Joe Williams has been a top freestyle wrestling star for a long time. In 1999, he became No. 1 in the USA and placed fourth in the world. In 2000, he fell short of his dreams and did not make the Olympic Team. He lost to Brandon Slay in the U.S. Nationals, then was eliminated in the Olympic Trials by Brian Dolph. Since that point, Joe Williams has reclaimed this weight class, staying at No. 1 the entire time. His high point was a bronze medal at the 2001 World Championships. His low point was a loss to Iran's Hadi Habibi in the pool competition at the 2003 Worlds in New York City, where he did not earn a place. Joe Williams has been on a challenging and interesting journey, with the goal of writing an exciting and successful conclusion at the Olympic Games.    Williams has placed himself in position to achieve his goals by winning the U.S. Nationals this Olympic year. While the rest of the field battles for the chance to beat Williams, the veteran star waits for one opponent. He has shown some strong freestyle results this year, winning the gold medal at the Olympic Qualifying event in Slovakia. Williams is also training in Colorado Springs this year, looking for improvement on his performance. He has the stuff of champions - skill, strength, speed, experience, motivation. What he has not done yet is put it all together when it counts the most.     Earning the position as the top challenger to Williams is Joe Heskett, who was second in the 2003 World Team Trials and also second at the 2004 U.S. Nationals. Heskett dropped a 4-0 match to Williams in the finals in Las Vegas this year. He has seemed to move past the rest of the field in the last few years, even though there is a wealth of talent in this division. Heskett is seeming to follow a path similar to Williams. He was a top star in high school, and went on to a successful college career. He has always has strong freestyle skills. He does not lack for confidence in himself. When he needs to, Heskett pulls out a winning technique, sometimes his trademark cradle. The key question is whether he has progressed enough to unseat a star of Williams' calibre.    There are many in this division who have a legitimate chance to capture the Challenge Tournament. Certainly, beating Heskett will be one of the requirements for that goal.  Heskett had two close matches on the way to the Las Vegas finals against Casey Cunningham, who finished third, and Ramico Blackmon, who finished fourth.    Cunningham has returned to the mats after some time away. He was the No. 2 athlete on Team USA during the 2001-02 season, and was setting himself up as the man that Williams had to watch out for. Last year, Cunningham did not have a strong season, and this winter he was not competing. When he showed up in Las Vegas, there was question about his status, evidenced by his No. 10 seed. All Cunningham did was win seven matches, with only a 3-1 loss to Heskett. Always a strong freestyler, Cunningham seems to have regained the magic from two years ago.     Blackmon is sometimes difficult to predict. Blackmon came in as No. 6 seed in Las Vegas, then worked his way through with losses only to Heskett and Cunningham. He was a U.S. Nationals champion a few seasons ago, before FILA changed the weight classes and Blackmon moved up in weight. There have been some very good performances along the way, as well as a few events where he lost to other Americans. If the expected seeds are held up for the Challenge Tournament, Blackmon may have another shot at both Cunningham and Heskett. Those in this division should expect him at his best, and understand that when Blackmon is wrestling well, he can be very good.    One of the young Americans expected to be a force here is Donny Pritzlaff, a two-time NCAA champion who also won a Junior World gold medal while in college. Pritzlaff has fallen on challenging times lately, losing to a variety of U.S. wrestlers at this division. However, he remains a serious contender, shown by his fifth place in Las Vegas. He reached the semifinals at the U.S. Nationals, where he lost to Williams. His wrestleback loss was to Cunningham. Pritzlaff will have to take another step forward in Indianapolis, and may need to beat Heskett to achieve his goals. College fans will remember that Pritzlaff beat Heskett in the NCAA finals twice. Freestyle fans are aware that Heskett has had the edge on Pritzlaff on the Senior level.    One of the most interesting athletes in this division is Yoshi Nakamura, who captured sixth place in Las Vegas and was also the Central Regional Trials champion. Nakamura wrestles with a wide-open style, using a judo influence and an ability to score points to bring style to his matches. Size-wise, he may have been perfect for that old 152-pound division that disappeared when the weight classes dropped to seven. At 163 pounds, Nakamura may not be as big as some of his foes. Yet he retains that skill and flair. Williams only beat Nakamura 3-1 in the quarterfinals in Las Vegas. He will give everybody he wrestles in Indianapolis a difficult challenge.    Falling a bit short of expectations in Las Vegas was Kirk White, who finished seventh. White was No. 3 on Freestyle Team USA this season, after a strong performance at last year's World Team Trials. White won the West Regional Olympic Trials and wrestled on a number of tours prior to going to the U.S. Nationals. His losses there were to Blackmon and Cunningham. Based upon past performance, White should be expected to do some damage in the Challenge Tournament, and would not be a surprise if he made it all the way to the finals. There are often close matches at this division, and White needs to get back on the winning side of those battles.    The final qualifier coming out of Las Vegas was veteran Sean Harrington, who claimed eighth place. Harrington has shown the ability to beat some of the opponents who have bigger reputations. He has paid his dues on the international freestyle scene, and is both tough and crafty. It would not be surprising if he went deep into the Challenge Tournament if he gets hot in Indianapolis.    The top name emerging from the Regional competitions was Matt Lackey, the past NCAA champion who has also shown great promise in freestyle. He claimed the South Regional Trials, the final event in the qualifying series. Lackey was second to Williams at the New York AC Christmas event, where he scored wins over Pritzlaff and Blackmon. At the U.S. Nationals, he had the fifth seed, but was upset by Travis Paulson in an early round, then was eliminated by Cunningham. He will be a tough test for anybody in the draw.    The other two Regional champions were David Zuniga (North) and Bryce Hasseman (East). Zuniga was a 1996 Olympian in Greco-Roman, but has switched back to freestyle in recent seasons. In Las Vegas, Zuniga could be found competing in the Veterans division. Hasseman won a bunch of matches in the U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas, but was taken out of the medal rounds by Nakamura. Both will be considered longshots, but both are capable of wrestling well.    Going into the Olympic Trials, the athlete to beat is Williams, without a question. The Challenge Tournament should be a fierce battle, and could have some unexpected outcomes. Heskett has been the top challenger recently, but knows that he will have to earn that right once again. Wrestlers such as Cunningham, Blackmon, Pritzlaff, White and others are capable and confident. There could be some real close matches with tremendous action. Whoever wins will face a daunting task, finding a way to defeat Williams twice. With the talent in this weight class, Williams knows he will face a skilled and motivated athlete looking for an upset.    2004 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS QUALIFIERS IN MEN'S FREESTYLE AT 74 KG/163 POUNDS  U.S. Nationals Champion -  Joe Williams, Iowa City, Iowa (Sunkist Kids)   U.S. Nationals, second place -  Joe Heskett, Grover Beach, Calif. (Gator WC)  U.S. Nationals, third place -  Casey Cunningham, Mt. Pleasant, Mich. (Sunkist Kids)   U.S. Nationals, fourth place - Ramico Blackmon, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Team Excel)  U.S. Nationals, fifth place