Olympic champion. World champion. Gold medals. These are what it is all about for any international competitor. Those are the goals that they work year-round to achieve, and that is why most of them cry when they achieve them.    But it is the continuous drive to accomplish those goals that keeps 32-year-old Jim Gruenwald on the mat every year.    Years ago, Gruenwald could have given up Greco-Roman wrestling and pursued other life goals. Instead, he knew that if he worked and prayed hard enough, he could get past Dennis Hall, a 1996 Olympic silver medalist.    Not only was Hall the best wrestler in Gruenwald's weight in the seasons leading up until 2000, he was also Gruenwald's biggest nemesis since high school.    As a freshman at Hartford High School in Wisconsin, Hall defeated Gruenwald, then of Greendale High School, for the 1986 state title. Hall repeated the accomplishment two years later in Gruenwald's senior year.    In the years 1997-1999, Hall topped Gruenwald for a spot on the U.S. Greco-Roman World Team.    Ask Hall how many times the two had wrestled and he lost count somewhere around high school. Ask Gruenwald, and he can recall every point ever scored and how they were scored.    But Gruenwald, who puts as much passion and effort into his faith as he does his wrestling, was resilient. He had Olympic dreams and nobody, not even Dennis Hall, was going to stop him from realizing that dream.    In 2000, Gruenwald got mad, beat Hall twice, and got mad again. One might say because of his anger, he was finally able to overcome Hall after years of frustration. It was that anger that spilled over into one of the most embarrassing moments of Gruenwald's life following a controversial win over Hall.    "I am not proud of how I acted during that match or after," Gruenwald recalled this summer. "But I don't think Dennis really had much respect for me going into that match because he had beaten me so many times. Now, he had to respect me."    That match swung the pendulum in Gruenwald's favor.    He placed sixth in the 2000 Olympic Games. In 2001, after beating Hall by twin 3-0 scores to earn a spot on his first U.S. Greco-Roman World Team, Gruenwald placed tenth at the World Championships. This year, after a 4-0 win over Hall catapulted him to another World Team spot, he placed eighth, losing to eventual World Champion and two-time Olympic champion Armen Nazarian of Bulgaria in the quarterfinals.    And then, it was time for a new game.    Gruenwald had proven to himself he could get by anyone if he works hard enough at it. But this challenge seemed greater. He must now learn how to defeat Nazarian, who ripped him up at the 2002 World Championships with a pair of reverse lifts that ended the match in the first period.    Before the match, Gruenwald knew what he had to do to win that match.    "I have seen many guys crumble. His best move is a reverse lift. Everyone in the world knows it, so I just have to make sure and stop it if I get down," Gruenwald said before that September match in Moscow, Russia.    But Gruenwald didn't stop it. Not even close. He was aggressive on his feet, but as soon as the official put him on bottom, the match was over. If he weren't such a man with high faith, a bottle of vodka may have been waiting in his corner when he was done.    Last weekend at the Kurt Angle Classic in New Orleans, La., Gruenwald received another chance at Nazarian. For those of us that saw the match in Moscow, our hearts stopped beating when Gruenwald was placed on bottom midway through the first period.    Just like in Moscow, there was no score yet.    Just like in Moscow, we all knew a reverse lift was coming.    Unlike Moscow, Gruenwald did not give up the reverse lift. Not even close. What he was close to was an escape.    Gruenwald lost the match eventually by a 3-1 score in overtime. He scored an escape once, was not awarded points for Nazarian grabbing his legs on another escape attempt and was not given another escape as well. Three points could have been added to Gruenwald's score.    He might have won the match before it went to overtime. Instead, he was forced to break his lock in the clinch to attempt a throw or Nazarian would have received a point anyway.    Instead, Gruenwald was left crying in the warm-up area after his loss.    Gruenwald closed the gap on his world-class opponent. He proved not only to wrestling fans, but to himself as well, that he can break Nazarian and that he is good enough to win a World and Olympic gold medal. In some people's minds, he was the winner of that match, or at least the best wrestler on the mat.    Both Gruenwald and Nazarian were paid to compete at the Kurt Angle Classic against each other. The winner received an extra $1,500. But to Gruenwald, this was about more than money. It was about getting one step closer to realizing his dreams.    He may not know it now, but he did.    Note: The Center Circle will appear on TheMat.com on Thursdays.