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August 29, 2004 12:01 pm

Cormier outwrestled for bronze

By BRYCE MILLER

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece - A two-point lead in overtime put Daniel Cormier one point away from capping off the U.S. freestyle wrestling team's Olympic run with a bronze medal.

The point never came.

Iran's Alireza Heidari scored the final three points of the match Sunday to stun Cormier, 3-2, at 211.5 pounds for a come-from-behind bronze medal at Ano Liossia Olympic Hall.

``I can't explain how I feel right now, because a lifelong dream just came to an end,'' Cormier said. ``And it didn't end the way I wanted it to end.''

Heidari, a former world champion and three-time world silver medalist, derailed a medal bid by Cormier for the second time in two years.

In a quarterfinal match at the world championships in New York last year, Heidari pulled out a physical match with Cormier. When Heidari began celebrating the win, Cormier shoved him in the back.

Cormier apologized for the incident, but the rivalry was renewed Sunday for an Olympic medal.

- controlled the match until the 42 seconds into overtime.

The Iranian scored a point at 6:42 for an offensive move that caused Cormier to flee the mat. He followed with a takedown 50 seconds later and scored the match-deciding point by turning Cormier and exposing his back to the mat.

``I just know I stopped wrestling and allowed him to get back in the match,'' said Cormier, 25. ``I just should've kept doing what I was doing. If I would've just kept wrestling like I was, I was going to win the match.''

Cormier, a former star at Oklahoma State, also endured an overtime loss in his semifinal match.

Khadjimourat Gatsalov of Russia led, 2-0, after six minutes - but failed to reach the three points needed for a regulation win.

Gatsalov scored a three-point move eight seconds into the extra period, though, to stall Cormier's road to the gold medal match.

``We thought if we turned it into a war, that the guy wouldn't be able to stay with us,'' said Kevin Jackson, U.S. national freestyle coach. ``Daniel allowed him to make it a wrestling match instead of a war.

``It's unfortunate, but he's young and I think he'll be back.''

Jackson attributed Cormier's pair of Sunday losses to keeping the effort sustained until the conclusion of each match.

``To win an Olympic gold medal, or win a medal period, you've got to work a little harder,'' said Jackson, a Barcelona gold medalist in 1992. ``You've got to have your best match and you have to take it.''

Cormier agreed, but also questioned his abilities in his post-Olympic haze.

``I either got to make some changes somewhere, or maybe I'm just not ready for this level of competition,'' Cormier said. ``I don't know what it is, but something's got to change somewhere.''

Cormier jumped into the international scene with a gold medal during the 2002 Pan-American Games in Venezuela.

The loss to Heidari in New York, coupled with the recent death of his 3 1/2-month-old daughter, Kaedyn Imri in an auto accident, brought out emotion and frustration on the mat.

This time, as the Iranian celebrated again, Cormier pointed somewhere else - to himself.

``I didn't come to wrestle the way I should have,'' Cormier said. ``I need to be at my best in this tournament, and I wasn't able to do that out there.

``I really can't explain it any more than that.''

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