JIM GRUENWALD  2002-03 Team USA Ranking: No. 1 at 60 kg/132 lbs.  Years on Team USA: 8 (1994-95, 1997-2004)  Residence: Colorado Springs, Colo.  Club: Sunkist Kids  College: Maranatha Baptist Bible College  High School: Greendale, Wis. (Greendale HS)  Born: June 9, 1970 in Milwaukee, Wis.  Height: 5-4    1. Seven straight trips to the national finals and seven straight runner-up finishes. Were you starting to just think that the U.S. National title might elude you forever?  Gruenwald: I was hoping that it wouldn't. I guess there was one part of my mind that did think it was going to be one of those things that would elude me, but there was a bigger part of my mind that didn't want to accept that.    2. How much more special does winning a title of this magnitude become when you have been so close so many times in your career?  Gruenwald: Any time that you wait for something, it adds to the flavor. This is my twelfth trip to nationals. After taking seven seconds in-a-row, winning it almost seemed anti-climatic. All the other years I have had these titanic struggles in the finals or lost in the last 15 seconds, and to have one of my best matches ever against Nieradka.    3. You dominated Glenn Nieradka, the same person who beat you in the national finals last year. What was the difference maker in that match?  Gruenwald: I think it was a lot of little things that I changed from last year. I go into every match trying to keep my focus on God, and honoring him and serving him. Momir (Petkovic) spoke with me after the tournament and told me I did everything we had talked about. By the time I got to the finals, I felt a lot more fresh than what Glenn seemed to be. I think I had a lot more to give. And, Glenn is in the same practice room as I am and I know he has suffered some injuries recently. All that takes its toll and he is still training more than most of the guys in the U.S., but if he is not training 100 percent all the time, than it gives me an opportunity to gain some ground on him.    4. Do you feel that this may be a sign that things are really starting to come together as we are well into the last half of the Olympic cycle?  Gruenwald: I would like to think so. Every year in my mind, it seems like I am improving. There are times you are going to have some setbacks. The potential is there. I just need to make sure I put everything together at the right time.    5. Outside of the loss to Dennis Hall at the RealProWrestling pilot, you have wrestled extremely well over the past year, including a close loss to current World Champion Armen Nazarian. How you would assess the way you have wrestled since the World Championships?  Gruenwald: I think I've made some definite improvements. The biggest indicators are against Nazarian and (Cuba's Roberto) Monzon. At the RealProWrestling thing, I don't think I was at my best.I have to learn to rise to the occasion even when I am not my best. As a whole, from the Worlds last year, I have made some necessary adjustments that I think have helped me to improve.    6. Your weight class is controlled by veterans: you, Nieradka and Hall. Is there anyone else out there that you feel could run through the Challenge Tournament and face you in the finals at the Trials?  Gruenwald: I think Joe Warren is doing everything that he needs to be doing to get better. He works out with me three or four times per week. If you look at it right now, the top four guys in my weight class are training in Colorado Springs. Joe has great conditioning and a great heart. He brings in that youthful intensity that we seem to forget. That's why it is nice having him there, so I can see that and maintain it. Even Jacob Hey. He is a guy who has had some injuries the past year or two, but he is still a dangerous guy to wrestle.    7. At the Trials, what has separated you from everyone else in your weight class the last three years?  Gruenwald I think there is always a lesson to be learned when you lose. And obviously, from my record, you can see that I have done my fair share of losing in the Trials. I have a real strong faith in God and Christ. It might have been one of those things where God was using the situation to test me. Sometimes you need things in your life to help you increase your faith.    8. Now that you have finally won a national title, is your only remaining wrestling goal to win an Olympic medal?  Gruenwald: I have two more goals to achieve. Those are World and Olympic gold medals. That is all I have left on my checklist as far as wrestling accomplishments.    9. After 2004, will you be done wrestling no matter what?  Gruenwald: Let's just say that I am done with 60 kilograms. I have a kid now, a wife, another kid on the way, I am a week away from being 33 years old. There comes a time when even the success of the sport pales in comparison to the pain involved with cutting weight, the training, being away from your family and all the other things. My family comes first regardless, but it's hard to do that when you are competing all the time. 2004 I plan to be done and I will not look back with any regrets and try to give back to the sport that has helped develop me.    10. Has the rivalry between you and Hall fizzled somewhat over the past year or two?  Gruenwald: I know that it has not has been in the forefront of people's minds as much. In people's eyes, that would fall behind other rivalries in the U.S. That is something that I don't think is ever going to die. Our relationship has improved over the last couple of years, but that rivalry will never die.