WORLD CHAMPIONS BRANDS, GUTCHES CLAIM FREESTYLE WORLD TEAM TRIALS TITLES 
 A pair of former World Champions led the list of eight champions at the Freestyle World Team Trials at Mercer Arena in Seattle, Wash., June 19. The winners will represent the United States in the 1999 World Championships in Ankara, Turkey in October, as well as the 1999 Pan American Games in Canada in July. 
 Two-time World champion Terry Brands (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye) won his series at 127.75 pounds in two straight matches over Eric Guerrero (Stillwater, Okla. (Sunkist Kids). 
 Brands opened with a tight 1-0 overtime referee's decision, scoring the only takedown of the match. Guerrero executed a number of serious leg attacks, only to have Brands escape with outstanding counters.   In the second match, Brands led 4-0 after the first period. In the beginning of the second period, Brands was awarded a three-point throw during a scramble for a 7-0 lead, and went on to score a 10-0 technical fall at 4:39. 
 Brands was World Champion in 1998 and 1995, and also competed in the 1994 World Championships. He qualified for the 1997 World Team, but could not compete due to injury, and missed the entire 1998 season with injury. 
 1997 World Champion Les Gutches (Corvallis, Ore./Sunkist Kids) fell behind in both matches, but came back to sweep Charles Burton (Bloomington, Ind./Sunkist Kids) in two straight bouts at 187.25 pounds. 
 In the first match, Burton opened a 2-0 lead in the first period. A three-point bodylock in the second stanza gave Gutches the lead and an eventual 4-2 victory. 
 Burton scored the first takedown in the second match, but Gutches scored twice in overtime for a 2-1 overtime referee's decision. 
 Gutches has now made four straight U.S. World or Olympic teams. He was seventh in the 1996 Olympics and seventh in the 1998 World Championships. 
 Two-time World medalist Cary Kolat (Bethlehem, Pa./Dave Schultz WC) lost the first match, but rallied in the evening session with two wins to defeat surprising Bill Zadick (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye)at 138.75 pounds. Kolat was the 1997 World silver medalist and 1998 World bronze medalist, and made his third straight World Team. 
 Zadick surprised many with a 3-1 win over Kolat in the opening match. Zadick scored the first two takedowns, and never permitted Kolat to open up his offense. 
 Kolat responded with a solid performance in match two, scoring the only two takedowns in a 3-1 decision. Both wrestlers were penalized one point during a rough exchange in the second period. 
 In the third match, Kolat took control early, scoring two first period takedowns for a 2-0 lead. With just 28 seconds left in the second period, Kolat scored another takedown on a scramble and earned the required third point for a 3-0 victory.  
 1998 World bronze medalist Lincoln McIlravy (Iowa City, Iowa/Gateway) qualified for his third straight U.S. World team, stopping  Pat Santoro (Bethlehem, Pa./New York AC) in two straight matches at 152 pounds. 
 McIlravy stopped Santoro in the first match, 4-0, sooring four takedowns and shutting down Santoro's attack.  
 The second match was wide open, with McIlravy opening a 3-0 lead, and Santoro rebounding to tie at 3-3. Santoro turned McIlravy for a 5-3 lead, but McIlravy scored the next three points for a 6-5 margin. A Santoro takedown tied the bout at 6-6 with 20 seconds to go, but McIlravy scored a takedown on the buzzer for a 7-6 victory. 
 When Santoro was a runner-up in the 1996 Olympic Trials, he was the last American to beat McIlravy. 
 Four athletes qualified for their first U.S. World Team, bringing an exciting young group of stars to the U.S. effort. 
 Eric Akin (Overland Park, Kan./Dave Schultz WC) scored a two-match sweep over 1999 U.S. Nationals champion Lou Rosselli (Edinboro, Pa./New York AC) at 119 pounds to qualify for his first World team. 
 Akin won the first match, 2-1 in overtime, scoring a two-point move on the whistle at the end of the overtime period for a stunning victory. Rosselli broke a 0-0 tie with a takedown with 30 seconds left in the overtime period, but Akin scored a tilt during a scramble as time ran out. 
 In the second match, Akin jumped to a 4-0 lead. Although Rosselli scored the next two points, Akin scored an inside trip takedown with 55 seconds remaining for a 5-2 victory. 
 It was a rematch of the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials, won by Rosselli, two matches to one. Akin was also a runner-up at the 1998 World Team Trials, losing to eventual World Champion Sammie Henson.  
 Also making his first World Team was Joe Williams (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye), who needed three matches to defeat 1998 World team member Steve Marianetti (Urbana, Ill./New York AC) at 167.5 pounds. 
 Williams won a very close battle in the first match, taking a 1-0 lead with a takedown in the opening period. Williams held the one-point lead until the final three seconds of overtime, when he hit a three-point move to end the match at 8:58. 
 Marianetti won a hard-fought second match, which was extended into sudden death. The match was tied at 1-1 at the end of the overtime period. Under World Team Trials rules, if all criteria are equal, the match extends an unlimited period until the tie is broken. Marianetti scored a takedown at 10:14 to win, 2-1. 
 The third match was again close, tied at 1-1 in the second period. Williams took a 2-1 lead with two seconds left in regulation. As neither had scored the mandatory three points, the match went into overtime, and when no more points were scored, Williams won by a 2-1 margin. 
 Dominic Black (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army), the 1999 U.S. Nationals champion, made his first World team by stopping J.J. McGrew (Stillwater, Okla./Sunkist Kids) in two straight matches at 213.75 pounds. 
 Black jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first match, but a three-point throw in the second period by McGrew closed the lead to final 4-3 score. 
 Stephen Neal (Bakersfield, Calif./Dave Schultz WC) also made his first World team, needing three matches to stop 1998 World team member Kerry McCoy (State College, Pa./New York AC) at 286 pounds 
 In a very even battle, Neal and McCoy were tied at 1-1 late into the overtime period, when Neal scored a counter takedown with 22 seconds left for a 2-1 victory. 
 McCoy came back in match two with an inspired performance, scoring the first two points for a 2-1 lead at the end of the regulation time. Since neither wrestler had scored the mandatory three points, the bout went into overtime, where McCoy quickly scored for a 3-1 victory at 6:08. 
 In the final match, Neal dominated from the opening whistle, scoring early and going on to a strong 5-0 decision. Neal, a college senior at Cal-State Bakersfield, won NCAA and U.S. Nationals titles this year, prior to qualifying for the World team. 
 Quotes 
 119 - Eric Akin - "I like to mix things up and try to get the other guys tired. I have matured and changed my lifestyle. I am now focused. When you live like a champion, you become one. I have put a lot of time, hard work and effort into this." 
 127.75 - Terry Brands - "This is the most excited I have been in years. I was full of emotion. If you saw my second match, you saw I was wrestling it, not beating people up. I always have to remember to keep my head in the match and just wrestle.  
 138.75 - Cary Kolat - "The first match was emotional. It was my first loss to Zadick. We have been wrestling since college and it has been hard to take that loss. I went back and regrouped and came out and wrestled my style, which is to wrestle and dominate." 
 152 - Lincoln McIlravy - "Placing third last year at Worlds was a disappointment to me because I didn't wrestle well. I look forward to the World Championships this year. This weekend, I felt like I could score whenever I wanted. I had a couple of mental lapses. If you know my wrestling style, I like to go and not take breaks. The (second match) had too many breaks. 
 167.5 -Joe Williams - "The transition to freestyle has been fairly easy so far. I am learning to be more overall aggressive. My coaches are great motivator