There is no prize for second place.

Jesse Jantzen can still recall sitting in front of his television watching the 1988 Olympic Games in South Korea. Only 6 years old at the time, his wrestling career had barely started. But he already knew one day he wanted to follow in the footsteps of John Smith, Kenny Monday and the other U.S. Olympians.

"Ever since then it's been something I've strived for," said Jantzen, a 2000 Shoreham-Wading River graduate. "It was definitely a distinct memory of knowing at that point that down the road I wanted to train to do it."

All the work, all the grueling training and countless matches now come down to one weekend for Jantzen. After winning a Northeast Regional Qualifier in early April at SUNY/Brockport, the 26-year-old Jantzen earned a spot at the Olympic Qualifiers, which begin June 13.

Wrestling up a weight class at 163 pounds, Jantzen defeated high school senior Quentin Wright of Wingate, Pa., in the finals, 1-0, 1-6, 1-1. He scored the final point of the third period to win the 1-1 tie.

"That was important to get that qualifier out of the way," said Jantzen, who competes under the New York Athletic Club.

In Las Vegas Jantzen will be back in his familiar weight class, which will be one of the most competitive. Former Olympian Cary Kolat and World Team members Chris Bono and Bill Zadick will be among those fighting for one spot. Waiting in the finals for whichever wrestler is lucky to get that far will be Doug Schwab of Iowa City. Schwab won the U.S. Nationals, which earned him an automatic bid into the finals, whereas Jantzen and the other wrestlers will have to win as many as five matches just for the right to face him. The finals are a best of three.

An injury prevented Jantzen from competing in the U.S. Nationals April 23-26, which made his win at the earlier qualifier so vital. Had he not won the Northeast Qualifier, he would have needed to place in the top seven at the U.S. Nationals in Vegas.

The road for the 1451âÑ2 wrestlers was compounded when the U.S. failed to qualify in the 132-pound class. Seven weight classes are wrestled in the Olympics, but the U.S. will only send six wrestlers. The last chance for the U.S. came in early May at a qualifying tournament in Poland. Nate Gallick, the last hope, lost in the first round of the tournament.

"All the guys that generally wrestle 132 are likely going to wrestle 145 because they're probably not going to be able to make the lighter weight class," Jantzen said.

It's an arduous task ahead for Jantzen, but one he's spent many years preparing for.

"I've been training for a long period of time, ever since I was young and in the back of my mind the goal was to try to make an Olympic team," Jantzen said.

Jantzen lives in Cambridge, Mass., these days, where he continues his training under the guidance of Granit Taropin, a former Russian national team coach. In the morning Jantzen will run, lift weights or do an agility workout for about two hours. In the afternoon he'll work in a sparring session for another two hours.

With the final qualifier closing in, Jantzen's focus is on maintaining his weight -- which is the same as it was in his junior year in high school -- and making sure his workouts are perfect.

Jantzen met Taropin at Harvard, where in his senior season in 2004 he won a national title at 149 pounds. Taropin works as an assistant coach for Harvard, a post he started after coaching the Great Britain national team.

"He's a really good resource for me because he knows the international style better than anyone I know in the states," Jantzen said. "He puts us through workouts on a daily basis and he has trained some of the best Russian athletes in the world."

As fate would have it, when Jantzen watched his first Olympics in '88, the gold-medal winner in the 52-57 kg weight class was Sergei Beloglazov of the Soviet Union. Beloglazov began his wrestling career under Taropin's tutelage, in addition to his brother Anatoly. Both were gold medal winners at the 1980 Moscow Games under Taropin, who was a coach for the Soviet Union's national team at the time. The two wrestlers combined for seven gold medals in European championships.

Jantzen coached at Harvard as well following his graduation in '04. Jantzen could have tried for a spot at the '04 Games in Athens, but chose to focus on graduating and finishing his academics. Staying at Harvard has kept Jantzen focused on his goal.

"Just being in the room where the college guys are young and real competitive and they have a lot of goals that they want to accomplish," Jantzen said. "You kind of feed off that energy and it makes the workouts easier."

Jantzen's younger brother, Corey, an '07 SWR grad, joined the Harvard wrestling team last fall. Corey, while battling through a knee injury, reached the NCAA Tournament in his freshman campaign. He was one of only two Harvard wrestlers to advance that far.

Jantzen said Corey has helped him in his workouts. Down the road, Corey could be training for his own Olympics. If Corey stays on a four-year plan, the 2012 London Games will come up a year after he graduates, which would be ideal timing.

"I think he's definitely capable," Jantzen said. "He's done even better in the international style than in the collegiate style. He seems to have a knack for the freestyle."

That Jesse Jantzen would develop into an Olympic-caliber wrestler comes as no real surprise. As a six-year varsity wrestler with the Wildcats -- where he accumulated a 221-3 record -- Jantzen won four consecutive state titles in high school. At the time he was the only wrestler to accomplish that feat. It was later duplicated by J.P. O'Connor, who now wrestles for Harvard as well. O'Connor finished sixth at 149 in the NCAA Championship as a sophomore in March.

Competing under the guidance of his father, Don, Jantzen was a three-time All-American and two-time national champion in high school.

His success quickly followed him to Harvard. He was the Ivy League Rookie of the Year while finishing 17-7. By his sophomore season he was a third-place finisher at the NCAAs, posting the best finish of a Harvard wrestler since 1953. As a junior he went 39-2. In his senior season he capped his collegiate career with an NCAA title against Zack Esposito, who is another wrestler in the 1451âÑ2 weight class at the Olympic Qualifier. Esposito placed sixth at the U.S. Nationals.

In his post-college career Jantzen was a 2005 World University Champion.

All of it, though, would be hard to compare to an Olympic gold medal.

"The goal I've trained all this time for is the gold medal," Jantzen said. "You don't want to train for second or third. But in the end, to get that experience, I don't think I'd be hanging my head down if for some reason I didn't."

Jantzen's been to China once before, in 2006, at the World Championship in Guangzhou. He couldn't compete, though, as he recovered from a foot injury he suffered shortly after winning the World University title. He tore a ligament in the foot while wake boarding on a Long Island beach.

He returned after a long layoff in February 2007 at the Dave Schultz Memorial International Open. After winning his first two matches he lost to Esposito in the quarterfinals, 2-0, 3-0.

He won his next match and then lost in the next consolation round against Brent Metcalf.

While Jantzen slipped in national rankings because of the long layoff, he quickly proved that he could bounce back. In March 2005 Jantzen was ranked third in the U.S. freestyle rankings. He remained in the top-10 but slipped as low as eight for most of 2006. In November 2007 he was out of the top-10 completely. In the latest poll in April, he moved to 10th at 163.

"I always felt I was in the mix to be the top guy," Jantzen said. "I think my ability is definitely there, but everyone is so close in the top-10 that it really just takes one good day for any of us to make the team."

Jantzen's Olympic bid could be the final road for one of the most talented wrestlers in New York's history. With his focus squarely on Beijing, Jantzen hasn't decided for sure where he'll head next. But he said he's excited about pursuing the next chapter in his life and finding success outside of wrestling.

"Obviously Corey is still competing, so I want to be able to work out with him," Jantzen said.

Jantzen envisions himself working in Manhattan at a bank, where he'll trade his singlet for a suit.

But first, one piece of business remains.

It'd be hard to imagine just what it would feel like to emerge as the champion and headed to Beijing, Jantzen said.

"To be able to share that and have that would be amazing," Jantzen said.

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