The gold-medal finals action was exciting and important at the Dave Schultz Memorial International Championships, held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., Feb. 7-8.    The 120 kg/264.5 pound division in Greco-Roman featured a pair of  gold medalists: 2000 Olympic and 2001 World champion Rulon Gardner (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) and 2002 World Champion Dremiel Byers (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army).     Gardner won this showdown, a 2-1 overtime referee's decision. All three points in the bout were scored off the clinch position. Byers scored the first point, controlling the action and forcing Gardner to release his grip. On the two other clinches, Gardner scored one-point takedowns from the locked-up position. The deciding second point for Gardner came at the beginning of the overtime period.    Gardner and Byers are expected to battle for supremacy in their divisions, right up through the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Wrestling in Indianapolis, Ind., May 21-23.    Competition was held in all three international wrestling styles. The Outstanding Wrestlers of the tournament were Patricia Miranda (Colorado Springs, Colo./Dave Schultz WC) in women's freestyle wrestling, Joe Heskett (San Luis Obispo, Calif./Gator WC) in men's freestyle wrestling and Mukesh Katri of India in men's Greco-Roman wrestling.    Miranda, a 2003 World silver medalist, scored three clean takedowns to defeat 2002 World champion Brigitte Wagner of Germany, 3-1. Miranda and Wagner have met many times before, and both are top Olympic hopefuls.    Heskett, a young talent who is coming on during the Olympic year, took down past U.S. Nationals champion Ramico Blackmon (Colorado Springs, Colo./Team Excel) right to his back and secured a pin in just 2:50 in the finals.    Katri jumped to a 5-0 lead over Lindsey Durlacher (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) and engaged in a wide-open scoring bout, ultimately winning the finals match, 9-6.    The competition saw the return to action of 2000 Olympic bronze medalist Garrett Lowney (Appleton, Wis./Minnesota Storm) in Greco-Roman at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. Lowney was defeated in the championship finals by Genadiy Chhaidze of Kyrgyzstan, 3-1 in overtime. Lowney had defeated Chhaidze during the 2000 Olympic Games. It was the first tournament for Lowney since the 2003 World Team Trials, and Lowney is returning from an injury that threatened his career.    In men's freestyle, Stephen Abas (Fresno, Calif./Sunkist Kids), who is No. 1 in his division within the United States, controlled Jeremy Hunter (Champaign, Ill./New York AC), 4-0 at 55 kg/119 lbs. Abas led 1-0 at the break, and added three more points on takedowns and a turn in the second period. Abas has earned a spot on the last three U.S. World teams.     At 60 kg/132 lbs., Danny Felix (Charlottesville, Va./Sunkist Kids) scored a three-point throw from the overtime clinch to defeat Ryan Lewis (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm), 3-1 at 6:06.    In an battle of young talents, Eric Larkin (Tempe, Ariz./Sunkist Kids) used an explosive mat offense late in the match to come from behind and beat T.J. Williams (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC), 11-4. Williams, slick on his feet, led 4-2 early in the second period. Larkin tied it up on a takedown and an ankle lace at 4-4, then opened the scoring, scoring seven more points on the mat with a variety of leg turns and gut wrenches.    Lee Fullhart (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) controlled the action to defeat 2001 World silver medalist Brandon Eggum (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm), 6-1 at 84 kg/185 lbs.    2002 U.S. World Team member Tim Hartung (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) scored two takedowns off the clinch position to edge Dean Morrison (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), 2-0 in overtime at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.    Steven Mocco (N. Bergen, N.J./New York AC) countered a throw attempt from the clinch position and quickly pinned 1995 World silver medalist Sven Thiele of Germany at 3:08 at the 120 kg/264.5 lbs. division.    In women's freestyle, two-time women's World silver medalist Tina George (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) defeated past World medalist Jen Ryz of Canada, 3-1 at at 55 kg/121 lb. George scored all of her points on first period turns from the mat, and held off Ryz in the second frame.    Other U.S. individual champions in the women's event included Erin Tomeo (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 59 kg/130 lbs. and Kristie Marano (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 63 kg/138.75 lbs.     Tomeo defeated veteran Lauren Lamb (Farmington, N.Y./Michigan WC), 7-0. Marano, a two-time World champion, received the gold medal by injury default when Norway's Lene Aanes could not compete. Aanes, a 2002 World bronze medalist, was injured in her semifinal victory.    International athletes winning gold medals in women's freestyle were Carol Huyhn of Canada at 51 kg/112.25 lbs., Shannon Samler of Canada at 67 kg/147.5 lbs. and Anita Schaetzle of Germany at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.    Huyhn defeated Melina Hutchison (Anchorage, Alaska) 3-1 in the finals. Samler scored an impressive 10-0 technical fall over Kelly Branham (Apache Junction, Ariz./Missouri Valley) in the gold-medal match. Schaetzle edged Stephany Lee (Honolulu, Hawaii/Missouri Valley) in the finals, 7-6.    In men's Greco-Roman, in his first tournament as a U.S. citizen, Faruk Sahin (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) won the 66 kg/145.5 lbs. finals, defeating Gurbinder Singh of India, 9-0. Sahin led 5-0 at the mid break, and executing a number of exciting lifts during the match.    Two-time World Greco-Roman fifth place finisher Brad Vering (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) captured the at 84 kg/185 lbs. title with a 3-1 overtime win over Keith Sieracki (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army). Sieracki scored the first point, but Vering scored a point from the clinch in overtime, then turned Sieracki with a gutwrench for the win.    In a fierce battle at 60 kg/132 lbs., Glenn Nieradka (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) emerged with a 3-3 overtime referee's decision over Joe Warren (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC). Warren jumped to a 3-0 lead, but Nieradka slowly closed the gap, tying the bout then winning the decision.    Darryl Christian (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) received the 74 kg/163 lbs. gold medal by injury default over two-time Greco-Roman World Team member T.C. Dantzler (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC). Dantzler was injured in his semifinal win over Katsuhiko Nagata of Japan and could not wrestle in the finals.      There are 288 entries this year, including 102 men freestyle wrestlers, 95 men Greco-Roman wrestlers, and 91 women freestyle wrestlers.     The quality of the competition is also high. The field included five past World or Olympic champions, and a total of 20 past World or Olympic medalists.