Deitchler and Dantzler receive draw for Olympic Greco-Roman action on Wednesday

BEIJING, CHINA - The two U.S. wrestlers who will be competing on Wednesday at the Olympic Games competition in Greco-Roman have weighed in and received their draws.

Jake Deitchler (Ramsey, Minn./Minnesota Storm) will compete at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. and T.C. Dantzler (Colorado Springs, Colo./Gator WC) will compete at 74 kg/163 lbs. Both are wrestling in their first Olympic Games.

Deitcher is the 18-year-old phenom who surprised the world by making the U.S. Olympic Team. He graduated this spring from Anoka High School. He is the first wrestler in 32 years to make an Olympic team coming out of high school.

"I think he has prepared very well," said National Greco-Roman coach Steve Fraser. "He prepares like a champion. He is excited to wrestle. He wants to seize the opportunity. I believe he has a special something inside of him that will surprise some people. His attitude and his spirit makes him a winner. He never says die. He is always going. He will get his opponents tired if he wrestles like he can. He is great on top, and can turn anybody with his great lifts."

Deitchler drew the No. 1 position in the bracket, and will not have a qualification match.

Deitchler opens in his first match against Kanatbek Begaliev of Kyrgyzstan. Begaliev was a 2006 World silver medalist. If Deitchler wins that bout, he will face the winner of the match between 2004 Olympic champion and reigning World Champion Farid Mansurov of Azerbaijan and Armen Vardanyan of Ukraine.

Also in Deitchler's half of the bracket are 2005 World champion Nikolay Gergov of Bulgaria and 1997 World champion Seref Eroglu of Turkey.

"It is called the Olympics. It is the toughest 20 guys on the planet in each weight. Jake has a tough one right off the bat. He will take them one at a time. I like a tough bracket. If you beat a tough guy or two, you get on a roll. That is what makes gold medalists," said Fraser.

Dantzler is the veteran on the U.S. team at 37 years old. He has made five U.S. World Teams and achieved a lifelong dream by making the 2008 U.S. team.

"He has beaten World champions a few times already this year," said Fraser. "He has all the skills. He wants it badly. He prepared smart with intense practices and good rest. He is 37 years old and trains very smart. He is healthy right now. He is good enough to beat anybody. He is due. T.C. has been knocking on the door awhile. It is time for him to walk in and take some hardware."

Dantzler drew the No. 19 position and will compete in a qualification match.

Dantzler opens against Peter Basci of Hungary. If he wins, his next opponent is the winner between 2006 World champion Volodymyr Shats'kykh of Ukraine. In a recent meeting, Dantzler defeated Shats'kykh in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Rome, Italy in May, 4-2, 4-2.

Also with a qualification match are 2000 Olympic champion and 2002 World champion Varteres Samourgashev of Russia, who faces two-time World silver medalist Mark Madsen of Denmark right off the bat. The winner of this bout could potentially face Dantzler in a quarterfinal match.

"I like his draw," said Fraser. "There is no easy draw. I think T.C. is in position to show his stuff."