The words of USA Wrestling National Freestyle Coach Kevin Jackson couldn’t have been more fitting when describing the performance of Daniel Cormier.

After falling short of winning a medal in three previous trips to the World Championships and one Olympics, Cormier shook off the sting of a tough quarterfinal loss to capture a bronze medal on Friday night at the Heydar Aliyev Sport and Exhibition Complex.

U.S. heavyweight Tommy Rowlands turned in a solid tournament in his first World Championships by placing fifth at 120 kg/264.5 lbs.

The United States men’s team finished fourth in the team race with 32 points, two behind third-place Turkey. The U.S. qualified five of its seven wrestlers for the 2008 Olympics with five team members placing in the top five.

"We're really happy with Daniel and the way he fought back to finally win that bronze medal he had been supposed to get the last few years," Jackson said. "Sometimes taking third is harder than taking first when you have to come back through the wrestlebacks. We're excited about his performance and next year we can take that next step and make it to the finals.

"Overall, we qualified five weight classes for the Olympic Games. That obviously was not our goal. We wanted to win all seven weight classes and win the tournament. Obviously, we're a long ways from that. We need to continue to work, continue to get tougher and continue to get better. We need the commitment from everybody involved in our program. If we do that, we have a chance to do real well in Beijing."

Russia obliterated the field with arguably the best performance in the history of this event. Russia won gold medals in six of seven weight classes, posted a combined 37-1 match record and won an unthinkable 74 of 81 periods in the tournament. Russia also had a bronze-medal finisher.

American Stephanie Murata (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) fell just short of winning her second World medal. She placed fifth at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. Murata won the first period before dropping the final two periods to Xiaomei Li of China 1-0, 2-0. Murata repeatedly was in good on a number of shots, but was unable to finish. She lost the second period on the coin flip. Li put the match away by scoring two third-period takedowns on a pair of sweep singles.

Cormier (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC) won the bronze after he pulled out a hard-fought, three-period match over Alexey Krupnyakov of Kyrgyzstan 1-0, 0-1, 1-0 at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. Cormier scored the decisive point in the third period when he drove Krupnyakov out of bounds during a flurry of action with 17 seconds left. Cormier then held off Krupnyakov’s late takedown attempts to earn the bronze.

Cormier raised both arms into the air as he celebrated finally gaining that elusive win. Cormier placed fifth in the 2003 Words and fourth in the 2004 Olympics before failing to place at the 2005 and 2006 Worlds.

"Obviously, a bronze medal is not what you come here to do," Cormier said. "But to finally get over the hump ... being on so many World Teams and never actually getting to the medal stand, it feels good to finally know I can do it with hard work. Regardless of how many times you fall short, if you keep working it's going to happen for you."

Cormier picks up momentum for next year as he tries to make his second straight Olympic Team.

"It's amazing because this gives me a new sense of hope going into next year," Cormier said. "I know I can wrestle with anybody if I wrestle hard and wrestle smart."

Rowlands (Columbus, Ohio/Sunkist Kids) took fifth in a loaded half of the bracket at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. He lost to past World champion Alexis Rodriguez of Cuba in the third round before coming back to win a pair of matches in the wrestlebacks. He then fell to past Olympic and World champion Artur Taymazov of Uzbekistan 3-0, 6-0 in the bronze-medal match.

"I need to go back and work hard and get better," Rowlands said. "Obviously there are improvements needed to be made if I am going to be those guys and I feel like I can definitely do that in a year's time. My goal is still to be an Olympic champion."

Rowlands took a big step this year in going from No. 3 on the U.S. ladder to No. 5 in the World.

"I always thought I could compete at this level and now I know that I can," Rowlands said. "This experience is invaluable. It gives you a new benchmark every time you compete at a level like this."

Day 2 of 3 in the women’s freestyle competition is set for Saturday. The U.S. entrants include Jenny Wong (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 51 kg/112.25 lbs., Marcie Van Dusen (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) at 55 kg/121 lbs. and Leigh Jaynes (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army) at 59 kg/130 lbs.

WORLD WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Baku, Azerbaijan, September 21

Men’s freestyle

96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Gold - Khadshimourad Gatsalov (Russia)
Silver - Saeed Abrahimi (Iran)
Bronze - Kurban Kurbanov (Uzbekistan)
Bronze - Daniel Cormier (United States)
5th - Hakan Koc (Turkey)
5th - Alexej Krupniakov (Kyrgyzstan)
7th - Vasili Tismenetzki (Ukraine)
8th - Stefan Kehrer (Germany)
9th - Khetag Gazumov (Azerbaijan)
10th - Georgi Gogchelidze (Georgia)

120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Gold - Beylal Makhov (Russia)
Silver - Alexis Rodriguez (Cuba)
Bronze - Vadim Tasoev (Ukraine)
Bronze - Artur Taimazov (Uzbekistan)
5th - Tommy Rowlands (United States)
5th - Fatih Cakiroglu (Turkey)
7th - Soung-Jin Go (Korea)
8th - Boyidar Boyadiev (Bulgaria)
9th - Ali Issaev (Azerbaijan)
10th - Marid Mutalimov (Kazakhstan)

U.S. freestyle performances

96 kg/211.5 lbs. – Daniel Cormier (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC), 3rd
WIN Ian Wardell (Australia), 6-0, 6-0
WIN Ruslan Sheykhov (Belarus), 0-1, 1-0, 3-0
LOSS Saeid Abrahimi (Iran) dec. Cormier, 0-5, 1-2
WIN Kiyotaka Kodaira (Japan), 3-0, 6-0
WIN Alexey Krupnyakov (Kyrgyzstan), 1-0, 0-1, 1-0

120 kg/264.5 lbs. – Tommy Rowlands (Columbus, Ohio/Sunkist Kids), 5th
WIN Lawrence Langowski Mendoza (Mexico), 6-1, 6-0
LOSS Alexis Rodriguez (Cuba) dec. Rowlands, 0-2, 0-1
WIN Martin Siddiqui (Germany), 1-3, 1-0, 3-0
WIN Boyidar Boyadzhiev (Bulgaria), 1-0, 1-2, 1-0
LOSS Artur Taymazov (Uzbekistan), 0-3, 0-6

Final Men’s Freestyle Team Standings
1 RUSSIA, 68 pts.
2 TURKEY, 40 pts.
3 CUBA, 34 pts.
4 UNITED STATES, 32 pts.
5 UZBEKISTAN, 31 pts.
6 UKRAINE, 28 pts.
7 IRAN, 19 pts.
8 KYRGYZSTAN, 14 pts.
9 BULGARIA, 12 pts.
9 MONGOLIA, 12 pts.
9 GEORGIA, 12 pts.
9 AZERBAIJAN, 12 pts.
13 TAJIKISTAN, 9 pts.
14 ALBANIA, 8 pts.
14 BELARUS, 8 pts.
16 GERMANY, 7 pts.
16 INDIA, 7 pts.
18 CHINA, 6 pts.
18 ROMANIA, 6 pts.
18 KAZAKHSTAN, 6 pts.
21 GREECE, 5 pts.
22 COLOMBIA, 4 pts.
22 HUNGARY, 4 pts.
22 KOREA, 4 pts.
25 CANADA, 3 pts.
25 MACEDONIA, 3 pts.
27 SPAIN, 2 pts.
27 JAPAN, 2 pts.
27 SYRIA, 2 pts.
30 CYPRUS, 1 pts.

Women’s freestyle

48 kg/105.5 lbs.
Gold - Chiharu Icho (Japan)
Silver - Irini Merleni (Ukraine)
Bronze - Xiaomei Li (China)
Bronze - Mayelis Caripa (Venezuela)
5th - Carol Huynh (Canada)
5th - Stephanie Murata (United States)
7th - Maria Stadnyk (Azerbaijan)
8th - Sofia Mattsson (Sweden)
9th - Venessa Boubryemm (France)
10th - Brigitte Wagner (Germany)

U.S. women’s performance

48 kg/105.5 – Stephanie Murata (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids), 5th
WIN Natalia Budu (Muldova), 1-0, 6-0
LOSS Chiharu Icho (Japan) dec. Murata, 0-1, 0-1
WIN Isabelle Sambou (Senegal), 3-2, 2-1
WIN Z. Ishimova-Turtbayeva (Kazakhstan), pin 1:57
WIN Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan), 2-1, 1-1
LOSS Xiaomei Li (China) dec. Murata, 1-0, 0-1, 0-2

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