger. Uzbekistan qualified this spot for the Olympics at the first Olympic Qualification Tournament, where Sherzod Hudoyberdiev claimed a gold medal.    1996 Olympic champion Wlodzimeirz Zawadski of Poland placed second at the 2002 World Championships after dropping down in weight. Although he is older than many rivals, Zawadski can still compete at a high level. He was sixth at the 2003 World Championships and second at the 2002 World Championships, showing he has the stuff to win his pool and battle for the medals. He was second in the 2004 Pytlasinski Tournament, competing up at 66 kg, another strong showing.    Another recent World medalist to watch is Eusebiu Diaconu of Romania, who was third in 2003 and ninth in 2002. Akaki Chachua of Georgia, an Olympic bronze medalist at 63 kg in 2000, is now down at this division. Chachua's fifth place at the 2002 and 2003 World Championships puts him right in the thick of the medal hunt.     Among the other talented contenders who placed in the top 10 at the 2003 World Championships are Oleksandr Khvosch of Ukraine, Bunyamin Emit of Turkey, Mohamed Ashraf of Egypt and Jirij Kohl of Germany.    Often the European Championships is a good indicator of potential success on the World level. However, this year, the European champion Wahan Juharyan and bronze medallist Ivan Alexandrov of Israel are not even qualified to compete in Athens. Nazarian did not enter the European Championships this year.    The top placewinner from the European meet this year who will be competing at the Olympics is Davor Stefanek of Serbia and Montegero. Stefanek earned his spot in Athens by taking second at the final Olympic Qualification Tournament.    Asia has a number of quality competitors, all who used the Olympic Qualification Tournaments to gain entry into the field in Athens. Included is Aripov of Uzbekistan, plus Makota Sasamoto of Japan, Ali Askani of Iran and Hyun Jung Ji of Korea and Nurlan Koishaiganov of Kazakhstan.    Hyun of Korea won the 2004 Asian Championships, followed by Kazakhstan's Nurbakyt Tengizbayev in second and Aripov in third. Tengizbayev actually competed down at 55 kg in the final Olympic Qualification Tournament and took a bronze, and where Koishaiganov won the gold medal at 60 kg, giving Kazakhstan some options in its light weights.    Askani and Sasamoto are veterans who have placed in many major events. Askani was fifth at the 2000 Olympic Games and sixth at the 2001 World Championships. Sasamoto was eighth in the 2000 Olympics and fifth in the 2001 World Championships. Either is a threat to make the medal rounds in Athens.    Russia is a traditional World power in Greco-Roman wrestling, but has not had much success at this division lately. Aleksei Shevtsov qualified Russia for the Olympics by taking fifth at the first Olympic Qualifying Tournament, then followed it up with a fourth-place finish at the European Championships. Rustem Mambetov was 10th at the 2002 World Championships at this division. It would not be a good idea for competitors to overlook the Russian entry at this division, however.    Others who have qualified through the Olympic Qualifying events are Paola Fucile of Italy and Vitaly Radiomov of Azerbaijan. Greece gets a qualifier here for being the host nation, with Christos Gikas as a possible choice. FILA gave two of its wildcards to athletes at this weight class, Hugo Passos da Silva of Portugal and Sydney Guzman of Peru.    As in other recent years, this weight class belongs to Bulgarian star Nazarian, until somebody takes it away from him. Athletes such as Monzon of Cuba, Diaconu of Romania, Grunwald of the United States and Zawadski of Poland have the experience and skill to make a run at the title. Gruenwald has talked about his dream Olympics featuring a gold medal showdown with Nazarian, where he completes the match at his terms and takes the Olympic title. Certainly, each of the challengers will have Nazarian in their mind when visualizing what it will take to win this weight division.    Nations qualified (alphabetically): Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Cuba, Egypt, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Poland, Portugal, Peru, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan    Past gold medallists expected in field: Armen Nazarian (1996, 2000, 2002, 2003), Dilshod Aripov of Uzbekistan (2001), Wlodzimierz Zawadski of Poland (1996)    Top World-level placement for Jim Gruenwald: 4th (2003)    60 kg/132 lbs. -  Greco-Roman  1st at 2003 World Championships - Bulgaria (Armen Nazarian)  2nd at 2003 World Championships -Cuba (Roberto Monzon)  3rd at 2003 World Championships -Romania (Eusebiu Diaconu)  4th at 2003 World Championships -United States (James Gruenwald)  5th at 2003 World Championships - Georgia (Akaki Chachua)  6th at 2003 World Championships - Poland (Wlodzimierz Zawadzki)  7th at 2003 World Championnships -Turkey (Bunyamin Emit)  8th at 2003 World Championships - Egypt (Mohamed Ashraf)  9th at 2003 World Championships - Ukraine (Olexandr Khvoschsh)  10th at 2003 World Championships - Germany (Jurij Kohl)  Host Nation entry - Greece (Christos Gikos)  1st at Olympic Qualifier #1 - Uzbekistan (Sherzod Hudoyberdiev or Dilshod Aripov)  2nd at Olympic Qualifier #1- Japan (Makota Sasamoto)  3rd at Olympic Qualifier #1 - Korea (Hyun Jung Ji)  4th at Olympic Qualifier #1 - Italy (Paola Fucile)  5th at Olympic Qualifier #1 -Russia (Alexei Shevtsov or Rustem Mambetov)  1st at Olympic Qualifier #2 - Kazakhstan (Nurlan Koizhaiganov)  2nd at Olympic Qualifier #2 - Serbia and Montenegro (Davor Stefanek)  3rd at Olympic Qualifier #2 - Iran (Ali Askhani)  4th at Olympic Qualifier #2 - Azerbaijan (Vitali Radiomov)  Wildcard - Portugal (Hugo Passos da Silva)  Wildcard - Peru (Sydney Guzman)