USA Wrestling has updated its new "Bout of the Week" on USA Wrestling's Members-Only website    The featured match this week is the 1990 John Smith vs. Stepan Sarkissian men's freestyle match from the USA vs. Soviet Union dual meet at the Goodwill Games in Seattle, Wash.    This showdown of Olympic medalists was one of the 10 matches in the USA vs. Soviet Union gold-medal finals of the Goodwill Games. The world's top two freestyle wrestling powers battled for supremacy at this important multi-sport international competition in front of a sellout crowd at the Hec Edmundson Center on the campus of the Univ. of Washington.    This Goodwill Games clash was the third career match in a heated rivalry between Smith and Sarkissian. There was a distinct style difference between these two champions. Smith was a thin athlete with tremendous technique and skills. Sarkissian was a big, powerful bruising wrestler who could dominate an opponent with brute strength.    They first met in the gold-medal finals at 62 kg/136.5 pounds at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. Smith, a 1997 World Champion, defeated Sarkissian, the 1988 European champion, 4-0 in that showdown.    Their next meeting came in the 1989 World Cup in Toledo, Ohio, where Sarkissian scored a controversial 2-1 victory over Smith on American soil.    This match between Smith and Sarkissian was very important in the Goodwill Games dual meet, as the U.S. jumped to an early lead with wins at the first three weight classes. The Soviets were counting on Sarkissian to stop Smith, and then turn the match around in the middle and upper weights, where the Soviet Union was traditionally strongest. It did not turn out that way, as Smith went on to a 3-1 victory, and the USA upset the mighty Soviets for the team title.    John Smith had one of the most successful international wrestling careers in world history. He won six straight World and Olympic gold medals, starting with his 1987 World title and ending with his second Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. No American has won as many World-level titles (Bruce Baumgartner is next with five). But the amazing part of Smith's achievement is that he won the gold medal six STRAIGHT years. Every year, at the most important event of the season, John Smith won the gold medal. The longest streak for any other American is two years in a row.     John Smith won all the major events in international freestyle wrestling, including the World Cup, the Goodwill Games, the Pan American Games, the World Grand Masters and others. His Senior-level freestyle career record was an amazing 177-8, which included a 100-5 record against foreign athletes.     Sarkissian had an impressive, but short, international career. He was an Espoir World champion in 1981. In addition to his Olympic silver medal, Sarkissian was a European champion and two-time World Cup champion.     Sarkissian was one of only seven freestyle wrestlers to beat Smith on the World level (Lazaro Reinoso of Cuba was the only person to beat Smith twice). Yet his inability to beat Smith at that Goodwill Games matchup may have been a reason that Sarkissian was taken out of the Soviet lineup for good. Sarkissian never wrestled on another World or Olympic team for the Soviets after the loss in Seattle.    Ironically, the athlete who replaced Sarkissian in the Soviet lineup, Magomed Azizov, was demolished by Smith in a 17-1 technical fall at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.    Smith remains one of the most important people in wrestling, both in the United States and internationally. Smith is the head wrestling coach at Oklahoma State, which has won the last two NCAA Div. I team titles and is a clear favorite to win again this year. He was one of the coaches of the 2000 U.S. Olympic freestyle team in Sydney, Australia. Three of the athletes that wrestled for him in college and train with him for the Gator WC made the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team (Eric Guerrero, Jamill Kelly, Daniel Cormier). Smith was included in the first class of superstars inducted into the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2003.     Exactly what Sarkissian is doing these days is not readily available.     This popular feature will be changed on a regular basis, allowing members to enjoy many of the greatest matches in wrestling history.     Posted in the archive section of the Members Only web page are the 2004 Sunkist Kids International Open men's Greco-Roman gold-medal matches. Many other entertaining and historic matches are in the archive section for the Bout of the Week.     USA Wrestling has done a complete redesign and expansion of its Members-Only website, providing all USA Wrestling members with an impressive new resource stocked with interactive learning tools and entertaining features.     The web page is still available for all to view and sample for a short time. This will allow those not familiar with the site to enjoy the contents and become familiar with the features.    Once the sampling period ends, this on-line resource is available free of charge only to current members of USA Wrestling, one of the most exciting benefits of joining the organization. At that time, USA Wrestling members will need to enter the number from their 2004-05 membership card into an entry form, and the exciting new Members-Only page will become available to them.    RECENT BOUTS OF THE WEEK PLACED IN ARCHIVE  2004 Sunkist Kids International Open men's Greco-Roman gold-medal matches  2004 Sunkist Kids International Open men's freestyle gold-medal matches  1990 Bill Scherr vs. Alexei Golovko men's freestyle match  2004 Cael Sanderson vs. Moon Eui Jae men's freestyle match  2004 Rulon Gardner Olympic semifinals and finals men's Greco-Roman feature  2004 Sara McMann vs. Stavroula Zygouri women's freestyle match  2004 Toccara Montgomery vs. Kristie Marano women's freestyle match  2004 Joe Williams vs. Joe Heskett men's freestyle match  2004 Eric Guerrero vs. Mike Zadick men's freestyle match  2004 Cael Sanderson vs. Lee Fullhart men's freestyle match  2004 Dennis Hall vs. Brandon Paulson men's Greco-Roman match  1996 Townsend Saunders vs. Pat Santoro men's freestyle match  1988 Mark Fuller vs. T.J. Jones men's Greco-Roman match  1988 Nate Carr vs. Andre Metzger men's freestyle match  2004 Jared Frayer vs. Eric Larkin men's freestyle match  1987 Bill Scherr vs. Greg Gibson men's freestyle match  1992 Dennis Koslowski vs. Andrzej Wronski men's Greco-Roman match  1989 Jim Scherr vs. Makharbek Khadartsev men's freestyle match  2003 Sally Roberts vs. Marianna Sastin women's freestyle match  1996 Melvin Douglas vs. Mike Van Arsdale men's freestyle match  1988 Ike Anderson vs. Buddy Lee men's Greco-Roman match  1996 Tom Brands vs. Jang Jae-Sung men's freestyle match  2004 Eric Larkin vs. T.J. Williams men's freestyle match  1992 Rodney Smith vs. Cecilio Rodriguez men's Greco-Roman match  1988 Rico Chiapparelli vs. Lukman Jabrailov men's freestyle match  2003 Kristie Marano vs. Ewelina Pruszko women's freestyle match  1999 Stephen Neal vs. Andrei Shumilin men's freestyle match  2003 Cael Sanderson vs. Sajid Sajidov men's freestyle match