Olympic wrestling trials produce jubilation, tears

Tyrone Lewis paced in the solitude of the Thomas & Mack Center parking lot. The asphalt was hot Sunday, but not nearly as hot as Lewis.

His singlet folded to the waist, the freestyle wrestler threw his arms skyward and screamed an occasional profanity to the heavens.

His dream of competing in the Beijing Olympics was ended a few minutes before by Ben Askren, who beat him in two matches to earn a spot on the team at 163 pounds in the U.S. Olympic team trials.

For each of the four freestyle and two Greco-Roman wrestlers who celebrated -- such as Daniel Cormier, who ran high into the grandstands to rejoice with his family -- there was a solemn combatant like Lewis who came so close, but will be far from Beijing in August.

For every half-dozen or so who didn't qualify for Beijing, one did. Among the latter is 185-pounder Andy Hrovat, whose dream of winning gold began the moment he graduated from Michigan in 2002.

"I set that goal and began working backward from there," the 28-year-old said.

Hrovat of Lakewood, Ohio, pulled one of the biggest upsets when he beat top seed Mo Lawal by scoring in the final second of the final period in the best-of-3 championship round. Hrovat maneuvered for the last point, an eye-blink before the buzzer, to tie the match at 3 and win the Olympic berth by tiebreaker.

"I had no idea," he said of how much time remained. "I just kept attacking. He backed out and I took a shot. ... I still can't believe it. Not at all."

Moments after Hrovat's dream blossomed, another wilted. Dremiel Byers, 33, of Kings Mountain, N.C., beat Timothy Taylor for the 264.5-pound, Greco-Roman title.

While Byers was joyous, Taylor sat alone deep in the arena, his reddened face buried in a sweatshirt. But Taylor, of Clearfield, Pa., is only 25 and can look toward qualifying for the 2012 London Games.

Askren, 23, of Hartland, Wis., and Cormier of Lafayette, La., were the only wrestlers to win their divisions by sweeping two matches in the best-of-3 championship round.

Cormier, who beat Damion Hahn at 211.5 pounds in freestyle, placed fourth at the 2004 Athens Games.

"My family is everything to me," he said after running up the steps. "It's a great day for my family."

Steve Mocco upset top seed Tommy Rowlands at 264.5 pounds (120 kilos) in freestyle in the last match of the three-day event.

Adam Wheeler of Lancaster, Calif., defeated top seed Justin Ruiz of Salt Lake City by scoring with eight seconds left in his match to the win the spot at 211.5 pounds in Greco-Roman.