The Russian Greco-Roman team is one of sport's greatest dynasties. It is more successful than the New York Yankees, the old Boston Celtics, the best of the Montreal Canadians. When you add in the years of the former Soviet Union, it seems that Russia wins the World or Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling competition almost every time.    One of those times Russia did not win came last year, when Pan American power Cuba put together a tremendous team effort. With support from the entire squad, Cuba scored 54 points, way ahead of runner-up Russia with 38 points. It was a historic victory for Cuba, which has been close on other occassions. Cuba was just two points behind Russia in the unofficial standings at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia and was also second at the 1999 World meet. The surprise was not that just one time Cuba would beat Russia; the surprise was the 16-point margin of victory that Cuba slapped on Russia at the World meet last year in Greece.    It's hard to expect that Cuba can repeat this year, with the World Championships in Russia's home, right in Moscow. However, with just seven weight classes, just one or two slipups can drop a team from the top of the standings to the middle of the pack. You can expect Russia to be as prepared as ever, with each of the seven chosen entries as salty as can be. Many of the years that Russia or the Soviet Union have won the team title, they have dominated and ran away with the crown. This could be one of those years.    It's hard to predict Russia's team, with so many World, Olympic and European medalists at each weight class. The most successful Russian athlete right now is five-time World Champion Gogi Kogouachvili at 96 kg. However, last year, he was not even on the Russian World Team, and his replacement, Alexandre Bezroutchkine won the gold. For so many years, Alexandre Kareline was the heart and soul of the Russian team. With him gone, it is tough to know who the true leaders are. If anything, Russia has been disappointing in the light weights recently, and need to step it up down there to return to dominance.    Cuba is completely different than Russia. The team you see at the Pan American Championships is usually the same at the World Championships. If that is the case, there is question if two-time Olympic champion Filiberto Azcuy will be on the team this year at 76 kg. Cuba has many athletes with considerable experience and many medals, stars like Juan Maren (66 kg), Lazaro Rivas (55 kg), Luis Mendez (84 kg) and Roberto Monzon (60 kg). To win again, all the Cuban stars must perform at the same time, just like last year.    The No. 3 team in the world the last two years has been the surprising United States. The USA won three medals at both the 2000 Olympics and the 2001 World Championships. Two of the 2001 World medalists are not on the team this year, with Matt Lindland retired and Rulon Gardner injured. Silver medalist Brandon Paulson (55 kg) returns, as does 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Garrett Lowney (96 kg). The fate of the U.S. team may rest on the athletes who have been close before stepping up and winning a medal this time: Jim Gruenwald (60 kg), Kevin Bracken (66 kg) and Dremiel Byers (120 kg). National Coach Steve Fraser has done an amazing job putting the USA in position to win it as a team. The hardest feat will be winning that first World team title.    It is safe to say that up to a dozen nations, with a few strong individual performances and some favorable draws, could move into the top few nations and challenge for a team title. This has to do with some true "parity" among Greco-Roman wrestling nations. It also will be exaggerated with just seven weight classes in the tournament. A few nations that have consistently strong programs in recent years are Turkey, Korea and Ukraine.     In recent years, Turkey has emerged as a major power, placing second in the 1997 World Championships and third in the 1998 World Championships. Turkey also defeated Russia to win the team title at the 2001 European Championships held in Turkey. At the 2000 Olympics, Turkey's top star, Hamza Yerlikaya claimed his second Olympic title and Turkey was among the top 10 nations. Last year, with Yerlikaya out of the medals, Turkey slipped to 14th. Yerlikaya and stars such as past World champions Ercan Yildiz (55 kg) and Seref Eroglu (66 kg) need to step it up.    Korea, the best team at the Asian Championships each year, placed second in the 1998 World Championships and third in the 1999 World Championships. Its performance in Sydney was consistent with recent excellence, with two medalists and a fifth-place finish in the unofficial standings. In 2001, Korea was locked in a fifth-place tie with two other nations. Korea is always tough in the light weights, with champions such as Sim Kwon-Ho (55 kg), Kim In Sub (66 kg) and Song Sang Pil (74 kg), and this is where they will need to get points again.    Ukraine captured just one medal at the 2000 Olympics, a silver, but was a solid fourth in the unofficial team standings, an indication of its team depth. Ukraine was second as a team in the 1994 World Championships. The team was a solid eighth at the 2001 World meet. Athletes such as Rustem Adzhy (66 kg), Oleksei Dorogan (85 kg) and Davyd Saldadze (96 kg) will need strong efforts for Ukraine to move up among the top few teams.    Last year, traditional power Sweden had a great meet, placing fourth at the 2001 World Championships. Among those tied with Korea in fifth place were Iran and Hungary. Of the three nations, Hungary has the longest tradition of Greco-Roman success. Sweden has produced many strong individuals over the years that can bring the team near the top. Iran has just recently become a regular Greco-Roman world contender, and with its first World champion in decades with Hassan Rangraz (55 kg), Iran has the confidence to continue its improvement.    As you might expect, the former republics of the Soviet Union have become successful in Greco-Roman all by themselves. The Soviet Union dominated Greco-Roman wrestling for 30 years, and developed strong programs across the empire.     In 2001, seven of the top 20 teams at the World Championships were new nations that were created when the Soviet Union broke apart. They included Ukraine (8th), Armenia (9th), Uzbekistan (10th), Georgia (11th), Belarus (13th), Kazakhstan (15th) and Kyrgyzstan (20th). The 2000 Olympics was not much different, with Ukraine (4th), Georgia (6th), Belarus (7th) , Kazakhstan (16th), Azerbaijan (18th) and Estonia (19th) among the top 20 of the unofficial standings. What separates these nations are the strength of individual efforts. A team puts a few athletes in the medal rounds and they will rise above the other nations that fell a little bit short with their individuals.    A nation with the potential to score big points is Bulgaria, led by superstar Armen Nazarian (60 kg) and multiple-medalist Sergei Mourieko (120 kg), both who started their careers in the former Soviet Union. Other nations that have featured former Soviet athletes which have scored well on the world level are Greece, Israel and Germany. Israel could be interesting with Michael Beilin (66 kg) and Yuri Yevseuchuk (120 kg) among the medal hopefuls.    Other nations with the individual talent to be in the hunt are Poland, Romania, China, Czech Republic, Japan, Switzerland, Norway and North Korea.  In Greco-Roman, any team with a few strong individuals can quickly climb in the standings, and can have an impact on the final outcome of the world standings.     What gives hope for all nations in this race was the performance of Poland at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Poland moved its athletes through the brackets, and when Russia faltered at a few weights, suddenly it was Poland that became the world's No. 1 team. If Poland could do it in 1996 and Cuba could put it together in 2001, then why not somebody else in 2002? With the tournament in Moscow this year, the dreamers may need to wait another year, as host Russia will be favored to win it all for their home fans. But as they say, "you never know; that's why they roll out the mats each year