Two U.S. wrestlers qualified for the bronze-medal match after challenging defeats in the semifinals at the Olympic Games freestyle competition at the Sydney Exhibition Centre on Sunday, October 1: Terry Brands (Lincoln, Neb./Hawkeye WC) at 127.75 pounds and Lincoln McIlravy (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC) at 69 kg/152 lbs.    Brands defeated David Pogosian of Georgia in the quarterfinals, 4-2. Brands opened the match on fire, scoring three takedowns for a 3-0 lead at midbreak. Pogosian scored a pair of takedowns in the second period, but Brands scored a TD in the last 10 seconds for a 4-2 win    The semifinals was a battle of past World Champions, between Brands, a 1993 and 1995 World Champion and Ali Reza Dabir of Iran, who was the 1998 World Champion.    Dabier opened strongly, scoring a three-point takedown and a hold for a 4-0 lead. Another takedown at 2:16 gave Dabier the 5-0 lead at break. Brands opened it up in the second period with one-point takedowns at 3:13 and 3:55, closing to 5-2. Dabier answered with a single leg takedown at 4:49 for a 6-2 edge. At 5:13,the athletes went out of bounds hard, on a caution and one penalty, making it 6-3. At 5:39, Brands scored a takedown for 6-4. At 5:56, Brands got another takedown for 6-5, the final margin of victory for Dabier. The United States protest the match, which was denied.    McIlravy won his quarterfinal, beating Ivan Diaconu of Moldova, 3-1. He scored a pair of first period takedowns, leading 2-0 at the break. McIlravy scored the important third point on a takedown early in the third period, and surrendered a takedown to Diaconu later for the winning margin.    In the semifinals, McIlravy just dropped a war with Daniel Igali of Canada, in the finals rematch of last year's Worlds. Igali jumped to a 2-0 lead at mid break, with two takedowns. McIlravy scored a point on a whizzer on the edge then added a two-point gutwrench for a 3-2 lead at 3:48. Igali tied the match at 3-3 on a takedown at 5:39. In overtime, Igali won an active exhange for a three-point takedown for the 6-3 win at 8:14.    Two U.S. wrestlers who lost their quarterfinal matches placed fifth: Charles Burton (Bloomington, Ind./New York AC) at 167.5 pounds and Kerry McCoy (Bethlehem, Pa./New York AC) at 130 kg/286 pounds.    Burton had a nailbiter against Magomed Ibragimov of Macedonia in the quarterfinals. Burton scored on a caution and one point penalty in the first period, and Ibragimov got an escape, making it 1-1 at break. In the second period, Ibragimov was penalized with another caution and one penalty, giving Burton the 2-1 lead at the end of regulation. In overtime, Ibragimov tossed Burton for a three point throw and the win, 4-2, at 8:45.    McCoy lost to Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan, 8-7, in a wide open battle in the quarterfinals. McCoy led 3-0, with a takedown and turn then lost eight straight points on takedowns and exposures to trail 8-3 at break. McCoy hit a three-point hip throw for an 8-6 margin late in the second period, then added a takedown in the last 10 seconds for the 8-7 margin.    Both wrestlers won their fifth-place match by injury default, when their opponents did not compete. Burton won over Yang Hyun Mo of Korea and McCoy won over Aleksei Medvedev of Belarus.    The United States protested the match, and the protest was denied. The portion of the matside video tape had been accidently taped over and was not available for the review. When another tape was made available, the protest was re-opened, and then denied for a second time. The match was re-scored 11-9 in favor of Taymazov.    With no U.S. wrestlers in the finals, the United States will not win a gold medal in freestyle wrestling for the first time since 1968 (not counting the boycotted 1980 Moscow Games. On Saturday night, two U.S. freestyle wrestlers won silver medals: Sammie Henson (Norman, Okla./Sunkist Kids) at 54 kg/119 lbs. and Brandon Slay (Amarillo, Texas/Dave Schultz WC) at 76 kg/167.5 lbs.    THE TIME OF SUNDAY'S FINAL SESSION IS 2:30 P.M., a change from the time sessions of the other seven days of wrestling competition.    Freestyle Wrestling, October 1, 9:30 a.m. session    58 kg - Terry Brands, Lincoln, Neb. (Hawkeye WC)    Quarterfinals - dec. David Pogosian (Georgia), 3-2    Semifinals - lost dec. to Ali Reza Dabier (Iran), 6-5    69 kg - Lincoln McIlravy, Iowa City, Iowa (Gateway WC)    Quarterfinals - dec. Ivan Diaconu (Moldova), 3-1    Semifinals - lost dec. to Daniel Igali (Canada), 6-3, ot, 8:14    85 kg - Charles Burton, Bloomington, Ind. (New York AC)    Quarterfinals - lost dec. to Magomed Ibragimov (Macedonia), 4-2, ot, 8:45    Fifth place match - won by inj. dft. over Yang Hyun Mo (Korea)    130 kg - Kerry McCoy, Bethlehem, Pa. (New York AC)    Quarterfinals - lost dec. to Artur Taymazov (Uzbekistan), 11-9    Fifth place match - won by inj. dft. over Aleksei Medvedev (Belarus)