AP News, April 8th, 2007
Daniel Cormier won his fifth straight national championship by narrowly defeating Mo Lawal in the 211.5-pound freestyle match at the U.S. National Championships on Saturday night.
Cormier edged his training partner and former Oklahoma State teammate 1-0, 1-0 in the best-of-three periods format.
"When you wrestle a guy like that, you have to go on the defensive," said Cormier, who finished fourth at the 2004 Olympics. "Mo wrestled tough. I didn't live up to expectations. I didn't wrestle as I wanted to. A win is a win at the end of the day. Everyone here is getting ready for the (United States wrestling) trials."
The top seven from each weight class in freestyle and Greco-Roman qualify for the U.S. Olympic trials June 9-10 in Las Vegas.
In the 145.5-pound freestyle match, 33-year-old Chris Bono lost the first period to Jared Frayer, but rallied to win 2-6, 3-1, 1-0 and capture his third straight national title and fourth overall.
"My goal was to win the first period, but I'm a different wrestler when I don't win the first," Bono said. "I'm always better than when I'm losing. (Frayer) is tough and he's dangerous. I had never beaten him before."
Bono is doing double duty right now, coaching wrestling at Tennessee-Chattanooga, and had seven of his wrestlers at the championships.
"My first priority is to Tennessee-Chattanoga," he said. "My athletic director supports me. It's good for our school and our community. I'm on the mat more than ever before."
In the 211.5-pound Greco-Roman championship, Justin Ruiz beat Adam Wheeler 3-0, 3-0 for his fourth straight national title.
"It's different than the first time," Ruiz said. "This is such a big tournament. Everyone here (competing) is great. Everyone is getting ready for the (Olympic) trials."
In other Greco-Roman matches: Sam Hazewinkel defeated Lindsey Durlacher 2-1, 3-1 at 121 pounds; Joe Warren pinned Joe Betterman at 1:23 of the first period after having a 4-0 lead at 132 pounds; Glenn Garrison beat Furuk Sahin 6-0, 5-3 at 145.5 pounds; T.C. Dantzler decisioned Keith Sieracki 2-1, 1-1 at 163 pounds; Brad Vering dominated Justin Milliard 7-0, 6-0 at 185 pounds; and Russ Davie defeated Timothy Taylor 3-1, 3-0 at 264.5 pounds.
In other freestyle matches: Henry Cejudo won his second straight title by defeating Nick Simmons 4-4, 4-3, 5-0 at 121 pounds; Nate Gallick beat Mike Zadick 0-1, 3-0, 2-0 at 132 pounds; Joe Heskett topped Casey Cunningham, 1-6, 4-0, 2-1 at 163 pounds; Joe Williams edged Lee Fullhart 0-1, 1-0, 1-0 at 185 pounds; and Tommy Rowlands beat Cole Konrad 3-2, 1-0 at 264.5 pounds.
