It's tight at the top.

For the first time in several years, no team has emerged as a clear favorite to win the team title at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, which begin at 11 a.m. today in Oklahoma City, Okla.

"I think there are about five or six teams out there that have a chance to win," Jim Martin said. "We have just as good a chance as them, but we don't have any better. Everybody we take is going to have to wrestle the best they can, the best they ever wrestled."

Jeff Dernlan, who is making his second trip to the NCAAs, concurs.

"It's anybody's tournament," he said. "The team that puts it together and gets the breaks will win it."

"If we win the team title, I would be more happy for the coaches," Ken Chertow said. "It would nice way to go out as a senior, to give that to the coaches as a present."

"Each guy has to go out and wrestle his best in each round," Coach Rich Lorenzo said. "This is their last opportunity for this year, and for some it's the last opportunity of their collegiate careers. What it should do is get you focused, and get your concentration and intensity up.

"We look at every bout we wrestle at the national tournament as extremely important and should be wrestled like it's your last."

Several of the individual weight classes reflect the race for the team title, with a group of three or four at the top vying for the championship.

The 118-pound class is one of those weights. Chertow (16-5), coming off his second EWL championship at 118, is among the favorites. East Stroudsburg's Jack Cuvo, last year's champion at 118, is at the top of the list with Lock Haven's Craig Corbin and Oklahoma State's Cory Baze, a pair of All-Americans, not far behind. "I've got to be aggressive, but be aggressive in good position," Chertow, a two-time All-American, said of his strategy. "Being smart and intense, that's what's going to win it for anyone."

"The style that he wrestled against Corbin (in the EWLs) was such that I saw a real bright spot," Lorenzo said. "He's focusing on the things that are necessary for him to be a national champion -- things like not leaving himself open for attack, but more than that keeping good position, keeping good defense."

Martin, the defending national champion at 126 pounds and undefeated this season at 38-0-3, will face challenges from Oklahoma State's Kendall Cross, Iowa's Tom Brands, and N.C. State's Michael Stokes, who have each wrestled him to a draw this year.

Andy Voit (28-4-2) finished fifth last season and is among the favorites in a wide open 190-pound class. Iowa State's Eric Voelker and Oklahoma's Junior Meek finished third and seventh, respectively, last season and figure to be near the top again this year.

"It's a matter of being at my best in each and every match and that's all I can do," Voit said. "Right now I concentrate on making sure my intensity level is high. I try to wrestle at a peak in intensity level in practice, and that will carry over to the matches in the tournament."

"If we can get Andy Voit to earn himself a national championship, that would be one of the biggest rewards of this tournament," Lorenzo said. "He has the potential; he has the physical capabilities; and he has the technique."

At heavyweight, defending national champion Carlton Haselrig of Pitt-Johnstown has been almost unbeatable this year and is the clear favorite to repeat. Greg Haladay (27-4-3), who is making his second trip to nationals, is one of the Lions' most improved wrestlers and is coming off his first EWL title.

"Greg's only shortcoming is that sometimes he gets tense and he goes out and holds back a little bit," Lorenzo said. "I'm hoping that doesn't happen at this tournament. If not, I can see Greg in the top eight and maybe as high as the top two or three in the country."

Sean Finkbeiner (6-2-2), making his third trip to the national tournament, will represent the Lions at 158. Dan St. John of Arizona State and Joe Pantaleo of Michigan are two of the favorites.

Finkbeiner, who missed most of the season with a back injury and recently suffered a neck injury, said he's ready to go, despite the setbacks.

"I don't think about the injuries at all," he said. "I'm going to give it all I have. When I look back at this in a few years, I want to have no regrets."

"His durability is a big concern, and his recovery time is a question mark," Lorenzo said. "At the EWLs he recovered quite well."

At 150, Mike Bevilacqua (16-13-4) will make his first appearance at the NCAAs. Iowa State's Tim Krieger and Bloomsburg's Dave Morgan, a pair of All-Americans, are two of the favorites in the class.

Dernlan (20-10-2) is also in one of the most balanced classes. Edinboro's Sean O'Day, this year's outstanding wrestler in the EWL Tournament and a pair of Big 10 standouts, Iowa's Joe Melchiore and Michigan's John Fisher, are the favorites at 134.

"Even though I finished fifth in the EWLs, I feel like I've been peaking in the last few weeks," Dernlan said. "I'm going to worry about the first guy first and then take it from there."

Pat Santoro of Pitt and Mike Cole of Clarion, who finished first and second, respectively, in the EWL Tournament, head the field at 142. Rob Meloy (14-6-2) earned his second trip to the national tournament with a fourthplace finish in the EWLs.

"For me to place in the top four, I'm going to have to be on my offense, and continue what I did in the EWLs -- keep the pressure on my opponents all the time," Meloy said.