Cormier is set to compete in his second straight Olympic games after he won his best-of-three championship series over Damion Hahn. Cormier claimed a 6-1, 6-0 win over Hahn in the first match of the best-of-three finals series, then followed it up with a 1-0, 1-0 win over Hahn to punch his ticket to Beijing.
Cormier, the 2008 winner of the John Smith Award as the top American freestyle wrestler, won the bronze medal at the 2007 World Championship. He placed fourth at the 2004 Athens Olympics and is now a five-time member of the United States freestyle world team. He did not have to wrestle through the challenge tournament to get to the finals as a result of his past successes.
Mocco stormed through the challenge tournament with a first-round bye and followed it up with a 1-0, 1-0 win over Les Sigman to set up his resounding 2-0, 7-0 semifinal win over Scott Steele. Mocco faced previous nemesis Tommy Rowlands in the best two-of-three championship series and handed him a 1-0, 2-0 beating to land a spot on the U.S. Olympic roster. The victory was particularly sweet for Mocco, who lost to Rowlands at the U.S. Nationals in April.
By beating Rowlands Sunday, Mocco made the U.S. World Team for the first time in his career after posting runner-up finishes in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He was also the runner-up at the U.S. Nationals in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008.
In addition to the victorious Cormier and Mocco, two other former Cowboy wrestlers competed in the Olympic Trials finals, with Tyrone Lewis and Mo Lawal both falling short in their Olympic bids.
Lewis lost his best-of-three finals match to Ben Askren by dropping the first match, 2-0, 1-0 and the second match by a 2-6, 2-0, 1-0 score. Lewis' route to the finals started with a first-round bye followed by a 1-1, 1-0, 1-0 win over Keith Gavin in the second round. Lewis' 0-2, 3-0, 7-0 pounding of Ryan Churella put him into the final round, where Askren held him off.
A late takedown with only 17 seconds left in his championship match with Andy Hrovat ended up costing Lawal, who lost a 0-1, 1-0, 2-2 decision. Like Cormier, Lawal earned a spot in the championship series by virtue of his past performances. He did not wrestle in the challenge tournament.
Not including Cormier and Mocco in 2008, a total of 32 former Oklahoma State Cowboys have wrestled in 38 Olympic Games and Cormier is set to join John Smith, Kendall Cross, Kenny Monday, Gene Davis, Harry Geris and Yojiro Uetake as former Cowboys to wrestle at more than one Olympic games.
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