According to FILA, the international governing body of amateur wrestling, the country has produced 38 wrestlers with the surname Ivanov. And the most common first name of this most common last name is Ivan.

In fact, one of the six Bulgarian wrestlers, who goes by Ivan Ivanov competed for this Eastern European country at the most recent World Championships at heavyweight in Greco-Roman competition.

"(The name is) like John Smith in this country," laughed another one of those former Bulgarian wrestlers named Ivan Ivanov, who now makes his living coaching America's Greco-Roman wrestlers. "That's why a lot of people knew me by my middle name back then when I went by Ivan Radnev."

According to FILA, Ivan Radnev won the 136-pound silver medal at the 1994 Greco-Roman World Championships. By 1997, he was known more as Ivan Ivanov in the United States, where he started coaching U.S. wrestlers and caught the attention of Steve Fraser, who took over the Greco program in 1995. Fraser initially invited Ivanov to become a resident coach at the United States Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. But Fraser also was looking for someone to take over the Greco-Roman program at the United States Olympic Education Center (USOEC) in Marquette, Mich., which Fraser created as a means to developing the upper-body style of wrestling in this country.

"We were losing all our good Greco kids to traditional college (folkstyle) programs," Fraser said. "This program helped us make one connection with college-age kids and Ivan has been the right character to run that program; to take these young kids and mold them in a way they learn the skills to become great Greco-Roman wrestlers."

Ivanov replaced Gordie Morgan in 2002 as the USOEC head coach and within five years the 38-year-old Ivanov has helped Fraser realize his dream of seeing the United States win a World team championship at the recent Worlds in Baku, Azerbaijan.

And considering two of the seven Greco-Roman wrestlers are current USOEC wrestlers - including two-time bronze medal winner, Harry Lester, at 145.5 pounds; the other being 132-pound Joe Betterman - the impact of the USOEC is definitely being felt more than ever by USA Wrestling as three other USOEC wrestlers, 121-pound Spenser Mango, 145.5-pound Jake Curby and 211.5-pound Adam Wheeler, finished second in last June's Trials.

And for Ivan's efforts in teaching the upper-body style to America's youth, he has been named W.I.N.'s Impact Award Winner.

"Ivan's contributions to the Greco efforts obviously are being seen first-hand this year with the team title at the Worlds," said W.I.N. publisher Bryan Van Kley. "But, the long-lasting impact that he and the other extremely dedicated Greco coaches are having on wrestling in this country won't probably be fully recognized and appreciated for quite a few years. And Ivan's selfless personality is a part of what makes him so respected. He's a very unassuming, great coach and person who loves the sport and wants our athletes to be the best."

Before the USOEC was created, most Greco-Roman wrestlers in this country did not focus on this style until their folkstyle careers were completed in college. As a result, the United States rarely contended for team or individual glory on the international stage. Considering Greco-Roman wrestling is one of the oldest styles, the United States did not start competing at World or Olympic competitions until 1956. The U.S. did not win a gold medal until the 1984 Olympics when Fraser finished on top.

"I never paid too much attention to (the United States' Greco-Roman program)," Ivanov said. "At that time, they were in the top six or eight as a team in the World Championships. Americans now are right there and foreign teams are counting American athletes as the top athletes.

"Look at the fact that tournaments like the Dave Schultz attract so many more foreign athletes. Germany came here to prepare their wrestlers at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and the German Junior team came to Marquette two years in a row. All of these facts are showing that foreign athletes are looking to get to the United States to see what we are doing."

And Ivanov does not mind that the USOEC is located at the University of Northern Michigan on the western shore of Lake Superior, where air temperatures are low and snow levels are high.

"We have long winters but I really believe this training center is built in the perfect spot for building champions," Ivanov said. "You don't need any distractions. Rocky Balboa (in the movie Rocky IV) didn't go train in Tempe, Ariz. in front of girls and all the nice things going on. He went to Siberia. That's a great example. Of course, you can find entertainment here, but it's not as much as other parts of the United States where it's warmer and with lots more people. 

"Coming here to train shows commitment and dedication from the kids who choose to come here just to prepare themselves to conquer the Worlds. We don't want a bunch of distractions around here. We can focus more on what we are here for."

Ivanov, who is assisted by former Olympian Jim Gruenwald at the USOEC, said he definitely sees a different young Greco-Roman wrestler in this country.

"First, we like to have kids come here with the mindset to win the Olympics and the Worlds," Ivanov said. "We are developing their minds and help them focus on believing that they can be competitive at the World and Olympic level. We are trying to help them psychologically and make them realize that we are the program that will help you win the Worlds and Olympics. You are in the right place. On top of everything, you have nothing to lose because you are getting your education paid."

Ivanov said it is easier to recruit wrestlers in Fargo, N.D., where the Junior National Greco-Roman Championships are held and where college coaches are looking for athletes to focus on folkstyle.

"I don't want to offend any college programs but (wrestlers) are going to have an advantage being in our program rather than waste five years in college before they start wrestling Greco. The kids who were in the program before I came here probably didn't believe that this could happen to them. They said they wanted to be World champion but didn't really believe it. We started on some tours and they started beating World-class athletes and (getting) medals at the Junior Worlds. It's easier to convince athletes today that we are for real."

The competitive season for many of the USOEC athletes takes place between Jan. 1 and the U.S. Nationals in April.

"When they get into the program as freshmen, we don't pressure them much to compete at the Senior level," Ivanov said. "We want to give them a good foundation for at least a year and then start taking them to Senior-level tournaments. 

"Once they pass the Junior-age level, we can compete nationally and internationally as much as we can. We go to international tournaments every spring. I've been taking teams to Bulgaria fives years in a row. Spenser Mango was able to go to three or four different countries in one year as a freshman and Jake Curby recently placed in Georgia and Spain. They compete all year round."

Ivanov, who became a U.S. citizen on June 21, 2006, learned to communicate with today's American wrestler. 

Fraser credits Ivanov's unique style for the success of the USOEC.

"Ivan has been the right character to run that program; to take these young kids and mold them in a way they learn the skills to become great Greco-Roman wrestlers," Fraser said.