Ethan Bosch is one of the veteran stars on Greco-Roman Team USA. After 10 years on the Senior level, he won his first U.S. Nationals title this year with a victory at 84 kg/185 lbs. He will being going into the World Team Trials as the top seed for the first time in his career.    Bosch was one of the original Greco-Roman resident athletes, a person who helped build the program to its current level of success. He was second in the 2000 Olympic Trials, losing a tough three-match series to Quincey Clark. Bosch is seeking his first berth on a U.S. World Team. TheMat.com spoke with Bosch as he is making his final preparations for the World Team Trials in Saint Paul.    TheMat.com: After 10 years on the national circuit in Greco-Roman, you won your first U.S. Nationals. Did you always believe that you would win, and how did you keep up your confidence throughout the years?  Bosch: I always figured I was in the mix. I have beaten all the guys who were winning. I figured, if I stuck it out long enough, I would get mine.    TheMat.com: What was the key to winning this year? Was there anything specific that you believe made the difference?  Bosch:  I really didn't do anything different in my preparation than any other year. At the Nationals, I tried to keep my focus. I didn't make any dumb mistakes. I guess it was my time, finally.    TheMat.com: At the 2000 Olympic Trials, you were one match away from making the Olympic Team, taking the first match in the series with Quincey Clark. Looking back, what are your thoughts about that event, two years later?  Bosch: That was hard, really. I just don't know. When I got done at the Trials, I didn't have any regrets. I wrestled as hard as I could, did everything I could do. The result just didn't come out for me. I did everything I could do to win, but Quincey ended up winning. I have no regrets. I was so close, I could taste it. It just was not my time.    TheMat.com: Are you going to commit to competing for the next Olympic team? If so, will you approach things any differently?  Bosch: I am definitely going through 2004. Lord willing, I stay healthy and things keep going my way. I'll prepare the same.    TheMat.com: But did being in the Olympic Trials finals, competing with all that pressure and in front of all those fans, teach you anything that will help this time through?  Bosch: When I was in high school, I qualified for the state meet as a junior and was in awe. I went 0-2. I'm from New York and only 13 guys get to wrestle in the states at each weight. On the first day, they go down to the semifinals and down to eight guys in the wrestlebacks. They eliminate just one guy. I was that first guy out. The next year, I came back and won it, and pinned my way through. Having been there, I believe, was a valuable experience. I don't know if I will do much differently, but I will be more confident. It will be familiar to me. If there was anything I would do differently, it would be my preparation for the third match. I needed to get away from it more, to step back. If I am there again, I'll know to do that.    TheMat.com: Talking about pinning, you have a tendency to get pins in many matches, including against foreign competitors. Is that something that you concentrate on, or does it just happen in some cases?  Bosch: Yes. Ideally, that is the purpose of wrestling. Jim Gruenwald and I laugh at each other. He gets tech falls, and I hardly get techs but get a lot of pins. I always look for it. Anytime I get him on his back, I go for it. I try to turn the man when I am on top. I am looking for the pin, rather than just scoring points. I surprise some of the guys overseas. I do things that they may not have seen before and end up getting the pin.    TheMat.com: You attended Syracuse Univ., a once proud program that no longer has wrestling. What are your thoughts about what happened at Syracuse?  Bosch: That was a bad situation. I'm not sure of everything that went into dropping the team. They dropped men's gymnastics at the same time. I don't believe that they ever said it was because of Title IX, but I believe it was. I don't think they ever gave it a fair shake. They gave us some time to raise the money to save the program, but it didn't get done. I am hopeful it will come back some day. I'm hoping that they get this Title IX thing cleared up, so they stop dropping  men's sports. The team had a proud history, and I'm hopeful it comes back. I don't know when or how it will happen, but I have hopes that it will.    TheMat.com: In 1993, USA Wrestling started its first resident program in Greco-Roman, bringing athletes to Colorado Springs to train full time. You were in that first group of resident athletes. What has the program meant to you and how has it helped the Greco-Roman program?  Bosch: The resident program is the single biggest reason that our Greco-Roman team has been doing so well in the Worlds and Olympics lately. We have been right in the mix. Having a program, giving someone a place to go and train in Greco-Roman, has been great. For me personally, I am having great workout partners and a variety of partners and have a coaching staff to work with every day. It has improved the level of the U.S. team in general. We get better here, and everybody else has to get better also. Everyone has had to step it up a notch with the program being there.    TheMat.com: Who was the toughest U.S. wrestler that you have had to face?  Bosch: That's difficult. If I step on the mat, who would I least like to see? I wrestled Matt Lindland three times and never beat him. I was ahead two of those times, but he was able to win. Dan Niebuhr, he was a guy who was always tough for me. I beat him sometimes, but I don't know how I did it. Dan Henderson was always tough. Quincey Clark is tough; he's hot and cold. When he is hot, he is very hard to beat. Before that, Marty Morgan kicked my butt a few times. It is really hard to pick just one.    TheMat.com: The World Team Trials gives you a chance to make your first U.S. team. For the first time, you won't be in the Challenge Tournament. Are you approaching things differently as the top seed?  Bosch: I'm really doing things the same to prepare. I'm going through the workouts and doing the extra things. I'm trying to be smart. It is different. I know I'll only wrestle one person, but I don't know who I will have to wrestle. Since I don't know, I'll have to be prepared for everybody.I'll prepare the same way. The Lord willing, I will knock him off and make that first team.    TheMat.com: It's coming up fast...  Bosch: We weigh-in in a week. It's starting to get harder to sleep. I'm thinking about this a lot now.