OLYMPIC REPORT / 40 DAYS TO THE GAMES : Upset Victories Come With Concerns

The United State Olympic wrestling team took shape Saturday in Spokane, Wash. But what an odd shape it was.

Tom Brands, half of Iowa’s raging twins, made the team at 136.5 pounds. Terry, the other meaner half at 125.5 pounds, did not.

Kenny Monday and Melvin Douglas, two-thirds of an important training team, made the team at 163 and 198 pounds, respectively.

But partner Kevin Jackson, the world champion at 180.5 pounds, did not.

“We have some strong points and we have some . . . guys who don’t have much experience,” Douglas said.

When the day ended with Terry Brands sobbing on the mat after being beaten by Kendall Cross, only four of the 10 team members had Olympic experience.

Those are Townsend Saunders (149.5), Bruce Baumgartner (heavyweight), Monday and Cross.

Of those four, only Baumgartner (two silvers and a gold) and Monday (one gold, one silver) have Olympic medals.

The country that has won nearly twice as many Olympic freestyle wrestling medals as anyone else will have to work to maintain its reputation in Atlanta.

“It’s a big difference when you have guys going to international competition who don’t have much experience over there,” Douglas said. “The officials don’t know them and there is politics, believe me.”

Most worrisome to the American officials will be Oregon State senior Les Gutches, who advanced after sweeping Jackson in their best two-of-three series. He has no major international medals, and seems to rely more on strength than smarts.

If nothing else, officials would have enjoyed the publicity given to two twins known to throw each other through walls while horsing around.

But, amid a crowd of 8,083 that consistently booed the dirty play of Brands, Cross overpowered him with a minute left in their tiebreaking match for a 7-6 victory.