This is a weight division with many talented stars, but with no true dominant athlete. A few champions have had difficulty stringing strong World meets in a row, making this potentially a wide open race again this year.    The reigning World Champion is Russia's Geider Mamadaliyev, who had a tremendous World meet last year to claim his first World title. Mamadaliyev followed that strong finish with a disappointing 17th place in the 2003 European Championships .Every year, Russia has many options at each weight class, including 2002 European champion Renat Bikkinin at this division.     There are two tremendous talents at this division who must be considered gold-medal hopefuls each year: Hassan Rangraz of Iran and Lazaro Rivas of Cuba.    Rangraz was a 2001 World Champion, and claimed the bronze medal in the 2002 World Championships. He was leading in the semifinals last year by a dominant margin, then got accidently pinned executing his final scoring move. Rangraz has all the tools needed for success and is still young, something that could mean a long and successful career. Iran won the Asian Championships silver medal and the Junior World gold medal this year with Hamid Bavafa, but you can bet it will be Rangraz at the World meet.    Rivas was a 1999 World Champion, 2000 Olympic silver medalist and 2001 World bronze medalist. Last year, he failed to make the top 10. In 1999, FILA named him the International Greco-Roman Wrestler of the Year, based upon his ability to score points in an explosive manner. Rivas has dominated the Pan American wrestling scene, winning the Pan Am Games this season. He should be expected to be in the medal race again.    The United States has a gold-medal contender, 1996 Olympic silver medalist Brandon Paulson, one of the veterans in this crowd. Paulson added a World silver medal in 2001, dropping the finals match to Rangraz. Last year, Paulson was defeated in the quarterfinals by eventual champion Mamadaliyev, in a very controversial bout on Russia's home mats. Paulson got his revenge, beating Mamadaliyev at the Kurt Angle Classic. Paulson has had difficulty with Rivas, losing their frequent meetings, including a 5-2 match in the Pan American Games finals this year. Paulson is a proven winner who seems to peak at the right events, and is still motivated to win his first World gold medal.    The World silver medalist in 2002 was Nepes Gukulov of Turkmenistan. As with every weight class, many of the former Soviet republics have tremendous talents in Greco-Roman, making winning a medal very difficult.    Placing fourth in the world last year was Ashot Khachaturyan of Armenia. Just to show the depth here, Armenia had the European silver medalist at this division in 2003, Roman Amoyan. You can expect the Armenian entry to be tough, which ever athlete is entered.    1997 World Champion Ercan Yildiz of Turkey is always a top contender. Yildiz placed in a tie for fifth at the World Championships last year. He finished out of the top 10 at the Sydney Olympics, and seems ready to fix that in the next Games in Athens. Yildiz was second in the Pytlasinski Tournament in Poland in August, a strong tune-up event for the World meet. Turkey has many talents in this division, including European placewinners Ercan Dundar and Bayram Oezdemir, in case they do not go with Yildiz this year. Oezdemir was third at the Pytlasinski tournament, one spot behind Yildiz.    Also placing in a tie for fifth in the 2002 World Championships was veteran Marian Sandu of Romania, who continued his hot streak by claiming the gold medal at the 2003 European Championships. Sandu was a World silver medalist in 1998. Sandu has the experience and skill to make a run for the medals every year, especially down at this weight division.    Winning the European bronze medal this year was Aleksey Vakulenko of Belarus, and Boris Radkevich of Belarus placed fourth. Vakulenko was 10th in the World Championships last year. Radkevich was a 2001 European Champion and placed sixth in the 2001 World Championships. Both are proven talents who will be difficult draws in any pool.    Winning the gold medal at the Pytlasinski Tournament in Poland was Japanese veteran Masatoshi Toyota, which gives him a big boost leading into the World meet. Japan has also used Tomoyo Murata at this division in recent major international events.    Out there in the field are a number of aging veterans, all who could knock off younger talents at any time. Germany has two of them, past World Champions Oleg Koucherenko and Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan. Koucherenko was a 1992 Olympic champion for the Soviet Union, and continues to compete, placing seventh in the 2003 European Championships. Ter-Mkrtchyan, also a medalist for the Soviets, has continued to medal at international events around the world.    The reigning Olympic champion is two-time gold medalist Sim Kwon Ho of Korea, who has not competed at the World level since his title in Sydney. It would be quite interesting if Sim tried to win a third Olympic title by making a comeback, but don't expect it. Korea has traditionally had many champions at this division, including Ha Tae-Yeon, a 1998 World Champion and 1999 World silver medalist. Im Dae-Won, the 2003 Asian bronze medalist, has been the Korean entry in recent years, an athlete who still has not broken through at the highest level.    The 2003 Asian Champion is Asset Imanbayev of Kazakhstan. Another possible entry from Kazakhstan is Rayymzhan Assembekov of Kazakhstan, who was ninth in the Sydney Olympic Games and placed seventh in the 2001 World Championships. The other "K" country also has a top talent, Uran Kalilov of Kyrgyzstan. Kalilov was fourth at the 2001 World Championships and placed eighth at the 2000 Olympic Games. Kalilov was also fourth in the 2003 Asian Championships.    The list of potential medal hopefuls is long here. Artiom Kiouregian of Greece, Khatri Mukesh of India, Irakli Tchoutchua of Georgia, Tenyo Tenev of Bulgaria, Tibor Olah of Hungary, Natig Evyazov of Azerbaijan and Wang Hui or Cao Pei of China are all past placewinners in major events in the past few seasons. The top athlete from Africa may be Mohamed Abu Elela of Egypt.    Mamadaliyiev of Russia is hoping to show that somebody can win a World title two years in a row in this competitive division. Past World champions Rangraz of Iran and Rivas of Cuba aim to return to the top by winning another gold medal. Paulson of the United States is poised to capture his first World-level gold, after claiming a pair of silvers.  A ton of talented athletes will be sprinkled throughout this division, making the pool competitions very challenging and important. With less than a year until the Olympic Games, this year's World tournament will be a great preview of the true contenders for gold in Athens.    RECENT WORLD AND OLYMPIC RESULTS    2002 World Championship results   55 kg/121 lbs. - Gold - Geider Mamadaliyev (Russia) dec. Nepes Gukulov (Turkmenistan), 4-0; Bronze - Hassan Rangraz (Iran) won by tech. fall over Ashot Khachaturyan (Armenia), 10-0, 4:39; 5th (tie) Marian Sandu (Romania) and Ercan Yldiz (Turkey); 7th - Artiom Kiouregian (Greece); 8th - Brandon Paulson (United States); 9th - Irakli Tchotchua (Georgia); 10th - Oleksandr Vakulenko (Ukraine)    2001 World Championships results    54 kg/119 lbs. - Gold - Hassan Rangraz (Iran) dec. Brandon Paulson (USA), 8-4; Bronze - Lazaro Rivas (Cuba) dec. Uran Kalilov (Kyrgyzstan), 3-1; 5th - Khatri Mukesh (India); 6th - Barys Radkevich (Belarus); 7th - Rakymzhan Assembekov (Kazakhstan); 8th - Tenyo Tenev (Bulgaria); 9th - Tomoya Murata (Japan); 10th - Oleg Koucherenko (Germany)    2000 Olympic Games results   54 kg/119 lbs. - Gold - Sim Kwon-Ho (Korea) dec. Lazaro Rivas (Cuba), 8-0; Bronze - Kang Yong Gyun (People's Rep. Of Korea) dec. Andriy Kalashnikov (Ukraine), 7-0; 5th - Alfred Ter-Mrkrtchyan (Germany); 6th - Wang Hui (China); 7th - Natig Eyvazov (Azerbaijan); 8th - Uran Kalilov (Kyrgyzstan); 9th - Rayymzhan Assembekov (Kazakhstan); 10th - Mohamed Abou Elela (Egypt); 11th - Ercan Yildiz (Turkey); 12th - Alexei Chevtsov (Russia); 13th - Marian Sandu (Romania); 14t