KLOHS UNBEATEN AFTER FIRST DAY OF COMPETITION AT 1999 WORLD GRECO-ROMAN WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ATHENS, GREECE 
 Jason Klohs (Maple Grove, Minn./Minnesota Storm) won both of his first day matches at 213.75 pounds at the 45th Greco-Roman World Championships in Athens, Greece, Thursday, Sept. 23. 
 Klohs stopped Vello Parnpuu of Estonia, 3-1, in the first round. In his second match, he defeated Kostas Thanos of Greece, in a 2-1 overtime referee's decision. Thanos placed 10th in the 1998 World Championships. 
 With his two victories, Klohs won his three-man pool competition, and has advanced into the round of 16 at his weight class. He is expected to face Sergei Matvienko of Kazakhstan in the round of 16 on Friday morning. 
 Klohs competed in the 1998 World Championships and was also the 1998 U.S. Nationals champion.  
 The three other U.S. wrestlers who began competition on Thursday finished with 1-1 records for the day, and did not win their pool competition. 
 Steven Mays (Pensacola, Fla./U.S. Navy)  won his first match at 119 pounds, defeating Uran Kalilov of Kyrgyzstan, 8-2. In his second match, he was defeated by Armen Minashyan of Armenia, 3-0 in overtime at 7:01. 
 Mays, the Armed Forces champion, won the 1999 World Team Trials to make his first U.S. World team. Mays also won his first U.S. Nationals title in 1999. 
 Shon Lewis (Colorado Springs, Colo./No Limit Soldier) also opened with a victory at 138.75 pounds, beating Jimmy Samuelsson of Sweden, 3-0. In his second match, he was defeated by Grigori Komyshenko of Ukraine, 4-0 
 Lewis also competed in the 1993 World Championships, but did not place. He is a four-time U.S. Nationals champion (1993, 1994, 1996 and 1998). 
 Matt Lindland (Lincoln, Neb./Sunkist Kids) had the toughest draws of all the U.S. competitors. In his first match at 167.5 pounds, Lindland was defeated by 1998 World bronze medalist Nazmi Avluca of Turkey, 3-0. It was the second straight year that Lindland lost to Avluca at the World Championships, also dropping a 3-0 decision in the consolation quarterfinals in Gavle, Sweden in 1998. 
 In the second match, Lindland rallied to defeat 1998 World Champion Bachtiar Baiseitov of Kazakhstan, 3-2 in 7:00. 
 Lindland placed sixth at last year's World Championships and won the 1999 Pan American Games Championships. He is also a three-time U.S. Nationals champion. This is his third World tournament. 
 The winners of each pool competition have advanced to the round of 16 at their weight classes. A few athletes who were second in their pools also move on to fill out the 16-person bracket. Pairings were not announced at the conclusion of the session, so it had not been determined if Mays, Lewis or Lindland has scored enough points to advance. 
 The second set of four U.S. wrestlers weighed in on Thursday, Sept. 23 and received their draws for Friday, Sept. 24. 
 Pairings are done by random draw, with no seeding. Athletes are separated into pools of three or four wrestlers. A round-robin is held in each of the pools. The results of the pool competition will determine which 16 athletes in each weight will be able to advance to the championship bracket. 
 Dennis Hall (Plover, Wis./Sunkist Kids) drew into a pool of four athletes at 127.75 pounds. He will face 1996 Olympic Champion Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria, Igor Piatrenka of Belarus and U. Asilabek of Kyrgyzstan in his pool competition. Nazarian boasts five career World-level medals. 
 Hall was a 1995 World Champion, 1996 Olympic silver-medalist and 1995 World bronze medalist. He is also a two-time Pan American Games Champion. Hall is an eight-time U.S. Nationals champion and is competing on his sixth U.S. World team.  
 Dave Zuniga (New Brighton, Minn./Minnesota Storm) is scheduled to face Thomas Amundson of Norway and Mowses Karapetyan of Armenia at 152 pounds. 
 Zuniga was a member of the 1996 Olympic team where he finished tenth. This is Zuniga's fourth World team berth. He placed fourth at the 1994 World Championships. 
 Quincey Clark (New Brighton, Minn./Minnesota Storm) has a challenging draw at 187.25 pounds. He opens against 1996 Olympic champion and two-time World champion Hamza Yerlikaya of Turkey. His second match will be M. Vakhtangadze of Georgia. 
 Clark placed ninth in the 1998 World Championships and won his first U.S. Nationals title in 1999. 
 Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) will face 1997 World silver medalist Mihaly Deak-Bardos of Hungary and Ion Ticala of Romania at at 286 pounds. 
 Byers, the 1999 U.S. Nationals and Armed Forces champion, will compete on his first World team at 286 pounds. Byers defeated 1996 Olympic silver-medalist Matt Ghaffari to qualify for the U.S. team. 
 The 1999 World Championships serves as the first and largest qualifying event for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. The top eight place winners at the 1999 World Championships in Greco-Roman qualify their nation to participate in the 2000 Olympic Games in their weight division. In total, 64 Olympic berths will be determined at the 1999 World Greco-Roman Championships. 
 The team is led by head coach Dan Chandler of Minneapolis, Minn., assistant coach Rob Hermann of Pensacola, Fla. and USA Wrestling Greco-Roman Coach Steve Fraser of Colorado Springs, Colo. 
 Visit the USA Wrestling web page at http://www.usawrestling.org or the World Championships web page at http://www.wrestling.org.gr/wrestling/world99/main_en.html 
 1999 GRECO-ROMAN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS at Athens, Greece, Sept. 23 
 U.S. results on Thursday, Sept. 23 
 54 kg/119 lbs. - Steven Mays, Pensacola, Fla. (U.S. Navy) - dec. Uran Kalilov (Kyrgyzstan), 8-2; lost dec. to Armen Minashyan (Armenia), 3-0, ot, 7:01 
 63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Shon Lewis, Colorado Springs, Colo. (No Limit Soldier) - dec. Jimmy Samuelsson (Sweden), 3-0, ot, 7:38; lost dec. to Grigori Komyshenko (Ukraine), 4-0 
 76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Matt Lindland, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids) - lost dec. to Nazmi Avluca (Turkey), 3-0; dec. Bachtiar Baiseitov (Kazakhstan), 3-2, ot, 7:00 
 97 kg/213.75 lbs.- Jason Klohs, Maple Grove, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) - dec. Vello Parnpuu (Estonia), 3-1; won by ref. dec. over Kostas Thanos (Greece), 2-1, ot, 9:00 
 Second set of U.S. athletes pool pairings 
 58 kg/127.75 lbs. - Dennis Hall, Plover, Wis. (Sunkist Kids) - vs. Igor Piatrenka (Belarus); vs. Armen Nazarian (Bulgaria); vs. U. Asilabek (Kyrgyzstan) 
 69 kg/152 lbs. - Dave Zuniga, New Brighton, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) - vs. Thomas Amundson (Norway); vs. Mowses Karapetyan (Armenia) 
 85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Quincey Clark, New Brighton, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) - vs. Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); vs. M. Vakhtangadze (Georgia) 
 130 kg/286 lbs.- Dremiel Byers, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army) - vs. Mihaly Deak-Bardos (Hungary); vs. Ion Ticala (Romania) 
 U.S. quotes 
 54 kg/119 lbs. - Steven Mays - "I wrestled fair this morning. I wrestled much better in my second match, even though I lost. I gained valuable experience in this World Championships, and I feel it will give me a leg up going into the Olympic Trials next year." 
 63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Shon Lewis (after his first match) - "I felt a little sluggish, but Coach Chandler brought me through it with his verbal support. As far as my draw, I go with what the coaches say, and they told me it was a good draw, so I'll go with that." 
 76 kg/167.5 lbs. - Matt Lindland (after his loss) - It's inexcusable to get turned in a match like that. I hurt my arm. I had him up and should have turned him, but my arm bothered me. I liked my draw. I figured I would get them out of the way early." 
 97 kg/213.75 lbs.- Jason Klohs - "My goal is to go out and beat the opponent handily. My condition is as good as anybody in the world. I believe I can win here." 
 Head Coach Dan Chandler - "We had two training camps in Colorado Springs, and the athletes did everything we asked them to do. The acclimation camp in Paris went very well. The guys are relaxed and loose and I think ready to wrestle." 
 For complete pairings for all athletes in the second set of athletes, visit the USA Wrestling