EVANSTON, Ill. - The nation's top wrestlers, including Cornell's Travis Lee, the reigning NCAA champion at 125 lbs., will challenge each other in what will be another highly competitive field at the 41st Midlands Wrestling Championships, held Dec. 29-30 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Below is a breakdown of each weight class.     125: Last year's champion, Travis Lee (Cornell), has moved up to 133 lbs., which leads to the emergence of a new favorite, Luke Eustice (Iowa). He will be challenged by Kyle Ott (Illinois), Matt Valenti (Pennsylvania), Grant Nakamura (Iowa State), Efren Ceballos (Cal State-Bakersfield), Tom Noto (Hofstra), Matt Pitts (Tennessee-Chattanooga), Drew Headlee (Pittsburgh), Kyle Stoffer (Central Michigan) and Heath McKim (Air Force).     133: Top-ranked Travis Lee (Cornell) will have his hands full in his new weight class, as he will be tested by Josh Moore (Penn State), Zach Robertson (Iowa State), Mark Jayne (Illinois), Jordan Webster (Central Michigan), Ricky LaForge (Hofstra), Matt Sanchez (Cal State-Bakersfield) and Mike Messina (Sacred Heart).     141: Dylan Long (Northern Iowa) will attempt to defend his title and preserve his undefeated Midlands record. Arizona State graduate Dana Holland, now representing Sunkist Kids, lost in the final in 2002 and hopes to take the next step. This class is deep with 13 of the top 20 collegians expected to compete, as well as long-time veteran Dwight Hinson (Sunkist Kids WC), who has 28 Midlands career wins and six places. The top challengers this year are Jason Mester (Central Michigan), Cliff Moore (Iowa), Coyte Cooper (Indiana), Jeff Ratliff (Ohio State), Doug McGraw (Pennsylvania), Nate Gallick (Iowa State) and Anthony Coleman (Cleveland State).     149: Dustin Manotti (Cornell) is back to try for his second-straight title. He is currently ranked No. 2 behind Jesse Jantzen (Harvard), who also is entered. The other contenders are Mike Mendoza (Dave Schultz WC), Ty Eustice (Iowa), Trent Paulson (Iowa State), Mike Maney (Lock Haven), Rob Becker (George Mason), Cal Ferry (Illinois) and Josh Wooton (Northern Illinois).     157: This appears to be the youngest class in the meet, with one exception. Chris Bono (Sunkist Kids), a three-time champion and 31 Midlands match winner, is considered the veteran and top seed. He will be met by Alex Tirapelle (Illinois), Jake Percival (Ohio), Matt Gentry (Stanford), Travis Paulson (Iowa State), Joe Johnson (Iowa), Scott Roth (Cornell), Ty Morgan (Central Michigan) and Paul Siemon (Hofstra).     165: This could be the most wide-open weight class of the tournament. John Clark (Ohio State), Nick Passolano (Iowa State), Zach Doll (Pittsburgh), David Bolyard (Central Michigan), Ralph Everett (Hofstra), Levi Provost (Wyoming), Joe Mazzurco (Cornell) and Hesston Johnson (Northern Iowa) make up this year's field.     174: Nine-time champion Joe Williams has won this weight class six-straight times and has indicated he will not compete in 2003. The runner-up in 2002, Tyler Nixt (Iowa), could be the successor to Williams but will be challenged by Eric Hauan (Northern Iowa), Noel Thompson (Hofstra), Pete Freidl (Illinois), Matt Herrington (Pennsylvania), Andrew Roy (Rutgers), Tyler Baier (Cornell), Ryan Wilman (West Virginia) and Jed Pennell (Oregon State).     184: Ben Heizer (Northern Illinois) is the only placewinner in this class returning from last year. He will have to watch out for Greg Jones (West Virginia), Brian Glynn (Illinois), Blake Kaplan (Ohio State), Kurt Backes (Iowa State), Brad Christie (Hofstra), Paul Velekei (Pennsylvania), Paul Bradley (Iowa) and Eric Bradley (Penn State).     197: If defending champion Jon Trenge (New York AC) returns, he will be the favorite. Trenge has won 16 Midlands matches in his first three tournaments and is a strong candidate for the "20 in 4" Club (20 Midlands wins in one's first four tournaments). The rest of the competitors right now are Chris Skretkowicz (Hofstra), Emmett Willson (Montana State-Northern), Matt Greenberg (Cornell), Ryan Fulsaas (Iowa), Jason Potter (Illinois), Pat DeGain (Indiana), Morgan Horner (Lock Haven), Kevin Kessner (Wyoming) and Matt Daddino (West Virginia).     285: The top-two ranked collegians, Tommy Rowlands (Ohio State) and Pat Cummins (Penn State), lead this weight class. Rowlands was second a year ago while Cummins placed 5th. Ohio State assistant coach Mitch Clark is entered and could win it all. Others in the mix will be Matt Feast (Pennsylvania), Brent Miller (West Virginia), Russ Davie (Cleveland State), Nik Fekete (Unattached), Bill Stouffer (Central Michigan) and Mike Keenan (Michigan State).