Dawid Rechul (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) scored a 7-4 upset win over 1993 World Champion and two-time Olympian Melvin Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) at 96 kg/211.25 pounds, one of the many intense matches during the first day of action at New York Athletic Club Christmas in New York City, N.Y., Dec. 20.    It is one of the largest and strongest fields in tournament history, with 82 men freestyle, 82 men Greco-Roman and 33 women's freestyle wrestlers.    Douglas, at age 40, is making a comeback in an attempt to make his third U.S. Olympic team. He returned to the mats at the Sunkist Kids International in October, but was competing one weight class above his normal division. He made weight to compete at his normal 96 kg/211.5 pound division for this tournament.    Rechul, who attended high school on nearby Long Island, was a college star at Harvard. He is currently training full-time at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. His victory over Douglas was the biggest win of his young career.    Rechul opened a 4-1 lead over Douglas with a pair of takedowns and a gutwrench turn. Early in the second period, Douglas closed the lead to 4-3 with two consecutive takedowns. However, Rechul took Douglas down with exposure on the edge of the mat for a three point move midway through the second period to break open the bout. Douglas added another point, but was unable to close the gap.    Douglas was not over concerned with his performance, using the competition as a measuring stick for the progress of his comeback.    "This helps me know where I am at now," said Douglas. "I have to work harder on my defense. My offense is going good. The guys I train with are not at this level with their offense. I'm not upset about this. There is no pressure on me."    Douglas still has a chance to win the tournament, in spite of the loss. His weight division has three pools, so he will have a chance to get back to the semifinals if he wins the repechage of the pool runner-ups.    The tournament featured five past World Champions, a number of World medalists, and some top-ranked wrestlers in all three styles.    In men's Greco-Roman, 2000 Olympic champion and 2001 World Champion Rulon Gardner (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) and 2002 World Champion Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) were both in the same division. Both     In women's freestyle, two-time World Champion Kristie Marano (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) has clinched a spot in the gold-medal finals at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. Marano is competing up one division from her normal 67 kg/147.5 lbs. She won two matches to win her pool, and will face two-time World silver medallist Toccara Montgomery (Cleveland, Ohio/New York AC) in the finals on Sunday.    Douglas was not the only World Champion to lose on Saturday. Five-time World Champion Nikola Hartman of Austria lost two matches in the round-robin competition at 63 kg/138.75 pounds. Her first loss was to Kaci Lyle (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) by a 3-2 margin. In her next match, 2003 World silver medallist Sara McMann (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) dominated Hartman in a 13-1 technical fall.    Many of the nation's No. 1 ranked wrestlers also entered, as a way to get important bouts going into the Olympic year.     The men 's freestyle division feature a No. 1 ranked athlete at 74 kg/163 lbs. - Joe Williams (Iowa City, Iowa/Sunkist Kids). Williams won his first two matches to capture his pool competition.  He defeated Matt Stolpinski (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 9-0 and scored a 10-0 technical fall over Nate Ackerman (Cambridge, Mass./Dave Schultz WC).    Four women athletes with No. 1 national rankings are in the field, with McMann and Montgomery joined by World bronze medallist Jenny Wong (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) and two-time World silver medallist Tina George (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army).    George won both of her matches by technical fall to claim her pool at 55 kg/121 lbs.. Wong, who is competing up a weight from her Worlds position, also at 55 kg/121 lbs., had a 2-1 record in her pool. Wong dropped a 5-0 decision to Italy's Diletta Giampiccolo.    Gardner was the only  No. 1 ranked Greco-Roman athlete in the field.    There were some tremendous battles in the pool competitions. At 96 kg/211.5 lbs., 2002 U.S. World Team member Tim Hartung (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) edged redshirting college star Jon Trenge (Bethlehem, Pa./New York AC), 7-6. Earlier in the session, Hartung defeated former World Team member Dominic Black (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) by a 5-1 margin.