When a two-time Olympic medalist decides to retire, no matter what country he/she competes for, there is a period of uncertainty hovering over that weight class.    But after Rulon Gardner retired following a story-book career, no weight class seemed to be in better shape than the 120 kg/264.5-pound weight class in Greco-Roman.    The new top dog, even if he barks like one in the stands, is Dremiel Byers of the U.S. Army, the 2002 World Champion. In essence, Byers had battled with Gardner for the top spot on the U.S. ladder since 1999. In 2001, 2003 and 2004, Byers lost to Gardner in the final Trials championship series.    In 2002, when Gardner was unable to compete, Byers dominated his U.S. competition, and then dominated the World, winning only the third Greco-Roman gold medal in U.S. history.    Byers is big and strong and a beast from the par terre position. The big knock on him has been his endurance, but those come following matches with Gardner, who biggest strength was his stamina.    Where Byers gets hurt by the new rules this year is the no forced par terre. But even in a double-underhook clinch, he is going to tough to score on or tough to deny points against. Byers' second-best position is the clinch, or at least the old one. He has only lost two matches this year, one in only his second tournament under the new rules and the other at the start of March in Hungary.    With Gardner, and Paul Devlin of the U.S. Army out this year, Russ Davie of the New York AC has the opportunity to make a name for himself.    Davie moved to Colorado Springs to train full-time at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, and he has improved dramatically. Two of his five losses this year are to Byers, and they are the only losses to a U.S. opponent. Davie is still somewhat undersized when compared to Byers, but he wrestles hard for an entire match, which could be a benefit to him at the U.S. Nationals.    Tim Taylor of the U.S. Marine Corps has not competed at all this year. Oddly enough, it was Marine Team coach Dan Hicks that competed at this weight class at the Armed Forces Championships, though he is not expected to compete again.    Taylor or Travis Clark will most likely be the Marine Team representatives at this year's nationals.    Cole Konrad of the Minnesota Storm is expected to compete. He is only a sophomore in college at Minnesota and was an NCAA finalist this year. Size-wise, he is most comparable to Byers, but it will be interesting to see how far his Greco-Roman technique is behind right now after making a serious run at an NCAA title.    Along with Gardner and Devlin, Corey Farkas of the U.S. Air Force also appears to be done competing. That is three former U.S. National Team members who dropped out in one year, opening this weight class up for a crop of young wrestlers.      2004 U.S. NATIONALS RESULTS  1st - Dremiel Byers, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army) dec. Rulon Gardner, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Sunkist Kids), 3-1  3rd - Paul Devlin, Cascade, Colo. (U.S. Army) dec. Russ Davie, Cleveland, Ohio (Cleveland WC), 3-0  5th - Corey Farkas, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Air Force) by fall over Timothy Taylor, Quantico, Va. (U.S. Marine Corps), 1:18  7th - Tyrone Abercrombie (Gator WC) by med. forf. over Nick Severson (Minnesota Storm)    THEMAT.COM RANKINGS FOR APRIL 1, 2005  1. Dremiel Byers, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)  2. Russ Davie, Cleveland, Ohio (New York AC)  3. Paul Devlin, Cascade, Colo. (U.S. Army)  4. Timothy Taylor, Quantico, Va. (U.S. Marine Corps)  5. Corey Farkas, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Air Force)  6. Cole Konrad, Freedom, Wis. (Minnesota Storm)   7. Tyrone Abercrombie (Gator WC)  8. Mark Knauer, Ames, Iowa (Cyclone WC)