GRUENWALD WINS BRONZE MEDAL AT GRECO-ROMAN OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT IN FAENZA, ITALY, JANUARY 22-23 
 Jim Gruenwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) won a bronze medal at 138.75 pounds, the top U.S. performance at the Greco-Roman Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in Faenza, Italy, January 22-23. 
 This event was the first of five Greco-Roman Olympic qualifying events held across the world from January-March 2000.  
 Nations are only able to enter athletes in weight classes which they did not qualify for during the 1999 Greco-Roman World Championships last fall. The athletes do not qualify themselves for the Olympic Games; rather, they are qualifying their nation to participate in that weight class. 
 After all five of the Olympic Greco-Roman Qualifing events are held, the points for each nation at each weight class are added up. The top three scores for each nation at each weight class are counted toward the final total. The top seven nations at each weight class from the qualifying events will qualify for the Olympic Games. 
 The United States entered athletes at five weight classes (119 pounds, 127.75 pounds, 138.75 pounds, 152 pounds, 167.5 pounds). The USA has already earned Olympic qualification berths at three weight classes (187.25 pounds, 213.75 pounds, 286 pounds). 
 Gruenwald's performance earned the United States 23 points towards Olympic qualification at 138.75 pounds. His performance was especially outstanding, since Gruenwald was competing up one weight from his normal 127.75 pounds. 
 David Zuniga (New Brighton, Minn./Minnesota Storm) placed eighth at 152 pounds, earning the U.S. 17 points toward qualification. Zuniga was 10th in the 1996 Olympic Games. 
 Dennis Hall (Plover, Wis./Sunkist Kids) placed 12th at 127.75 pounds, earning the U.S. 14 points toward qualification. Hall was a 1996 Olympic silver medalist. 
 Brandon Paulson (Golden Valley, Minn./Minnesota Storm) placed 18th at 119 pounds, earning the U.S. six points toward qualification. Paulson was a 1996 Olympic silver medalist. 
 Matt Lindland (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids) placed 21st at 167.5 pounds, earning the U.S. four points toward qualification. 
 The U.S. team was coached by Dan Chandler of Minneapolis, Minn., who has been selected to serve as head coach of the 2000 U.S. Olympic Greco-Roman team. 
 GRECO-ROMAN OLYMPIC QUALIFIER at Faenza, Italy, January 22-23 
 Place finishes (with Olympic qualification points) 
 54 kg/119  lbs.- 1st - Ercan Yildiz (Turkey), 23 pts.; 2nd - Hui Wang (China), 22 pts.; 3rd - Natig Eyvazov (Azerbaijan), 21 pts.; 4th - Tero Katajisto (Finland), 20 pts.; 5th - Boris Radkevitch (Belarus), 19 pts.; 6th - Ivanov Stoycho (Bulgaria), 18 pts.; 7th - Aptiom Cloyigian (Greece), 17 pts.; 8th - Laslo Bona (Hungary), 16 pts.; 9th - Dariusz Jablonski (Poland), 15 pts.; 10th - Artashes Minasyan (Armenia), 14 pts.; 11th - Oleg Komendant (Ukraine), 13 pts.; 12th - Masatsune Sasaki (Japan), 12 pts.; 13th - Vicente Lillo (Spain), 11 pts.; 14th - Salah Belguidoum (France), 10 pts.; 15th - Serghei Spitari (Moldova), 9 pts.; 16th - Shamsissin Khudoyberdiev (Uzbekistan), 8 pts.; 17th - Hassa Rangaz (Iran), 7 pts.; 18th - Brandon Paulson (USA), 6 pts.; 19th - Florin Gavrila (Romania), 5 pts.; 20th - Sergio Armenise (Italy), 4 pts.; 21st - Kim Holk (Sweden), 3 pts.; 22nd - Adel Fathallaoui (Tunisia), 2 pts.; 23rd - Ali Reza Tunc (Austria), 1 pts. 
 58 kg/127.75 lbs. - 1st - Agh Belgh Ali Ashkani (Iran), 25 pts.; 2nd - Djamel Ainaoui (France), 24 pts.; 3rd - Koba Guliashvili (Georgia), 23 pts.; 4th - Valeri Niconorov (Russia), 22 pts.; 5th - Rifat Yildiz (Germany), 21 pts.; 6th - Erthathios Theodossiadis (Greece), 20 pts.; 7th - Roman Vachur (Ukraine), 19 pts.; 8th - Gukulov Nopos (Turkmenistan), 18 pts.; 9th - Alexander Khurish (Israel), 17 pts.; 10th - Artur Sargsyan (Armenia), 16 pts.; 11th - Gregorz Szyszka (Poland), 15 pts.; 12th - Dennis Hall (USA), 14 pts.; 13th - Kenkichi Nishimi (Japan), 13 pts.; 14th - Nuraddin Rajabov (Azerbaijan), 12 pts.; 15th - Terho Kettunen (Finland), 11 pts.; 16th - Joel Carlsson (Sweden), 10 pts.; 17th - Meligi Ashraf (Egypt), 9 pts.; 18th - Saeed Azarbayjani (Canada), 8 pts.; 19th - Dundar Erkan (Turkey), 7 pts.; 20th - Paulo Goncalves (Portugal), 6 pts.; 21st - Joannes Lienbacher (Austria), 5 pts.; 22nd - Mohammed Barguaomi (Tunisia), 4 pts.; 23rd - German DelVal (Spain), 3 pts.; 24th - Giuseppi Girone (Italy), 2 pts.; 25th - Arash Rayhaniasi (Netherlands), 1 pt. 
 63 kg/138.75 lbs. - 1st - Nicolae Monov (Russia), 25 pts.; 2nd - Beat Motzer (Switzerland), 24 pts.; 3rd - James Gruenwald (USA), 23 pts.; 4th - Akaki Chagua (Georgia), 22 pts.; 5th - Wlodziemierz Zawadzki (Poland), 21 pts.; 6th - Mitsuoki Hirai (Japan), 20 pts.; 7th - Moises Sanchez (Spain), 19 pts.; 8th - Mamedov Dovlet (Turkmenistan), 18 pts.; 9th - Jimmy Samuelsson (Sweden), 17 pts.; 10th - Emil Boudinov (Bulgaria), 16 pts.; 11th - Phillipe Bendjoudi (France), 15 pts.; 12th - Setket Karapinar (Germany), 14 pts.; 13th - James Cako (Canada), 13 pts.; 14th - Andras Horvath (Hungary), 12 pts.; 15th - Peter Philippitsch (Austria), 11 pts.; 16th - Christos Gikas (Greece), 10 pts.; 17th - Tomislav Vukelic (Croatia), 9 pts.; 18th - Mehdi Nassiri (Iran), 8 pts.; 19th - Robert Mazouch (Czech Rep.), 7 pts.; 20th - Guohong Hu (China), 6 pts.; 21st - Nasib Aliyev (Azerbaijan), 5 pts.; 22nd - Luis Fontes (Portugal), 4 pts.; 23rd - Olari Suislep (Estonia), 3 pts.; 24th - Mikael Lindgren (Finland), 2 pts.; 25th - Haithem Belkhir (Tunisia), 1 pts. 
 69 kg/152 lbs.- 1st - Adam Juretzki (Germany), 24 pts.; 2nd - Juha Lappalainen (Finland), 23 pts.; 3rd - Ender Memet (Romania), 22 pts.; 4th - Mattias Schouberg (Sweden), 21 pts.; 5th - Valeri Nikitin (Estonia), 20 pts.; 6th - Yinyiya Sai (China), 19 pts.; 7th - Bisser Gueorguiev (Bulgaria), 18 pts.; 8th - David Zuniga (USA), 17 pts.; 9th - Ruslan Biktyakov (Uzbekistan), 16 pts.; 10th - Thomas Amundsen (Norway), 15 pts.; 11th - Yasser Al Salek (Syria), 14 pts.; 12th - Georgi Jinhovelasvili (Georgia), 13 pts.; 13th - Dragon Markovic (Bosnia-Herzogovina), 12 pts.; 14th - Ryszard Wolny (Poland), 11 pts.; 15th - Altay Mahmut (Turkey), 10 pts.; 16th - Katsuhiko Nagata (Japan), 11 pts.; 17th - Vaghinar Galustyan (Armenia), 10 pts.; 18th - Vugar Aslanov (Azerbaijan), 9 pts.; 19th - Daniel Schnyder (Switzerland), 8 pts.; 20th - Alexis Colistsopoilo (Greece), 7 pts.; 21st - Kirk Valentini (Italy), 6 pts.; 22nd - Simon Hausle (Austria), 3 pts.; 23rd - Cam Weatherby (Canada), 2 pts.; 24th - Petr Bielesz (Czech Republic), 1 pt. 
 76 kg/167.5 lbs.- 1st - Viacheslav Makarenko (Belarus), 24 pts.; 2nd - Khvitcha Bitchinatchvili (Azerbaijan), 23 pts.; 3rd - Kim Jin-Soo (Korea), 22 pts.; 4th - Takamitsu Katayama (Japan), 21 pts.; 5th - Stoyan Dobrev (Bulgaria), 20 pts.; 6th - Artur Michailkewicz (Poland), 19 pts.; 7th - Tonis Naarits (Estonia), 18 pts.; 8th - Marko Yli-Hannuksela (Finland), 17 pts.; 9th - Bakhtivar Baisetov (Kazakhstan), 16 pts.; 10th - Alberto Recuero (Spain), 15 pts.; 11th - Moahamad Manda (Syria), 14 pts.; 12th - David Manukyan (Ukraine), 13 pts.; 13th - Thomas Sabbatini (Italy), 12 pts.; 14th - Sorin Tasca (Romania), 11 pts.; 15th - Evgeniy Erdfaylov (Uzbekistan), 10 pts.; 16th - Sileng Wang (China), 9 pts.; 17th - Nick Johnson (Norway), 8 pts.; 18th - Badreddine Amdouni (Tunisia), 7 pts.; 19th - Attila Batky (Slovakia), 6 pts.; 20th - Konstantin Schneider (Germany), 5 pts.; 21st - Matt Lindland (USA), 4 pts.; 22nd - Leigh Verling (Canada), 3 pts.; 23rd - Fred DeVos (Netherlands), 2 pts.; 24th - Sayed Hossein Marahian (Iran), 1 pt. 
 85 kg/187.25 lbs. - 1st - Alexander Meniscov (Russia), 27 pts.; 2nd - Fritz Aanes (Norway), 26 pts.; 3rd - Jbraim Mohammed (Egypt), 25 pts.; 4th - Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey), 24 pts.; 5th - Sandor Bardosi (Hungary), 23 pts.; 6th - Igor Bugai (Ukraine), 22 pts.; 7th - Hossein Nikou Nahad (Iran), 21 pts.; 8th - Yuri Vitt (Uzbekistan), 20 pts.; 9th - Colcha Tsitsiashvili (Israel), 19 pts.; 10th - Theofanis Anagnostoy (Greece), 18 pts.; 11th - Daxin Li (China), 17 pts.; 12th - Seo Sang-Myon (Korea), 16 pts.; 13th - David Martinetti (Switzerland), 1