The top athlete in this division has been Joe Williams, No. 1 at his weight for four of the last five years. The only year he fell short was in 2000, when Olympic champion Brandon Slay made his run for glory. Williams was third in the 2001 World Championships, and has won most of the major events in the sport. He comes off a disappointing 2003, when he was beaten in his pool and did not place at the World Championships in New York City. Williams vows to never let that happen again.    His freestyle tournaments this year have been strong, gold medals at the New York AC Christmas International and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Slovakia. Williams not only qualified the weight division, but he won five straight matches to win the whole tournament. He was a bit off in winning the folkstyle Midlands, something more puzzling than meaningful. Williams is now training fulltime at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, seeking to make the Olympic year his best ever, the year his skills and experience all come together.    Emerging as the top challenger last year was talented young Joe Heskett, an age-group World medalist who has moved up to be runner-up behind Williams during 2003. Heskett has moved ahead of other top prospects in the division. His only losses this season are to athletes from Iran and Russia. He captured the Dave Schultz Memorial with a flourish, scoring a pin in the championship finals. Heskett has a bright future; the question is whether he has advanced enough to be a serious challenge to Williams yet.    Veteran Kirk White has climbed to No. 3 on Team USA, showing improvement in freestyle to go with his mental toughness. He has been getting many quality matches this year, which should help him deal with the grueling U.S. Nationals field. Among the athletes he faced this year are World champions Irbek Farniev of Russia and Daniel Igali of Canada. White battles hard in every match. He has already qualified for the Olympic Trials with a victory at one of the Regionals.    Casey Cunningham was the No. 2 athlete behind Williams in 2002, and has the skill to move back into contention for the top spot. However, Cunningham has not stepped on the mat yet this year, so his involvement in the Trials process is in question.    Veteran Ramico Blackmon, a former U.S. Nationals champion, has beaten many of the top contenders, and has an experience edge over most of the field. His best performances came at the former 152-pound division, but he has moved up and managed well at this division well. His only loss at the Dave Schultz Memorial was to Heskett. He beat both Donny Pritzlaff and Matt Lackey in winning the Sunkist Kids International, but lost to both wrestlers during the New York AC Christmas Open. When he is on, he is very tough.    Donny Pritzlaff, a past Junior World champion, was a dominant college star, but has found the going rough in this division recently. If he returns to form, he is a serious contender. Pritzlaff beat Heskett in two NCAA finals, but has been beaten by Heskett a number of times in freestyle recently. He is also dropping matches to other Americans in this division, making his status a real question mark.    Making a strong run this season is Matt Lackey, who moves from success in college to a bright future in freestyle. This is his first full season of just freestyle since winning a NCAA title in 2003. He lost in the New York AC Christmas Open finals to Williams, and had wins over Pritzlaff and Ramico Blackmon in that event.     Sean Harrington, another veteran, has also consistently placed high in major events and is dangerous at all times. Losses this year include Americans Williams and Pritzlaff as well as Canadian star Igali. He is certainly capable of placing high at the U.S. Nationals if he gets on a run.    Two wrestlers who have qualified for the Olympic Trials through the Regionals are David Zuniga and Yoshi Nakamura. Zuniga was an Olympian in Greco-Roman in 1996, but switched over to freestyle a few seasons ago. His best wrestling may have passed, but Zuniga is still a talent with experience and skill. Nakamura is an exciting wrestler with a variety of throws. He is probably one of those "betweeners" who lost his best weight class when FILA adjusted the divisions.     Moving into this division and into contention is Eddie Gifford. Ron Groves, who trains in Colorado Springs, has continued to improve and should be a factor here. Another athlete to watch is young Matt Stolpenski, who has grown as a wrestler as a USOTC resident.     2004 NCAA champions close in weight to this division are Matt Gentry of Stanford and Troy Letters of Lehigh. It is questionable if either will enter the U.S. Nationals this year. Perhaps the top talent in the mix could be NCAA runner-up Tyrone Lewis of Oklahoma State, who was second behind Letters at 165 pounds. Lewis never won a NCAA crown, and could have a good future if he sets high goals in freestyle.     Joe Williams. Will this be his year? When he opens up and scores points, Williams is hard to beat. It will take strong efforts from challengers such as Joe Heskett, Ramico Blackmon and Kirk White to move Williams from his top spot. There will be some exciting battles on the way to the semifinals at this division, and it would not be a reach to see a surprise finalist here.     THEMAT.COM RANKINGS FOR APRIL 2004  74 KG/163 LBS. IN MEN'S FREESTYLE  1. Joe Williams, Iowa City, Iowa (Sunkist Kids)  2. Joe Heskett, Grover Beach, Calif. (Gator WC)  3. Ramico Blackmon, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Team Excel)  4. Kirk White, Tacoma, Wash. (Dave Schultz WC)  5. Matt Lackey, Champaign, Ill. (New York AC)  6. Donny Pritzlaff, Hempstead, N.Y. (Dave Schultz WC)  7. Sean Harrington, Pelham, N.H. (New York AC)  8. Yoshi Nakamura, Cleveland, Ohio (Dave Schultz WC)  9. Ron Groves, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Team Excel)  10. Eddie Gifford, Fresno, Calif. (Sunkist Kids)    ATHLETES ALREADY QUALIFIED FOR THE OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS  West Regional Trials Champion - Kirk White, Tacoma, Wash. (Dave Schultz WC)  North Regional Trials Champion - David Zuniga, New Brighton, Minn. (Minn. Storm)  Central Regional Trials Champion -Yoshi Nakamura, Mayfield Heights, Ohio (Dave Schultz WC)