The change in weight divisions this year in freestyle wrestling is felt most in Bulgaria, which had 2001 World Champions Serafim Barzakov at 63 kg and Nikolai Paslar at 69 kg. Both of these stars may end up competing at this division. Paslar was the Bulgarian competitor at the 2002 European meet, winning a bronze medal. Barzakov is the most experienced, and has an Olympic silver medal in his trophy case. Paslar was the most impressive last season, receiving Wrestler of the Year honors from FILA. Somehow, Bulgaria will have to figure out how to get both of these stars in their lineup, if it is at all possible.    The 2001 World silver medalist at 63 kg was Ali Reza Dabir of Iran, an Olympic gold medalist at 58 kg in Sydney and also a 1998 World champion at 58 kg.  Dabir is expected to be at 66 kg, and must show he can handle the increase in weight. He seemed to have no troubles at the recent University World Championships in Canada. If Dabir is healthy and prepared, he should be a strong favorite. He will receive a tremendous boost by competing on the home mats in Tehran this year.     1995 and 1999 World Champion Elbrus Tedeev of Ukraine was a World bronze medalist in 2001 and will continue to be a favorite. Tedeev may be the most experienced star at this weight class, and will try to use this to his advantage against his younger challengers.    Earning medals behind Paslar at 69 kg last year were silver medalist Amir Tavakolian of Iran and bronze medalist Jang Jae-Sung of Korea. How Tavakolian fits into the Iranian lineup with the new weight classes is yet to be seen. Jang was a 1996 Olympic silver medalist, 2000 Olympic bronze medalist and 1999 World silver medalist.  This experience should serve him well in this wide-open field. The 2000 Olympic champion at 63 kg, Mourad Oumachanov of Russia, has not competed in recent seasons and may be retired.    The 2002 European champion at this weight is Zaur Botaev of Russia, followed by runner-up Elman Asgarov of Azerbaijan. Botaev is one of the young Russians seeking to emerge at the world level. Asgarov is a veteran but has not reached the medals at the Worlds to date. Some new athletes had strong 2002 European showings, with Omer Cubukci of Turkey, Shalva Muziashvili of Georgia and Betim Vrenezi of Macedonia placing in the top six.      The American entry will be Chris Bono, who competed at the World Championships last year at 69 kg but did not place. Bono has considerable international experience, but has yet to have the big breakthrough that many believe he is capable of. Bono tends to be in some very close matches, and will need to score points early in each match if he is to make a run for the medals. No athlete in this division will have his conditioning or passion.    This weight class will be hard to predict, especially until the top athletes settle on a weight class. Some to watch are Mehmet Yozgat of Turkey, Lucjan Gralak of Poland, Arshak Hayrapetyan of Armenia, Carlos Ortiz of Cuba and Stefan Fernyak of Slovakia. Others to watch based upon past performance are Soslan Tomaev of Russia, Norsin Bayarmagnai of Mongolia, Laszlo Szabolcs of Romania, Ahmet Gulhan of Turkey and Emzar Bedineishuili of Georgia. In short, this weight class should be wide open, with participants from two previous weight classes, and with many individuals capable of making the medal round.      With the elimination of one weight class in the middle weights, there could be much switching around at 66 kg and 74 kg. Some of these athletes at 69 kg last year  may show up at 74 kg now or in the future. There may also be some athletes who disappear from the scene, who can't get down to 66 kg and will be too small for 74 kg. Only time will tell.     2001 World Championships results   63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Gold - Serafim Barzakov (Bulgaria) dec. Ali Reza Dabir (Iran), 3-1; Bronze - Elbrus Tedeev (Ukraine) dec. Mehmet Yozgat (Turkey), 4-0; 5th - Elman Asgarov (Azerbaidjan); 6th -  Lucjan Gralak (Poland); 7th - Bill Zadick (USA); 8th - Otar Tushishvili (Georgia); 9th -  Bae Jin-Kuk  (Korea); 10th - Ar. Alexandridis (Greece)    2001 World Championship results   69 kg/152 lbs. - Gold - Nikolai Paslar (Bulgaria) dec. Amir Tavakolian (Iran), 6-1; Bronze - Jang Jae-Sung (Korea) dec. Laszlo Szabolcs (Romania), 6-2; 5th - Ahmet Gulhan (Turkey); 6th -  Emzar Bedineishvili (Georgia); 7th - Yosmany Sanchez (Cuba); 8th - Stefan Fernyak (Slovakia); 9th -  Daniel Igali (Canada); 10th - Zaza Zozirov (Ukraine)    2000 Olympic Games results   63 kg/138.75 lbs. - Gold - Mourat Oumakhanov (Russia) dec. Serafim Barzakov (Bulgaria), 3-2; Bronze -Jang Jae Sung (Korea) won by tech. fall over Mohammad Talaei (Iran), 12-2, 5:20; 5th -Arshak Hayrapetyan (Armenia); 6th - Carlos Ortiz (Cuba); 7th - Shamil Afandiyev (Azerbaijan); 8th - Stefan Fernyak (Slovakia); 9th - Cary Kolat (United States); 10th - Ruslan Bodisteanu (Moldova); 11th - Elbrus Tedeev (Ukraine); 12th - Nikolai Savin (Belarus); 13th - Kazuyuji Miyata (Japan); 14th - Jo Yong Son (People's Republic of Korea); 15th - Otar Tushishvili (Georgia); 16th - Maksat Boburbekov (Kyrgyzstan); 17th - Ramil Islamov (Uzbekistan); 18th - Musa Ilhan (Australia); 19th - Juergen Scheibe (Germany)    2000 Olympic Games results   69 kg/152 lbs. -  Gold - Daniel Igali (Canada) dec. Arsen Gitinov (Russia), 7-4; Bronze - Lincoln McIlravy (United States) dec. Sergei Demtchenko (Belarus), 3-1; 5th - Yosmany Sanchez (Cuba); 6th - Ivan Diaconu (Moldova); 7th - Arayik Gevorgyan (Armenia); 8th - Almaz Askarov (Kyrgyzstan); 9th - Yuksel Sanli (Turkey); 10th - Amir Tavakolian (Iran); 11th - Zaza Zozirov (Ukraine); 12th - Takahiro Wada (Japan); 13th - Cameron Johnston (Australia); 14th - Edison Hurtado (Colombia); 15th - Petar Kasabov (Bulgaria); 16th - Nikolaos Loizidis (Greece); 17th - Emzar Bedineishvili (Georgia); 18th - Mariusz Dabrowski (Poland); 19th - Ruslan Veliyev (Kazakhstan); 20th - Ibo Oziti (Nigeria)