Daniel Cormier (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC) has been named the winner of the 2007 John Smith Award as the Freestyle Wrestler of the Year by USA Wrestling. It is the first time that Cormier has won this prestigious award.

The award is named in honor of two-time Olympic champion and four-time World champion John Smith.

Cormier won a bronze medal at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. in freestyle wrestling at the 2007 World Wrestling Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was his first career World medal. Cormier was the only U.S. freestyle wrestler to win a medal at the 2007 World Championships, and helped lead Team USA to a fourth-place team finish.

He pulled out a hard-fought, three-period match over Alexey Krupnyakov of Kyrgyzstan 1-0, 0-1, 1-0 in the bronze-medal match. 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 won four of his five matches at the World Championships. He opened with victories over Ian Wardell of Australia and Ruslan Sheykov of Belarus. In the third round, he lost to Iran's Saied Abrahimi. His first wrestleback match was a victory over Kiyotaka Kodaira of Japan, which placed him in the bronze-medal bout against Krupnyakov.

Cormier captured the 2007 U.S. Senior World Team Trials in Las Vegas, Nev. in June, defeating Mo Lawal of the Gator WC in the finals series in two straight matches. He also won the U.S. Nationals Championships in April, defeating Lawal in the finals, 1-0, 1-0. It was Cormier's fifth U.S. Nationals title.

He won a bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games, held in Rio de Janiero, Brazil in July. His only loss was to eventual winner Michel Batista of Cuba. 

He won a gold medal at the 2007 Dave Schultz Memorial International, competing up at 120 kg/264.5 pounds. 

Cormier has been the top-ranked wrestler in his weight class in the United States every year since 2003, when he made his first U.S. World Team. Cormier was fourth at the 2004 Olympic Games and placed fifth at the 2003 World Championships. He also competed in the 2005 and 2006 World Championships for the United States.

Cormier was a NCAA runner-up at Oklahoma State in 2001. He also attended Colby Community College, where he was a Junior College national champion in 1998 and 1999. Originally from Lafayette, La., Cormier won three Louisiana state high school titles for Northside High School.

USA Wrestling will be announcing major award winners this week on TheMat.com.

PAST JOHN SMITH AWARD WINNERS AS FREESTYLE WRESTLER OF THE YEAR
2007 - Daniel Cormier, Stillwater, Okla., Gator WC
2006 - Bill Zadick, Colorado Springs, Colo., Gator WC
2005 - Tolly Thompson, Cedar Falls, Iowa, Sunkist Kids
2004 - Cael Sanderson, Ames, Iowa, Sunkist Kids
2003 - Cael Sanderson, Ames, Iowa, Sunkist Kids
2002 - Joe Williams, Iowa City, Iowa, Sunkist Kids
2001 - Joe Williams, Iowa City, Iowa, Sunkist Kids
2000 - Brandon Slay, Amarillo, Texas, Dave Schultz WC
1999 - Stephen Neal, Bakerfield, Calif., Dave Schultz WC
1998 - Sammie Henson, Norman, Okla., Sunkist Kids
1997 - Les Gutches, Corvallis, Ore., Sunkist Kids
1996 - Kendall Cross, Raleigh, N.C., Sunkist Kids
1995 - Kevin Jackson, Phoenix, Ariz., Sunkist Kids
1994 - Melvin Douglas, Mesa, Ariz., Sunkist Kids
1993 - Terry and Tom Brands, Iowa City, Iowa, Team Foxcatcher
1992 - John Smith, Stillwater, Okla., Sunkist Kids