NATIONAL CHAMPION DAN ST. JOHN TO DELAY HIS FINAL SERIES, AND FIRST SESSION PAIRINGS SET AFTER WEIGH-INS FOR LAS VEGAS USA FREESTYLE WORLD TEAM TRIALS, MAY 30-31 
  Dan St. John (Norman, Okla., Sunkist Kids), the U.S. Nationals champion at 167.5 pounds, will be unable to compete due to injury at the 1997 Las Vegas Freestyle World Team Trials, which will be held at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev., May 30-31. 
  This event will determine which athletes will represent the United States at the 1997 Freestyle World Championships in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Aug. 29-Sept. 1. 
  As the national champion, St. John still has a chance to qualify for the U.S. World team. Only the national champion in each weight class has the right to delay his final best-of-three series. St.John will face the winner of this weekend's tournament in a Special Wrestle-off at a site and date to be determined.   
  At the World Team Trials, each of the eight 1997 U.S. Nationals champions receive the top seed, and advance directly to the championship finals series. The rest of the qualifiers must battle in a Mini-Tournament on Friday, May 30.  
  With St. John unable to wrestle, Steve Marianetti (Champaign, Ill., New York AC), the runner-up at the 1997 U.S. Nationals at 167.5 pounds, moves up into the No. 1 seed position and will move into Saturday's finals.   
  The U.S. Nationals champion and the Mini-Tournament winner from each weight class will wrestle in a best-two-of-three series on Saturday, May 31, with the winner earning the spot on the U.S. team.   
 The rest of the 1997 U.S. Nationals champions made weight successfully. This includes two-time World Champion Terry Brands (Iowa City, Iowa), the national champion at 127.75 pounds and 1991 Worrld Champion Zeke Jones (Chandler, Ariz./Sunkist Kids), the 1997 national champion at 119 pounds. Jones was alos a 1992 Olympic silver medalist.   
  Two members of the 1996 U.S. Olympic team who also won national titles are top seeded: Les Gutches (Central Point, Ore./Sunkist Kids) at 187.25 pounds and Melvin Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) at 213.75 pounds. Both placed seventh in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga.   
  The other U.S. Nationals champions in the field include Cary Kolat (Rices Landing, Pa./Dave Schultz WC) at 138.75 pounds, Lincoln McIlravy (Philip, S.D./Hawkeye WC) at 152 pounds and Tom Erikson (W. Lafayette, Ind./Sunkist Kids) at 275.5 pounds.   
  The pairings have been determined for the Mini-Tournament competition, which is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Friday. All of the qualifiers except for the top seeds must wrestle in the Mini-Tournament. Only the winners of the Mini-Tournament will move on to compete in Saturday's finals series. The session times for the championship finals series  on Saturday are noon and 6:00 p.m.   
 The Las Vegas USA Freestyle Wrestling World Team Trials will be held alongside the Veterans National Championships, which features wrestlers age 35 years old and above. The Veterans competition is set for 9:00 a.m. on Friday and 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. 
  Tickets are still available for this exciting event, and can be purchased by calling the Las Vegas Organizing Committee at 702-385-5400 or at the gate. 
  LAS VEGAS USA FREESTYLE WORLD TEAM TRIALS MINI-TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS  
  54 kg/119 lbs.  
  Preliminaries  
  Stephen Abas, Hayward, Calif. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Lou Rosselli, Edinboro, Pa. (NYAC)  
  Sheldon Thomas, Newark, Del. (Dave Schultz WC) vs. Rob Eiter, Clarion, Pa. (Sunkist Kids) 
  Eric Akin, Coralville, Iowa (Hawkeye) vs. Kanamti Solomon, New Castle, Del. (NYAC) 
  Semifinals  
  Sam Henson, Columbia, Mo. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Rosselli/Abas winner 
  Thomas/Eiter winner vs. Solomon/Akin winner  
  58 kg/127.75 lbs. 
  Preliminaries  
  Danny Felix, Tempe, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Kerry Bowmans, Ypsilanti, Mich. (Dave Schultz WC)  
  Semifinals 
  Chris Bollin, Norman, Okla. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Bowmans/Felix winner  
  Tony Purler, Norman, Okla. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Yero Washington, Clovis, Calif. (Sunkist Kids) 
  63 kg/138.75 lbs.  
  Preliminaries 
  Troy Steiner, St. Anthony, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) vs. Alan Fried, Cedar Falls, Iowa (Sunkist Kids)  
  Semifinals  
  John Fisher, Ypsilanti, Mich. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Steiner/Fried winner 
  Shawn Charles, Norman, Okla. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Bill Zadick, Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye WC)  
  69 kg/152 lbs.  
  Preliminaries  
  Terry Steiner, Madison, Wis. (Wisconsin WC) vs. John Giura, Philadelphia, Pa. (Dave Schultz WC)  
  Semifinals  
  Townsend Saunders, Phoenix, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Tom Shifflett, Atlanta, Ga. (New York AC) 
  Kenny Ramsey, Columbus, Ohio (Ohio International) vs. Steiner/Giura winner  
  76 kg/167.5 lbs.  
  Preliminaries  
  Dan Wirnsberger, Christianburg, Va. (Virginia Tech) vs. Brian Dolph, Upper Darby, Pa. (Dave Schultz WC)  
  Rob Koll, Dryden, N.Y. vs. Chad Renner, Corvallis, Ore  
  Semifinals 
  Trevor Lewis, Malvern, Pa. (Dave Schultz WC) vs. Wirnsberger/Dolph winner  
  Willie Short, S. St. Paul, Minn. (Minnesota Storm) vs. Renner/Koll winner  
  85 kg/187.25 lbs. 
  Preliminaries  
  Jon McGovern, Charlottesville, Va. (Cavalier) vs. Derek Jones, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minn. Storm)  
  Semifinals  
  Kevin Jackson, Gilbert, Ariz. (Sunkist Kids) vs. McGovern/Jones winner  
  Dean Morrison, Morgantown, W.Va. (New York AC) vs. Andy Foster, Norman, Okla. (Sunkist Kids)  
  97 kg/213.75 lbs. 
  Semifinals  
  J.J. McGrew, Stillwater, Okla. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Johnny Curtis, Fairfax, Va. (Dave Schultz WC)  
  Rex Holman, Columbus, Ohio (Sunkist Kids) vs. Joel Sharratt, Bethlehem, Pa. (Dave Schultz WC)  
  125 kg/275.5 lbs.  
  Semifinals  
  Kerry McCoy, Middle Island, N.Y. (New York AC) vs. Justin Greenlee, Ames, Iowa (New York AC)  
  Tolly Thompson, Lincoln, Neb. (Sunkist Kids) vs. Airron Richardson, Ann Arbor, Mich. (Michigan WC)