The Olympic year is a time that talented wrestlers chase the life-long dream of earning a spot in the Olympic Games. So much hard work and effort goes into reaching the point where an athlete has a realistic chance of being an Olympian.    U.S. wrestling fans tend to focus on the athletes who are seeking a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. However, in most Olympic years, there are athletes in the United States who are looking to make the Olympics representing a different nation.     One of those athletes during this Olympic cycle is Nate Ackerman, who did his college wrestling at Harvard and has been on the international scene representing Great Britain. Ackerman lived in Great Britain for 5 1/2 years while in his teenage years, and received citizenship there. He has wrestled for Great Britian since the 1998 Junior World Championships, and was on the British team at the 2003 World Championships of Freestyle Wrestling in New York City.    At the World Championships in New York, Ackerman was defeated in the pool competition at 74 kg/163 lbs. He lost to veteran Gennady Laliev of Kazakhstan, who went on to win the bronze medal. Ackerman's final placement was 23rd in the weight class.     Ackerman is taking a different path than most wrestlers training in the United States. First, he is a graduate student in mathematics at M.I.T., one of the world's most prestigious institutions. In addition, he is working with two respected, but very different coaches, to assist his Olympic quest: legendary Soviet coach Granit Taropin and legendary Iowa intensity guru Royce Alger.    Taropin is world famous for developing great international stars, most notably Olympic and World Champions Sergei Beloglazov and Anatoly Beloglazov. Taropin worked with Ackerman during his years as a college student at Harvard, and has continued to be his mentor within international wrestling.    "He is one of the best coaches in the world," said Ackerman of Taropin. "I am phenomenally lucky to work with him."    Taropin sees great progress in Ackerman, who is beginning to be competitive with top athletes.    "He has very big progress," said Taropin. "He scored points on World champions. Before, he took no points on these wrestlers. Now, he takes points on high-level athletes. Also he is a hard worker. He is always working in the morning time and the evening time."    Taropin is respected for his technical knowledge, and he has seen some strong abilities in Ackerman.     "He is very skilled in shooting, snapping and using his head," said Tarpoin. "He has good stamina. His strength is takedowns. His favorite moves are the high crotch, single or double leg and the front headlock. If the athlete is low, he takes the front headlock. If the athlete is high, he takes the single or the single to double or the high crotch."    Ackerman is training with Alger out in Iowa City, Iowa on a regular basis for an entirely different reason. He felt that he needed to learn the Iowa style of wrestling, and Alger was one of the best in that system. Ackerman is doing most of his training in the Boston area, but gets to Iowa whenever he can for additional training.    "I needed to work on the traditional style, being more aggressive and making the opponent more tired. Then his defense goes down, and you can score often on low risk moves," said Ackerman. "That's Iowa wrestling. I can pick that up training there. Royce was a phenomenal wrestler, but is also a great coach."    Alger has been pleasantly surprised with Ackerman, and his ability to learn and improve when training out in Iowa.    "He skipped the developmental stage, the things you learn in junior high," said Alger. "He later got a great coach in Granit Taropin. I have been going back to the fundamentals. He trains as hard as any athlete I have ever mentored. He listens real well; you don't graduate from Harvard without that. He has a conviction for the sport; that is what sold him on me."    Alger has been working on teaching Ackerman to hand-fight and keep position, the "grinding" style that made Alger a World silver medalist when he was competing for coach Dan Gable. He noted that Ackerman has learned strong technical skills, but was missing the extra ingredients needed for success.    "I've opened his eyes to a whole new aspect of wrestling," said Alger. "He thought I was going to give him some magical moves, but I basically busted his butt in training. When he first came here, he couldn't even climb the rope right. Now he is doing very well. It has been a pleasure to be around him because of how much heart he has."    Ackerman has proven he is the best wrestler from Great Britain in his weight division. What he still must do is qualify his country for the Olympics. With only 20 athletes in each weight class at the Athens Games, the hard part is getting qualified. Because Ackerman did not place in the top 10 in New York, he will have to go to the two Olympic qualifying events in Slovakia and Bulgaria in February.    Ackerman hopes to break a string of bad luck, where he always seems to fall into a pool with some outstanding wrestlers. "He has had difficulty," said Taropin. "Every time he has a World champion or an Olympic medallist in his pool. He's very unlucky."    "I am not a big fan of the pool system," said Ackerman. "I have a decent shot if I get into the right pool. It all depends upon what I draw."    To prepare, Ackerman is training between seven and 10 times a week, working on technique and wrestling live. He plans at least one more visit out to Iowa to work directly with Alger. Then, two weeks prior to the first Olympic qualifying event, he and Taropin will go to Minsk, Belarus to train with top wrestlers there.    "I will train in Minsk for two weeks in the European style," said Ackerman. "That style is very different than the American style. When I first get there, my feel is off; I react the wrong way. I need a few weeks training over there to compete at my best. Granit was the head Soviet coach and he knows everybody. It is a great training facility with really good athletes."    The United States has not yet qualified for the Olympics at his weight class. There could be a possibility that he might have to face an American, such as Joe Williams, at one of the Olympic qualifying events. "With my luck in the draw, I don't rule it out," said Ackerman. "I don't joke about that."    If Ackerman is able to qualify for the Olympics, he may be the only representative from Great Britain in the field. At the World Championships in New York, none of the British wrestlers were able to qualify in their divisions.    The last outstanding wrestler from Great Britain also came from the United States system - 1984 Olympic bronze medalist Noel Loban at 90 kg/198 lbs. Loban went to high school in New York, and won a NCAA Div. I title for Clemson University before competing at the international level. Ackerman knows Loban, as they trained at the same wrestling club when Ackerman was living in London.    Ackerman will know by late February if his Olympic dream is over. The first event is in Bratislava, Slovakia, Feb. 1-2. The final qualifier is in Sofia, Bulgaria, Feb. 14-15. If he qualifies, he will continue his dedicated training to prepare for the Olympic Games.     "Long term, my goals are not in wrestling but in math," said Ackerman. "When grad school is over, I have to see where I land. At least for now, I would like to wrestle though the end of my graduate career."