HALL TO BATTLE GRUENWALD FOR SPOT ON U.S. WORLD GRECO-ROMAN TEAM AT SPECIAL WRESTLE-OFF AT FORT CARSON, COLO., SATURDAY, AUGUST 1 
  
 A Special Wrestle-off will be held for the 58 kg/127.75 lbs. position on the 1998 U.S. World Greco-Roman wrestling team on Saturday, August 1 at Fort Carson, Colo. 
  
 Competing in the Special Wrestle-off will feature 1996 Olympic silver medalist Dennis Hall (Plover, Wis./Sunkist Kids) and Jim Gruenwald (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids). 
  
 The Special Wrestle-off will be held at Garcia Gym on the U.S. Army base at Fort Carson, which is outside of Colorado Springs, Colo. It will be a best-of-three series, with session times at 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. 
  
 The winner of the best-of-three series will qualify to represent the United States at the 1998 World Greco-Roman Championships in Gavle, Sweden, Aug. 27-30. 
  
 The Special Wrestle-off became necessary when Hall, the 1998 U.S. Nationals champion in his weight class, was injured and unable to participate in the Greco-Roman World Team Trials in New Orleans, La., June 26-27. According to USA Wrestling procedures, only the U.S. Nationals champion is able to delay the final series to a later date due to injury. 
  
 Gruenwald won the competition at 58 kg/127.75 pounds at the Greco-Roman World Team Trials, to earn the right to face Hall in the Special Wrestle-off. 
  
 Hall and Gruenwald have a long rivalry, going back to their high school days in Wisconsin. Hall defeated Gruenwald in the finals of the U.S. Nationals the last two years, and also beat Gruenwald in the finals of the 1997 Greco-Roman World Team Trials. 
  
 Hall is considered one of the greatest U.S. Greco-Roman wrestlers of all time. He won a gold medal at the 1995 Greco-Roman World Championships, one of only two U.S. wrestlers to win a Greco-Roman World title. He also was a bronze medalist at the 1994 World Championships. 
  
 He also placed eighth in the 1992 Olympic Games. Hall has won seven straight career U.S. Nationals titles. Hall was a 1995 Pan American Games champion. Hall is a student at the Univ. of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where he is an assistant wrestling coach. He is originally from Hartford, Wis. 
  
 Gruenwald is a U.S. Olympic Training Center resident athlete, and has become one of the most successful wrestlers on the U.S. national team. This season, he won gold medals at the 1998 Pan American Championships, the 1998 Concord Cup and the 1998 Sweden Cup Grand Prix.  
  
 Gruenwald attended Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Wisconsin, and is originally from Greendale, Wis. 
  
 The Special Wrestle-off is open to the public and is free of charge.