It's that time again, for my predictions for the 2002 Freestyle Wrestling World Championships, to be held Sept. 5-7 in Tehran, Iran. Although the U.S. team is not going, over 40 countries will be sending teams to compete. The final lineups have not yet been announced by many countries, but so far it looks like Russia will run away with the team title. Here are my predictions, by weight class:     55 kg -- In the finals of the 2001 World Championships, then when the lowest weight class was 54 kg, Herman Kantoyev of Belarus defeated Babak Nourzad of Iran, 5-1. That event was held in Bulgaria, and this year's location of Iran  might be just enough to put the 24-year-old Nourzad over the top. He was a Junior World Champion in 1998, with 2001 being his first entry into the Senior World Championships. But Nourzad has not been unbeatable this year. He lost 6-1 in the finals of the 2002 World University Championship in June in Edmonton, Canada, to Japan's Tomohiro Matsunaga, who did not even make Japan's national team this year. Still, wrestling in front of the home crowd, and all the other advantages that competing in your home country bring, should make Babak Nourzad of Iran the winner at 55 kg.    60 kg -- Most of the wrestlers in this weight class competed in the old 58 kg division. At last year's World Championships at 58 kg, the finals saw Giuvi Sissaouri of Canada defeat Mongolia's Purevbaator Oyunbileg by a 5-2 score in overtime. However, these two met again this year, in April at the 2002 World Cup in Spokane, Washington. This time Oyunbileg decisioned Sissaouri by a 5-1 margin. Sissaouri ended up with the gold at the World Cup because Oyunbileg lost another match to Eric Guerrero of the U.S., 6-4. Since Guerrero also lost to Sissaouri, no one was undefeated. Thus the complicated scoring system gave the gold to the Canadian. But the American Guerrero, of course, will not be competing at this year's World Championships, so look for the 29-year-old teacher from Ulan Bator, Mongolia, Purevbaator Oyunbileg, to pick up his first World Championship.    66 kg -- This is another hybrid weight class, perhaps the hardest hit by the reduction from eight to seven weight classes by FILA at the behest of the International Olympic Committee. It combines wrestlers from the old 63 and 69 kg weight classes. At last year's World Championship finals at 63 kg, held in Bulgaria, Serafim Barzakov of Bulgaria defeated Ali Reza Dabir of Iran in a controversial finish by a score of 3-1. Both Barzakov and Dabir are reported to be going up to 66 kg this year. The 69 kg 2001 World Champion, Nikolai Paslar, also of Bulgaria, will likely wrestle at 74 kg this year.     Frankly, Ali Reza Dabir is one of the superstars of freestyle wrestling. He turns 25 on Sept. 16, has his own web site, www.alirezadabir.com, and has an incredible record that already includes a world championship in 1998 and an Olympic gold medal in 2000. Add to this the hometown advantage, and, if he remains healthy, he could not only win this year's world championship at 66 kg, but also become the 2002 freestyle wrestler of the year.    74 kg -- Although he finished second in the 2002 Russian Freestyle Championships, there is good reason that Russia has reportedly tapped Bouvaisa Saitiev to represent them at 74 kg. At the age of only 21, he won an Olympic gold medal in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996. Now 27, he has added to that list of gold medals by winning world championships in 1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001. He has also won the European Championships five times. The wrestler who beat him at the Russian nationals, Magomed Isagaschiev, only finished third at this year's European Championships, so it looks like Russia will go with the guy who more often than not gets the job done in international competition. Look for Bouvaisa Saitiev to go home with his sixth world gold medal. You can also read more about him at: http://www.amina.com/people/buvais.html.    84 kg -- With Cael Sanderson sitting home in Iowa, we will have to wait at least another year to see how the undefeated college wrestler would do in the much tougher international freestyle field. So until that time comes, this weight class seems to belong to Russia.     At this time it is not clear just whom Russia is sending, but it might not matter since they are incredibly deep at this weight. Khadjimourad Magomedov was the 2001 world champion at 85 kg, and the 1996 Olympic gold medalist at 82 kg. He is a veteran, but still only 28 years old. Adam Saitiev, the 24-year-old younger brother of Bouvaisa, was a 2000 Olympic gold medalist and a 1999 world champion. 22-year-old Sazhid Sazhidov was a junior world champion in 1998 and 2000, and a European champion in 2001 and 2002. Khajimurad Gatsalov, who reportedly tied with Adam Saitiev at this year's Russian nationals, was a 2001 junior world champion and a 2002 World Cup gold medalist. It just seems that whomever Russia sends will win the gold medal at this weight.    96 kg -- An intriguing question at this weight class is: Can 27-year-old Ali Reza Heydari of Iran win the big one at home this year? He did capture gold at the 1998 World Championships at 85 kg, the last time they were held in Iran. But in 1999, when they were held in Turkey, he slipped to second, after moving up to 97 kg, losing to Russia's Sagid Murtazaliev in the finals. He then fell to sixth place in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, and 16th place at the 2001 World Championships in Bulgaria. There he met the eventual champion Georgi Gogchelidze of Russia in his first-round pool, and was pinned in 2:14.    It is not yet entirely clear just whom Russia will be sending at this weight, but it likely will be Gogchelidze. He reportedly won the Russian nationals this year, and his performance against Heydari last year should alone be good enough reason to send him to Tehran to try to repeat. Gogchelidze is just 22, and also won gold at this year's World Cup in Spokane, again showing he can win on the road and in a country whose fans are likely rooting against him.     But beating Heydari in Iran this year, as opposed to Bulgaria last year, may be something else. Still, I'm picking the Russian Georgi Gogchelidze to win his second straight world championship this year and make his mark as one of the world's top wrestlers.    120 kg -- At 30 years old, David Musulbes of Russia may be one of the oldest competitors in serious contention for a gold medal. But his record of late speaks for itself: 2000 Olympic gold medalist, 2001 and 2002 European champion, 2001 world champion, and also this year's victor in the Russian nationals. Nobody seems able to stop Musulbes, and I doubt anyone will be able to do so at this year's World Championships either.    LIVE WEBCAST OF WORLD FREESTYLE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS FROM IRAN!  by Eddie Goldman    The official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) is calling the World Freestyle Wrestling Championships, which start Thursday in Tehran, "the main sporting event in Iran in 2002."     To highlight this, the web site of the Amateur Wrestling Federation of Iran will be having a free, live webcast of the action on the mat. Real Player, which is also free, is needed.    The web site is at:  www.iranwrestling.org.       The wrestling is scheduled to take place on Thurs., Sept. 5 from 9 AM to 9 PM; on Fri., Sept. 6 from 9 AM to 8 PM; and conclude on Sat., Sept. 7 from 9   AM to 8 PM, all Tehran local time. Remember that local Tehran time is +0430 UTC, or 8 1/2 hours ahead of EDT.    Besides the Iranian Wrestling Federation site, there are several web sites that will be either posting some results or articles about the World Freestyle Wrestling Championships.     Make sure to check TheMat.com. While USA Wrestling is not competing at this year's World Freestyle Wrestling Championships, TheMat.com will be providing information and results.    You can also check the web site of the Canadian Amateur Wrestling Assn. at:  www.wrestling.ca/index.php    There are several web sites in Iran that will be