USA Wrestling has updated its new "Bout of the Week" which has been posted as a video file on-line on TheMat.com Audio/Video website . The feature this week is the 2000 Les Gutches vs. Cael Sanderson men's freestyle match from the semifinals of the 2000 U.S. National Championships in Las Vegas, Nev. at 85 kg/187.25 lbs. This match has been placed on the TheMat.com's new Audio/Video website, which was the former USA Wrestling Member's Only website. The new website has been redesigned and reformatted and was launched today. It is an exciting upgrade that will better serve the wrestling community and provides cutting-edge technology. This match was a bout between the current star in the weight division, Gutches, and the young newcomer to the national freestyle scene, Sanders. Gutches had a World title and Olympic appearance in his pocket and was aiming for another chance at Olympic glory. Sanderson was a college sophomore who was well on his way to the greatest college wrestling career in history. Sometimes, big showdowns fall short of expectations. In this case, the match lived up to its billing, and then some. Les Gutches entered the 2000 U.S. Nationals as the top dog in his division, having owned the weight class for four straight years. He became a top star very young in his athletic life. A two-time NCAA champion for Oregon State, Gutches found immediate success on the national freestyle level. In 1999, after his junior year in college, Gutches climbed to No. 2 on the national level, placing behind World and Olympic champion Kevin Jackson. After beating Gutches at the World Team Trials, Jackson went on to win his second World gold medal in Atlanta, Ga. at the World Championships with an impressive performance. After winning his second NCAA crown in 1996, Gutches immediately started fulfilling his vast promise. He beat defending World champion Jackson in the U.S. Nationals finals, a shocker to the wrestling world. Proving it was not a fluke, Gutches held onto his position and beat Jackson in an exciting Olympic Team Trials finals series in Spokane, Wash. Competing in his first Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., Gutches fell short of winning a medal, placing seventh. Jackson vowed to get his position back, but Gutches would have none of it. In a fierce battle at the 1997 World Team Trials, Gutches won again. However, this time, at the 1997 World Championships in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Gutches put it all together, winning the World gold medal with a spectacular performance. This became Gutches' division, and Jackson after a few seasons retired to become a national freestyle coach for USA Wrestling. Jackson ended up coaching Gutches when he moved to the U.S. Olympic Training Center to train with the resident program. During the 1997-2000 Olympic cycle, Gutches became a star on a talented U.S. lineup. Although he fell short of his goals at the 1998 World Championships, placing seventh, Gutches returned to top form in 1999, battling back from a loss to win a World bronze medal. Gutches added other important titles to his list, including a 1998 Goodwill Games title, a 1999 Pan American Games title and 1999 World Cup title. He developed a fierce rivalry with Cuban Yoel Romero, who became a World champion himself. Their matches had displays of emotion, and some pushing after they ended. The fireworks when Gutches beat Romero at the Pan American Games caught the national headlines. Meanwhile, Cael Sanderson was becoming a major national wrestling hero. He came from a successful wrestling family in Utah, with two older brothers who went to Iowa State and became All-Americans. Cael followed the family tradition, and went to Ames to wrestle for Bobby Douglas. After taking a redshirt year, he improved dramatically, and started winning from the start. As a freshman, he was an undefeated NCAA champion and named Outstanding Wrestler at the NCAA Championships. His sophomore year went exactly the same way, another undefeated season, another NCAA title and another Outstanding Wrestler award. He moved extremely well for a big man, and had a tremendous takedown attack from his feet. Although still in college, Sanderson had high expectations for the Olympic year in 2000. He did not take an Olympic redshirt, finishing his college season then getting right into freestyle practice. His first big test would be at the U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas. Gutches wrestled to form and reached the semifinals, where he faced the young Sanderson. The match started well for Sanderson, but ended well for Gutches. After surviving the Sanderson scare, Gutches went on to the finals of the U.S. Nationals and won again beating Charles Burton for his fifth straight national title. Sanderson was beaten in the wrestlebacks by Lee Fullhart and placed sixth. Like Gutches, Sanderson qualified for the 2000 Olympic Team Trials in Dallas, Texas. The U.S. Nationals proved to be the last successful event for Gutches in his career. A serious back injury slowed Gutches down, halting his ability to train for the Olympic Trials. Because he was the No. 1 seed, Gutches was able to take an extension on his finals series to a later date, skipping the Dallas Trials. In Dallas, Sanderson was knocked out early, losing a match to Mike Van Arsdale. Burton and Lee Fullhart made the Championship Series in Dallas, and Burton won a heated and controversial series. Gutches got his chance to make the 2000 Olympic Team in a Special Wrestle-off, held alongside the ASICS Junior/Cadet Nationals in Fargo, N.D. Many who watched the series felt that Gutches was not himself because of the injury, missing the edge that made him a World champion. However, Burton was at his best ever, taking advantage of his opportunity, and controlled the action, beating Gutches twice to make the 2000 Olympic Team. At the Sydney Olympics, Burton lost late in a quarterfinals match and placed fifth in the weight class. Gutches would never wrestle again. He pursued a career as a coach, working as the assistant coach at his alma mater Oregon State. Many believe he is one of the top young coaches in the nation. Sanderson ran the table in college wrestling. He never lost a college match, winning four NCAA titles and completing his career with a 159-0 record, the first undefeated four-time champion. He was Outstanding Wrestler at the NCAA meet all four years. Sanderson won three Hodge Trophies. His success drew national attention. Sports Illustrated called it the No. 2 most outstanding achievement in the history of college athletics. Wrestling fans idolized the soft-spoken, humble athlete. Sanderson immediately became the No. 1 man at the weight class, winning the U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials in 2001. Ready to wrestle in the World Championships in New York City in the fall, Sanderson never got the chance. Terrorists attacked the United States and brought down the World Trade Center in Manhattan, just days before the tournament was set for Madison Square Garden. The World Championships were postponed then moved to Bulgaria months later. Sanderson did not attend. The 2002 season was also a disaster for Sanderson and his teammates on the U.S. team. The Freestyle World Championships were in Tehran, Iran. USA Wrestling was notified by the U.S. government that there was a specific threat of violence to the U.S. team if it attended the championships there. The USA Wrestling leadership voted to cancel the trip, so again, Sanderson did not get his chance to show his stuff at the World level. Sanderson made the 2003 U.S. team, which was again ready to compete in New York City when FILA gave USA Wrestling and NYC2012 another chance to run the tournament to make up for the lost opportunity in 2001. He reached the gold-medal finals in Madison Square Garden, losing to Russian Sajid Sajidov in an exciting finals bout (a bout in the archives on this web page). Sanderson had some challenges in his quest for Olympic glory. He lost in the 2004 U.S. Nationals finals in an uninspiring bout against the rugged Lee Fullhart. At the Olympic Team Trials in Indianapolis, Ind., Fu