COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Brad Vering remembers this particular Saturday morning like it was yesterday.

Following a string of tough, grueling practices, Vering dragged his sore, aching body to the bottom of a steep hill for yet another rugged workout as the team prepared to climb the Incline in Colorado Springs.

This day was a struggle for Vering. He was in the final stages of the climb when he spotted a 50-something-year-old man who was still ahead of him.

It was USA Wrestling Assistant National Greco-Roman Coach Momir Petkovic.

"I finally caught Momir with about 30 or 40 steps left," Vering said. "As I was going by him, he grabs my arm and starts pulling and pushing me. We were both gasping for air and he didn't want me to beat him. That's the type of competitor he is. It really motivates you to wrestle for a guy like that."

The hands-on approach and ultra-competitive drive of the 54-year-old Petkovic, a 1976 Olympic gold medalist for the former Yugoslavia, has paid huge dividends for the United States Greco-Roman Team.

Petkovic, along with USA Wrestling National Coach Steve Fraser and Resident Coach Anatoly Petrosyan, led the American squad to its first Greco-Roman team championship in history when the U.S. won the World Championships on Sept. 19 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

"I always believed in our guys and had faith in our guys that they could be the best team in the World," Petkovic said. "We've really developed some great depth, and we have some very talented and tough wrestlers who have great character. It was just a matter of getting them to believe they could do it."

Petkovic not only has pushed the U.S. athletes to be in the best shape in the World during the practices he runs at the U.S. Olympic Training Center wrestling room in Colorado Springs. He also has helped implement the types of techniques, tactics and strategies that helped propel the American team to a 31-30 win over second-place Russia for the 2007 World team title.

"Momir is the total package - he's just phenomenal," Vering said. "He has a great demeanor. He's a champion in life and nothing shakes him. He has such a good outlook on everything and he loves every second of everything he does. He's one of my best friends in the World. Not many people have that type of relationship with a coach."

Petkovic's fingerprints were all over the 2007 U.S. World team. He has spent the past five years working with Vering, who broke through to win a World silver medal in 2007 at 84 kg/185 lbs. after coming up empty in three previous trips to the Worlds and a trip to the 2004 Olympics.

Petkovic also coached Lindsey Durlacher to a World bronze medal in 2006 and a fifth-place World finish in 2007. Petkovic coached Joe Warren to a World title in 2006, Justin Ruiz to a World bronze medal in 2005 and T.C. Dantzler to a fifth-place World finish in 2006.

All those wrestlers train daily with Petkovic and Petrosyan at the OTC. Petkovic came to USA Wrestling five years ago.

"Our resident program has been huge for us," Vering said. "We're like a family and we're like a team, even though a lot of us compete against each other. Momir is like a father figure to all of us. He would do anything for you."

Not everybody bought into Petkovic's philosophies right away. Durlacher was an athlete who often clashed with Petkovic when he first arrived in the Springs.

"Momir's a stern, no-nonsense guy who runs a tight ship and it took some time for me to adjust to that," Durlacher said. "He's basically instilled in us that this program takes a total, complete, full-time mental and physical commitment to be successful. He's an old school guy from the Iron Curtain who has taught us how to fight through adversity and to be ready for anything."

Durlacher has made the last three U.S. World Teams at 55 kg/121 lbs. while training under Petkovic.

"Momir and I have butted heads and argued about some things," Durlacher said. "I didn't believe in him at first because I was used to doing things differently. Once I started to believe in him and saw the results I was getting from the training he was putting us through, I stopped questioning him. I am wrestling with the best guys in the World now and I have back-to-back, top-five finishes at the Worlds because of his coaching.

"Momir has really helped turned our Greco program around and he was pretty instrumental in us winning the World title. He came in here with a mindset he was going to make America a Greco-Roman powerhouse and he's done exactly that. It's pretty amazing what he's done."

Now when Petkovic throws out one of his trademark lines before a tough workout - such as "that's part of the deal" - Durlacher is one of the people buying in.

"If he tells me to go out and run in a foot of snow or run in a driving rainstorm, we just go out and do it," Durlacher said. "That's how much we believe in this guy. He knows what he's doing."

Petkovic also has evolved as a coach with the ever-changing rules in the sport. The Greco-Roman rules were last changed just over two years ago.

"Momir is so knowledgeable about the sport," Vering said. "He never stops learning."

Said Durlacher: "Momir's helped us tremendously with our par terre skills. We've improved a great deal in that area and that's one of the main reasons we were the best team in the World this year. We've become very tough defensively - it's pretty tough to score on wrestlers from the U.S."

Petkovic also has emphasized to his wrestlers that scoring from their feet in the first minute of a period can pay huge dividends before the match switches to the par terre position in the second minute.

"If you can score on your feet you are automatically about 75 to 80 percent ahead of the game," he said. "Most of our guys understand that and try to use it to their advantage. You can score points in that first minute, and by keeping the pressure on your opponent you can wear them down."

U.S. athletes like Vering, Durlacher and Warren grew up like most American wrestlers, competing primarily in folkstyle at the youth, high school and collegiate levels. They didn't shift their focus to Greco-Roman full-time until they were in their early 20s.

"Making that adjustment from folkstyle to Greco takes some time and it took a lot of those guys a number of years before they were able to finally compete with the best guys in the World," Petkovic said. "These guys went through a lot of hard times as they tried to refine their skills and gain experience in Greco. It took a lot of patience and persistence and hard work, but these guys never stopped working to be the best in the World."

Petkovic and Fraser, a pair of Olympic champions, have worked well together on the USA Greco-Roman coaching staff. Fraser directs the overall program while Petkovic runs practices and works directly with the athletes at the OTC.

"Steve trusts Momir, and I think Steve puts a lot of faith in Momir to train our athletes," Durlacher said. "They complement each other real well."

Petkovic said he and Fraser, who hired him at USA Wrestling in 2002, have a "special relationship." The two work closely together in developing practice plans and areas of emphasis the team needs to concentrate on.

"I've known Steve since I saw him win the Olympics in L.A. in 1984," Petkovic said. "I've always had a great deal of respect for him. We've built a great relationship - we trust each other and we work well together. We bounce a lot of ideas off each other and we're always trying to make this program better. I can't thank him enough for giving me this opportunity at USA Wrestling. I'm very grateful for that."

Fraser is grateful for the work Petkovic has done with the U.S. athletes.

"Momir has been the key to our latest success," Fraser said. "His knowledge of the sport is remarkable. His leadership and coaching expertise is tremendous. He has a knack for motivating our guys and setting the pace for excellence. He demands a great deal from the team and I think they all respect him totally. He is a great example of a true champion. Big heart, honest, loves Greco totally, cares for the kids, smart, talented, hard working, and totally committed to the dream. What more can you ask for in a coach? We are very lucky to have Momir Petkovic in our Greco program."

Vering credits Petkovic's influence for helping him enjoy a breakthrough season in 2006-07. Vering came back with a vengeance this year after placing third at the 2006 U.S. World Team Trials. Vering had made four straight World or Olympic Teams from 2002-05.

"The one thing Momir really did for me this year was give me more freedom and really trust me that I knew what I was doing with my training," Vering said. "I'm 30 years old and I need to train smarter now. Momir knows I will still work hard, but he was real good about letting me take a day off whenever I needed one. That says a lot about his character that he would trust his athletes like that. I think he has really evolved as a coach in that way."

Petkovic may be known for being tough and hard-nosed, but he has a softer side as well. He became emotional when talking about seeing one of his protégés, Vering, win his first World medal this year.

"Brad and I have become very close, and he wrestles at my old weight class," Petkovic said. "I never doubted that he was going to place in the top three in the World and win a medal at some point. He's a very special athlete. He works extremely hard and he's very coachable. He came through, he really came through. I am very, very proud of him."

Petkovic also had tears welling in his eyes when talking about the emotional scene after Cuba's Mijial Lopez beat Russia's Khasan Baroev in the final match of the tournament to give the U.S. the team title.

Petkovic, Fraser and Petrosyan huddled together and hugged just seconds after the U.S. clinched the team title.

"Not many people outside of our coaches and wrestlers believed we could do this and win the team title," Petkovic said. "For me, winning this team title was a much happier moment in my life than when I won the Olympics as a wrestler. It just meant so much to me to see all the hard work pay off for all of our guys. It was special … really special."

Petkovic is quick to mention none of this would have been possible without the support of his wife of 32 years, Magda, who he says raised their two children, daughter Irona and son Sasha, while he has been busy competing and coaching over the years. The Petkovics now have two grandsons and a granddaughter.

"My wife's been amazing," Petkovic said. "I don't know how she's been able to put up with me for 32 years. Without her support, I couldn't do any of this. She's just been great."

Still in fantastic shape, and looking much younger than a man in his mid-50s, Petkovic is still as competitive as ever. He still frequently runs and works out with the team. He says he is only about "4 or 5 kilos" over the weight class - 180.5 lbs. -  he wrestled competitively at during his international career from 1970-84.

"I'm still competitive in every aspect of my life and I want to do everything the best I can," he said. "If I ever stop being competitive, then I'm done."

Petkovic left Yugoslavia and came to the U.S. in 1986. He worked for a moving company in the New York City metropolitan area for around 10 years. During that time, he became a U.S. citizen. He said his involvement in the sport of wrestling was very limited for around a decade before he became involved as a club coach for the New York Athletic Club for six years.

During that time, he was part of the U.S. coaching staff for the 2000 Olympic Games and 2001 World Championships. In 2002, he was hired by USA Wrestling.

"Times were really tough when I first came to the United States," Petkovic said. "I spoke very little English. There were a lot of ups and downs. I came from a very small country to a very big city. I worked in New York City. My English was so poor. One time, I was driving around trying to find this place and I asked this policeman to help me. He told me, 'You're in Queens, you need to be in Brooklyn.' Some nights I would come home late from work and ask myself, 'Why? What planet am I on? What am I doing here?' My daughter had a very hard time the first few years we were here. She was 10 years old when we came over here, and she was crying every night because she wanted to move back home.

"But little by little, things got better and we started to adjust to being in this country. It didn't happen overnight, that's for sure. It was rough, but everything has worked out for the best and we really like it here now."

Shortly after arriving back in the U.S. after the recent trip to the 2007 Worlds in Baku, Petkovic was back in his element in the wrestling room at the OTC in Colorado Springs.

The Olympics are only 10 months away and Petkovic already has turned his focus to seeing the U.S. Greco-Roman Team make a big splash at the 2008 Games in Beijing, China.

"We have six World medalists on our team now and I think we have guys capable of winning an Olympic medal at every weight class," Petkovic said. "I have no doubt that we can continue to improve and wrestle even better than we did this year. We didn't have any World champions this year and I know that is going to motivate all of our guys in their training. I truly believe our team definitely is capable of doing even better next year at the Olympics."