One of the athletes who decided to keep competing after the 2004 Olympic Games was Daniel Cormier of the Gator WC, who placed fourth at 96 kg in Athens, losing a close bout to Iran's star Ali Reza Heidari in the bronze-medal match. Cormier was fifth in the World Championships in New York City in 2003, falling just short of a medal that season as well. A talented athlete who enjoys competing, Cormier is looking to continue his quest to be a World and Olympic champion.    Cormier won the U.S. Nationals title again this year, and has looked good on international tours. He won the prestigious Ivan Yarygin Tournament in Russia, and captured four of his five matches at the Freestyle World Cup, only losing by pin to an athlete who caught him. Cormier is becoming one of the athletes who is a leader for Team USA, and is expected to win internationally. He combines good basics with an ability to score big points on throws, something that many big men can not do well.    Emerging as his top challenger has been Tommy Rowlands of the Sunkist Kids, who was second at the U.S. Nationals and the Ivan Yarygin Tournament, losing to Cormier in the finals of both events. Rowlands has been a top prospect in freestyle, going back to when he was a medalist at the Junior World Championships. He wrestled heavyweight and won two NCAA titles, but seems to have the ability to display his skills best at 96 kg. He showed his potential by placing fourth at both the 2004 U.S. Nationals and the Olympic Team Trials, and has stepped it up this year.    Nik Fekete of the New York AC is proving to be a top challenger this year, with his third-place finish in Las Vegas clearly being his best Senior-level performance. He has won medals at four international events this year, getting the experience needed to make improvements and move    Nick Preston of the Sunkist Kids has looked strong when competing up at this weight class, including a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Nationals. Last year, he was competing down at 84 kg, but has made the move back up.     The rest of the field that emerged as qualifiers from Las Vegas were Kyle Cerminara of the New Yorki AC, Sean Salmon of Ohio International WC and Zach Thompson of the Sunkist Kids. Cerminara is a college athlete who has been active in freestyle this year, winning the Rocky Mountain Regionals as well. Salmon is a veteran of the freestyle circuit, and has been making an impact over the last two seasons. Thompson is a former Junior World silver medalist, and is very competitive against everybody in this division, but has had difficulty moving into the top medal positions in this field.    Dawid Rechul of the New York AC qualifies for the World Team Trials by winning a gold medal at the Dave Schultz Memorial International. He beat Mo Lawal of the Gator WC, who is the national champion this year at 84 kg, in the finals. Rechul has made strong progress since joining the U.S. Olympic Training Center program. He did not wrestle in Las Vegas, so this will be the true test in Ames to see how he stacks up this year.    Earning a spot in the Challenge Tournament as NCAA finalists are Jake Rosholt of Oklahoma State and Sean Stender of Northern Iowa. Rosholt has not done much freestyle wrestling since going to college. Stender has been getting in as much freestyle as possible, winning a gold medal at the Northern Plains Regionals and also competing at the U.S. Nationals. These athletes would provide a tough match to anybody they draw in Ames.    Still eligible to enter, if they chose to do so, are past U.S. team members such as Tim Hartung, Dominic Black and Melvin Douglas, along with veteran stars such as Dean Morrison and Ryan Tobin. However, none have been competing and they are not expected to wrestle this season.     With this many experienced athletes dropping out after the Olympic year, the depth in this division is being carried by younger athletes. Even Cormier, who has been the top athlete here for two seasons, is not "old" by wrestling standards. This has become a young man's weight class, and we can expect the competition to get better and more competitive as the athletes increase their experience and skills.    2005 U.S. NATIONALS RESULTS AT 96 KG/211.5 LBS.  1st - Daniel Cormier, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC) dec. Tommy Rowlands, Columbus, Ohio (Sunkist Kids), 1-0, 2-0  3rd - Nik Fekete, Blacksburg, Va. (New York AC) dec. Nick Preston, Colombus, Ohio (Sunkist Kids) , 1-0, 1-1  5th - Kyle Cerminara, Buffalo, N.Y. (New York AC) inj. dft. over Sean Salmon, Columbus, Ohio (Ohio International)  7th - Zach Thompson, Ames, Iowa (Sunkist Kids) pin B.J. Padden, Camp Crook, S.D. (Sunkist Kids), 0:33    QUALIFIERS FOR 2005 WORLD TEAM TRIALS AT 96 KG/211.5 LBS.  U.S. Nationals Champion - Daniel Cormier, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC)  U.S. Nationals, second place - Tommy Rowlands, Columbus, Ohio (Dave Schultz WC)  U.S. Nationals, third place - Nik Fekete, Blacksburg, Va. (New York AC)  U.S. Nationals, fourth place - Nick Preston, Columbus, Ohio (Sunkist Kids)  U.S. Nationals, fifth place - Kyle Cerminara, Buffalo, N.Y. (New York AC)  U.S. Nationals, sixth place - Sean Salmon, Columbus, Ohio (Ohio Int. WC)  U.S. Nationals, seventh place - Zach Thompson, Ames, Iowa (Sunkist Kids)  Rocky Mountain Regional Champion - Kyle Cerminara, Buffalo, N.Y. (New York AC)  Northern Plains Regional Champion - Sean Stender ,Donahue, Iowa (Panther WC)  Olympic Team member - Daniel Cormier, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC)  Olympic Team member - Melvin Douglas, Mesa, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids)  Past World Team member - Tim Hartung, Iowa City, Iowa (Minn. Storm)  Past World Team member - Dominic Black, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army)  '04 Sunkist Kids International champion - Tommy Rowlands, Columbus, Ohio (Dave Schultz WC)  '04 NYAC Christmas Open champion - Tommy Rowlands, Columbus, Ohio (Dave Schultz WC)  '05 Dave Schultz Memorial champion - Dawid Rechul, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)  International Tour medalist (within 2 yrs) -   *'03 Ivan Yarygan bronze medalist - Daniel Cormier, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC)  *'03 Henri Deglane Challenge silver medalist - Ryan Tobin, Philadelphia, Pa. (Dave Schultz WC)  *'04 Ivan Yarygan Memorial International bronze medalist - Dean Morrison, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC)  *'04 Boutiatyr Grand Prix gold medalist - Daniel Cormier, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC)  *'04 Henri Deglane Challenge bronze medalist - Nick Preston, Columbus, Ohio (Sunkist Kids)  *'04 Henri Deglane Challenge bronze medalist - Ryan Tobin, Philadelphia, Pa. (Dave Schultz WC)  *'05 Ivan Yarygan Memorial International gold medalist - Daniel Cormier, Stillwater, Okla. (Gator WC)  *'05 Ivan Yarygan Memorial International silver medalist - Tommy Rowlands, Columbus, Ohio (Dave Schultz WC)  '05 NCAA Champion - Jake Rosholt, Sandpoint, Idaho (Oklahoma State)   '05 NCAA runner-up - Sean Stender ,Donahue, Iowa (Northern Iowa)