It is Olympic Trials week. For many athletes, years of hard training and competition will culminate with an opportunity to achieve a lifelong dream - to make the Olympic wrestling team.    No, we are not talking about the U.S. Olympic Team.     This week's Olympic Trials is going on north of the border, in Canada. A number of the best wrestlers in North America will battle for the chance to become Canadian Olympians.    Tryouts for the Canadian Olympic wrestling team in men's freestyle, women's freestyle and men's Greco-Roman wrestling will be held at Millennium Place in Sherwood Park, Strathcona County, Alberta, Dec. 12-14.     There is a whole lot different between the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling, set for Indianapolis, Ind., May 21-23, and this week's Canadian Olympic Trials, besides the five months separating these two events.    This competition is being held prior to the completion of the qualification process for the Olympic Games. Most of the winners of this week's Canadian Trials are not guaranteed a position in the Athens Olympic Games. After winning the Trials event, many athletes will still need to go overseas to qualify their weight class for the Olympics.     In fact, of the 18 weight classes for wrestling at the Athens Games, Canada has qualified just two athletes to compete so far. Based upon their placement at the 2003 World Championships, Canada is guaranteed an athlete in Athens in men's freestyle at 66 kg and in women's freestyle at 63 kg.     Talk about pressure. Talk about motivation.    In contrast, the Olympic Trials in the United States will be held after the completion of the qualification events for the Athens Games. Currently, the USA has qualified in 12 of the 18 weight divisions for Athens. When the U.S. wrestlers get together in Indianapolis, everybody will already know if the U.S. will field a full team at the Olympics, or if there were any weights left unqualified.    The format of the Olympic Trials in Canada is also different than used by the Yanks to the south. The U.S. will automatically place its 2004 U.S. Nationals champion in the finals series for the Olympic Trials. A Challenge Tournament with all of the rest of the qualifiers will be held over two days to determine one challenger for the national champion in the championship best-of-three series.    In Canada, up to three athletes are seeded in the Olympic Trials based upon last year's nationals, with the rest of the field competing in a pool tournament. The winner of the pool becomes the No. 4 athlete, and wrestles off No. 3. The winner of that match wrestles the No. 2 seed. Then the winner of that bout qualifies for the best-of-three finals series with the No. 1 athlete. In freestyle, this is done over two days. In Greco-Roman, the entire Trials are held on just one day.    The U.S. used to have three athletes on the "ladder" through the 1992 Olympic Trials, but switched the system to having only the national champion earn an advantage. Prior to 1993, a U.S. athlete in the Challenge Tournament would have to win four straight days of wrestling to make a U.S. team, including three days of best-of-three series.     Confused yet? Actually, the Canadian Trials should be very exciting, with some outstanding wrestling expected. Some of the weight classes feature a heavy favorite, while others are truly up for grabs. Any wrestling fan able to get to Alberta this weekend should have a very good time enjoying the action.    Canada's three most famous wrestlers are in weight divisions that are not yet qualified for the Athens Games. That includes 2000 Olympic champion Daniel Igali at men's 74 kg, 2001 World champion Giuvi Sissaouri at men's 60 kg and six-time World Champion Christine Nordhagen at women's 72 kg.    Igali has the No. 1 seed at his weight class. He won his Olympic gold medal at 69 kg, and moved up in weight when FILA dropped to seven divisions. Igali missed out qualifying this weight class in New York, placing 11th when only the top 10 were qualifiers. He won his pool but fell in the preliminary round to eventual bronze medalist Gennady Laliev of Kazakhstan. Igali will need to go to Europe to earn the right to defend his Olympic title if he wins the Trials. He has had some injury problems in recent seasons. His top challenger is No. 2 Zoltan Hunyady.    Sissaouri is also No. 1 in his division, after placing 12th at the World Championships and not qualifying the nation. He won his pool, but was defeated in the preliminary bracket by David Pogosian of Georgia in New York.  It will not be an easy day for Sissaouri; No. 2 Saeed Azarbayjani has been successful on the international circuit and could be a good test if he has confidence.    Nordhagen actually enters the Canadian Trials as the No. 3 athlete on the ladder in her weight class. After taking some time off from wrestling, Nordhagen returned to the mat last year and was beaten out for the team by Ohenewa Akuffo, who represented Canada at the World Championships in New York. Akuffo was beaten in her pool in New York by eventual bronze medalist Wang Xu of China. Nordhagen has looked tough in some fall competitions, and this could be a very interesting battle for the Olympic team. No 2 is college star Pam Wilson.    There will be fierce battles in the two weight divisions already qualified for Canada for the Olympic Games.    In women's wrestling at 63 kg, Viola Yanik is the No. 1 athlete. Yanik placed third at the 2003 World Championships in New York, her best international performance to date. Her division is jammed with talent. Sitting at No. 2 is Tamara Medwidsky and No. 3 is past World Team member Tara Hedican.    The women's pool at 63 kg is loaded with new challengers, as a number of wrestlers have dropped down from the non-Olympic weight at 67 kg or moved up from the non-Olympic weight of 59 kg for a try for the team. A total of 11 wrestlers are in the pool, fighting to get onto the 63 kg ladder. The battles should be fierce. The group is led by 2003 World Team member at 67 kg, Shannon Samler, who was fourth in the World meet in New York.    In men's 66 kg, young Evan MacDonald qualified Canada for the Olympics by placing eighth at the World meet in New York City. MacDonald, at No. 1 on the ladder, has two other talented contenders seeded in the division: No. 2 Rob Lang and No. 3 Mike Francis. The pool tournament is also large at this division, with 13 athletes on the entry list. Neal Ewers, a World placewinner in 2002, will be among the group of challengers battling to earn that No. 4 spot.     All of the women's weight classes should be very competitive. At 48 kg, veteran Lindsay Belisle is No. 1, with improving Belinda Chow at No. 2 and past World medalist Carol Huyhn at No. 3. At 55 kg, the top three athletes all have world-class credentials: No. 1 Jennifer Ryz, No. 2. Tonya Verbeek and No. 3 Erica Sharp.    In men 's freestyle, sports fans will watch with interest as Wayne Weathers, a professional football player in the CFL, attempts to make the team at 120 kg. Weathers just missed out qualifying for the 2000 Olympics, and is returning for another shot at the Athens Games. His main challenger is veteran Colbie Bell, who has the No. 2 spot on the ladder and wrestled for Canada in the 2003 World meet in New York City. Other top big men in the pool division are veterans Eric Kirschner and Ari Taub.    The men's battles at 84 kg and 96 kg should be interesting, while 55 kg will have a strong favorite.     Carl Rainville, who competed in New York this year, is No. 1 at 84 kg. Lurking at No. 3 is Nick Ugoalah, who has competed in four World Championships for Canada. The No. 2 athlete here is Roozbeh Banihashemi, a two-time Junior National champion.     Veteran Dean Schmeichel is the No. 1 at 96 kg, and clearly has the experience edge. He competed in the 2000 Olympics, and has been to three Senior World Championships. Schmeichel was 11th in New York, missing out on qualifying by just one spot. At No. 2 is Randeep Sodhi, who was Canada's national champion in 2003. Young David Zilberman, who is a college star at Concordia, comes in at No. 3 and is expected to have a bright future