USA Team Outwrestles Utah All-Stars

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Jay Hinton (Desert News)
06/10/2002


SANDY, Utah - Alta High's Casey Lawson isn't surprised he's not ranked nationally in Greco-Roman wrestling. He hasn't done much to deserve it yet.    But Lawson considers his victory over three-time national champion Matt Stewart  at the Second Annual Utah Greco-Roman Challenge Saturday at Alta High School a  huge step in the right direction.    "I'm not ranked because I haven't proven myself, yet," Lawson said. "I haven't  placed at nationals. I have placed at regionals. Hopefully this year I'll place  at nationals."    In the 134-pound weight class, Lawson defeated Stewart (Viskayuna, N.Y.) by fall  for the first of two Utah victories at the 2002 Challenge.    Timpanogos' Cheney Haight needed overtime to defeat No. 1-ranked A.J. Lavender  (Moline, Ill.), 5-0. However, Team USA defeated Utah, 32-10. The visiting team  beat Utah in the inaugural challenge last year, 28-21.    "I knew it was going to be a tough match," Lawson said of his bout with Stewart.  "It gives me a lot of confidence wrestling against the best guys in the  nation."    Nationals will be held at the end of July in Fargo, N.D.    "Rankings don't mean anything," Lawson said. "In July is when I will prove  myself."    Orem's Kevin Hunter, Dixie's Gerard Habibian and Viewmont's Ben Kjar posted wins  at the event a year ago, but all suffered defeats Saturday.    Brock Zollinger (Rexburg, Idaho) defeated Hunter, 6-1 in the first match of the  day. Zollinger lost to Kjar last year.    Luke Smith (Chippewa Fall, Wis.) defeated Kjar, 9-4, and J.D. Bergman (Oak  Harbor, Ohio) beat Habibian by fall. Bergman beat Habibian two weeks again in a  tournament in Las Vegas.    In a rematch of the 2001 Junior National Championship, Mike Harrington  (Cambridge, N.Y.), defeated Hunter's Darrin Harris, 7-2. Harrington beat Harris,  6-4, for the national title.    In other matches: Grant Miller of Illinois, a six-time national champion, defeated Mountain View's Garret Story by technical fall; Wasatch's Colton Salazar lost to Todd Meneely (Omaha, Neb.) by technical fall; Bear River's Zack Elliott also lost by technical fall to Travis Paulsen (Council Bluffs, Iowa); Layton's Josh Lamano lost by fall to Scott Loescher (Portland, Ore.); and Lehi's Tosh Mackintosh lost, 8-4, to Jack Jensen (Sheboygan, Wis.).