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 featured match this week is the 2007 Joe Betterman vs. Jim Gruenwald gold-medal finals in men's Greco-Roman at 60 kg/132 lbs. at the Sunkist Kids International Open in Chandler, Ariz.

It was a battle between Betterman, one of the most promising young Greco-Roman wrestlers on the national scene, and Gruenwald, a veteran two-time Olympian who is making a comeback at the age of 37. Added to the drama is the fact that Gruenwald is the assistant Greco-Roman coach at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan Univ., where Betterman is among the star wrestlers.

Jim Gruenwald had an impressive competitive career before turning to the coaching ranks. He was a state high school champion in Wisconsin and a two-time state runner-up, placing second at the 1988 Junior Nationals in Greco-Roman to fellow Wisconsin star Dennis Hall. He went on to college at Maranatha Baptist Bible College, competing for two-time Olympic medalist Ben Peterson, and winning three National Christian College titles.

His career blossomed in Greco-Roman, expecially after he joined the U.S. Olympic Training Center resident program in Colorado Springs, Colo. For many years, Gruenwald labored in the shadows of longtime rival Dennis Hall, who made the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Teams. Hall was a 1995 World champion, 1996 Olympic silver medalist and 1994 World bronze medalist.

Gruenwald's breakthrough came in 2000, when he beat Hall and the rest of the field to earn the spot on the U.S. Olympic Team that competed in Sydney, Australia. Gruenwald placed a strong sixth at the 2000 Olympic Games, his first World-level event. He held onto the No. 1 spot in his weight class for the next four years, competing on three U.S. World Teams and qualifying for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

His strongest effort came at the 2003 World Championships, when he placed fourth, losing by injury to many-time World champion Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria in a tremendous semifinal battle.  He was a placewinner in every World and Olympic event he entered, including a 10th place finish at the Athens Olympics. Gruenwald made a decision to retire from competition, and he joined the coaching staff at the USOEC program at Northern Michigan, working with the legendary Ivan Ivanov, in late 2005.

Joe Betterman is one of those heartwarming stories that has developed through the Northern Michigan USOEC system in recent years. Betterman was a competitive wrestler from Lakeview High School, based in urban Chicago, Ill., placing sixth in the state tournament. He was not considered a top recruit in folkstyle, but because of his success at the Junior Nationals in Greco-Roman, he was given the opportunity to concentrate full-time on Greco-Roman at Northern Michigan.

Betterman's scrappy style and work ethic quickly paid dividends in the classic style. He began to dominate in USA Wrestling age-group programs, winning national titles at the FILA Junior and University levels. In 2004, he placed sixth at the U.S. Nationals on the  Senior level, and has been nationally ranked ever since.

The 2007 season has been Betterman's most successful year. He placed second behind 2006 World Champion Joe Warren at the U.S. Nationals, then fell to Warren again in the finals of the World Team Trials. When Warren pulled out of the World Championships, it was Betterman who represented the United States this year in Baku, Azerbaijan. He was a member of the historic U.S. Greco-Roman team which claimed the World Team title, the first in U.S. history in this style.

On September 27, Gruenwald announced that he was making a comeback, attempting to qualify for his third Olympic team as an athlete, while remaining a coach with the USOEC program. His first time on the mat was in the USOEC exhibition match against China a few weeks later. 

Gruenwald chose the Sunkist Kids International as his first tournament test since his comeback from retirement. Betterman, just a few weeks after wrestling in the World Championships, also decided to enter the Sunkist Kids International as his first challenge of the new season.

Betterman won three straight lopsided decisions to qualify for the championship finals. Gruenwald also won two bouts to make it to the gold-medal match, needing three periods to stop Marco Lara in the quarterfinals, then beating national team member Willie Madison in the semifinals.

It was Betterman, the student, who beat the teacher Gruenwald in the finals, scoring an explosive lift on the way to a 7-1, 5-0 decision. Both athletes will be using this event as a starting point on the upcoming Olympic year, with more battles between them possible in the upcoming months.

This popular feature will be changed on a regular basis, allowing members to enjoy many of the greatest matches in wrestling history. Posted in the archive section of the Members Only web page was 2007 Brent Metcalf vs. Kendall Cross consolation match in men's freestyle wrestling at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. at the United States Marine Corps U.S. World Team Trials in Las Vegas, Nev. Many other entertaining and historic matches are in the archive section for the Bout of the Week.