The current king of the hill at this division is Ara Abrahamian of Sweden, who captured the gold medal at this division in 2002. Abrahamian was also a World champion at 76 kg in 2001, and has successfully moved up in weight and taken over his new division. Abrahamian did not compete at the 2003 European Championships, replaced by Lennart Person, but we can expect to see Abrahamian competing in France at the World meet.     Placing second in the World last year was Aleksandre Menshikov of Russia, who was also fourth in the World Championships in 2001. Menshikov had a disappointing tournament at the 2000 Olympic Games, placed just 14th, but has placed himself in the medal rounds at the last two World Championships. Alexei Michine, who was a World silver medalist at 76 kg in 2001, has wrestled for Russia at 85 kg this year, winning the European Championships gold medal and claiming a fifth-place finish at the 2003 Pytlasinksi Tournament in Poland. Russia also boasts the 2003 Junior World Champion at this division, Dennis Forov.    The biggest star in this division during the 1990's was two-time Olympic champion Hamza Yerlikaya of Turkey. Besides winning Olympic golds in Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000), Yerlikaya won World titles in 1993 and 1995 and a World silver medal in 1997. He was the youngest World Champion in history, claiming his first World title at the age of 17. Yerlikaya dropped to ninth in the 2001 World Championships and was sixth in the 2002 World Championships.     Turkey has another tremendous option at this division, past World champion Nazmi Avluca, who placed eighth in the 2003 European Championships at this division. Avluca won a gold medal at the 2002 World Cup, another indication that he may now be the man for Turkey. Yerlikaya wrestled up at 96 kg at the World Cup event last year.    Another super talent is Mukran Vakrangadze of Georgia, who was a 2001 World Champion and won a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games. Vakrangadze dropped to ninth in the world in 2002, but his bronze medal at the 2003 European Championships means that he should be in the hunt for a medal again this year at the World level.    Wrestling fans have been very impressed by the improvement of the Greco-Roman wrestlers from Egypt, including Mohammed Ibrahim Abd El Fattah, who was third in the World Championships in 2002. El Fattah won a silver medal at the 2002 Greco-Roman World Cup, placing only behind Turkey's Avluca, and was fourth in the Pytlasinski Tournament in August.    This weight division is jammed with experienced stars who have legitimate opportunities to win a medal. Armenia is represented by Levon Geghamyan, who was second in the European Championships in 2003 and fourth in the World Championships in 2002.    Sandor Bardosi of Hungary was the 2000 Olympic silver medalist and placed fifth at the World Championships in 2001. Hungary had a different entry at the European Championships, ninth-place Balacz Kiss, but Bardosi was on the mats at the Pytlasinki Tournament, placing eighth. Kiss won a silver medal at the 2003 Junior World Championships, another indication that he may be ready to move up to the highest levels.    The 2001 World bronze medalist was Oleksei Dorogan of Ukraine, who placed a solid fifth at the 2003 European Championships. Another top contender each year is Israel's Gotcha Tsitsiachvili of Israel, a former World silver medalist who placed eighth at the 2002 World Championships and sixth at the 2000 Olympic Games. He was 10th at the 2003 European Championships, as well.    The 1999 World Champion was Luis Mendez of Cuba who placed fifth in the Sydney Games, then placed seventh at the 2001 World Championships. Mendez is coming off a victory at the 2003 Pan American Games.    The United States has a strong medal contender, young Brad Vering, who was fifth at the 2003 World Championships in his first attempt at the World level. With another year of seasoning, it is very possible that Vering is ready to move into the medal rounds this year. Vering was beaten in the finals of the Pan Am Games by Cuba's Mendez this summer.    Bojan Mijatov of Serbia and Montenegro was seventh in the World last year, and Viacheslav Makaranka of Belarus captured the 10th placement at the World Championships for the last two years. Belarus has another talented star at this division, Valery Tsilent, who was fourth at the European Championships this year. Tsilent placed a strong fourth at the 2000 Olympic Games.    Among the top talents from Asia are 2003 Asian champion Abdullah Jebraliev of Kazakhstan and 2003 Asian runner-up Evgeniy Erofaylov of Uzbekistan. Erofaylov was eighth in the 2001 World Championships.    Poland swept the top two spots at the 2003 Pytlasinski Tournament at this division, champion Artur Michalkewicz and runner-up Marcin Letki. Both are experienced and could be in the medal hunt if they are the choice for Poland in the meet.     Other athletes that could be contenders this year are Tuomo Mantilya of Finland, Vladislav Meodiev of Bulgaria, Sayed Marashian of Iran, Tarvi Thomberg of Estonia, Atilla Batky of Slovakia and Fritz Aanes of Norway. Aanes placed fourth at the 2002 Olympic Games, but had his placement stripped after testing positive for steroids. He is back on the mats, and can not be overlooked.    It seems that Abrahamian of Sweden, after winning World titles for two straight years, has the inside track at this division. However, stars such as Russia's Menshikov, Georgia's Vakrangadze, Egypt's El Fattah and others look to knock him off the pedestal. Turkey's Yerlikaya is looking the regain the magic that gave him five World and Olympic titles in the past. Vering of the USA is looking to bring home his first medal. This is a weight class deep with talent, and there should be some tremendous battles in the pool competition just to see who has a chance at making a run for the medals.    RECENT WORLD AND OLYMPIC RESULTS    2002 World Championships results   84 kg/185 lbs. - Gold - Ara Abrahamian (Sweden) dec. Aleksandre Menshikov (Russia), 3-1; Bronze - Mohamed Ibrahim Abd El Fattah (Egypt) dec. Levon Geghamyan (Armenia), 5-0; 5th - Brad Vering (United States); 6th - Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); 7th - Bojan Mijatov (Yugoslavia); 8th - Cotcha Tsitsiashvili (Israel); 9th - Mukhran Vakhtangadze (Georgia); 10th - Viachaslav Makaranka (Belarus)    2001 World Championships results   85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Gold  - Mukran Vakrangadze (Georgia) won by ref. dec. over Matt Lindland (United States), 2-1, ot; Bronze  - Oleksei Dorogan (Ukraine) dec. Alexandre Menshikov (Russia), 3-2, ot, 6:33; 5th - Sandor Bardosi (Hungary); 6th - Martin Lidberg (Sweden); 7th - Luis Mendez (Cuba); 8th - Evgeniy Erofaylov (Uzbekistan); 9th - Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey); 10th - Viachaslau Makaranka (Belarus)    2000 Olympic Games results   85 kg/187.25 lbs. - Gold - Hamza Yerlikaya (Turkey) won by ref. dec. over Sandor Bardosi (Hungary), 3-3, ot, 9:00; Bronze - Mukhran Vakhtangadze (Georgia); 4th - Valeri Tsilent (Belarus); 5th - Luis Mendez (Cuba); 6th - Gotcha Tsitsiachvili (Israel); 7th - Martin Lidberg (Sweden); 8th - Mohamed Mohamed (Egypt); 9th - Toomas Proovel (Estonia); 10th - Yuriy Vitt (Uzbekistan); 11th - Eddy Bartolozzi (Venezuela); 12th - Thomas Zander (Germany); 13th - Alexandre Mentchikov (Russia); 14th - Vyasheslav Oliynyk (Ukraine); 15th- Raatbek Sanatbaev (Kyrgyzstan); 16th - Amor Bach Hanba (Tunisia); 17th - Marko Asell (Finland); 18th - Arek Olczak (Australia); 19th - Quincey Clark (United States)    Note: Fritz Aanes of Norway, who placed fourth at 85 kg in the Sydney Olympics, tested positive for steroids and was disqualified. All of the other placewinners moved up one place in the standings.    Starting September 22, TheMat.com will preview one weight class each day for the 2003 World Championships of Greco-Roman Wrestling, in Cretiel, France, Oct. 2-5. Please visit TheMat.com each day for a new preview of the championships. To discuss the World Championships with other fans, please visit the International Board  on TheMat.com Message Boards.