Exciting young Daniel Cormier of the Gator WC is the new U.S. Nationals champion, with a career-best performance in Las Vegas. Cormier is well known for his exciting upper-body throws, and has shown the ability to win from any position on the mat. He injured his arm last year on an international tour, which was a factor in his No. 3 finish at last year's World Team Trials. Cormier returned completely healthy this season and full of confidence. College fans remember Cormier's senior year at Oklahoma State, where he gave Cael Sanderson a very close match at the NCAA finals. In freestyle, Cormier seems at ease and relaxed, and this may be the style that he truly pushes the limits of his talent.    In the U.S. Nationals finals, Cormier defeated Dean Morrison of the New York AC, 3-0. Morrison is also making a big move in freestyle, and has done well since training at the USOTC in Colorado Springs. With the changes in the weight classes, Morrison moved up in weight and has seemed to get stronger and more competitive at this level. Morrison was third at last year's U.S. Nationals and won a gold medal at the Pan American Championships this spring. He was a NCAA champion at the Univ. of West Virginia back in 1994, which means he has been doing this freestyle thing for a decade now.    Tim Hartung of the Minnesota Storm was the top athlete at this weight class last season, winning U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials events. Hartung captured the World Cup title this year, won both of his bouts during the Titan Games and captured the Dave Schultz Memorial International. It looked like he was on a roll coming into the U.S. Nationals. Although he fell short of making the finals this year, he has proven that he is truly a world-class freestyle wrestler, and must be considered a favorite in the Challenge Tournament. When he is wrestling well, Hartung has a defense that is hard to penetrate. When he is wrestling really well, his offense also opens up. Hartung won a pair of NCAA titles at the Univ. of Minnesota, showing a toughness there that has transferred to his international career.    Dominic Black of the U.S. Army, who competed in the 2001 World Championships and was second at the 2000 Olympic Trials, placed fourth at the U.S. Nationals. Black has the experience and skill to reclaim the spot at the top. Black took a season off to pursue his military education, and has not yet regained the edge that he had a few seasons ago. Nobody who is wrestling at this division has as much international experience as Black, something that could make him dangerous in close matches. Like Morrison, Black competed at the Univ. of West Virginia. He has truly blossomed in the Army World Class Athlete Program.    Placing fifth at the U.S. Nationals was NCAA runner-up Jon Trenge of the New York AC, who competes for Lehigh but also has many age-group freestyle achievements. Trenge has learned to adapt to an eye injury that seriously threatened his career a few seasons ago. He has yet to reach his college goals, placing second at the NCAA Championships for two straight seasons. It will be interesting to see if he sets some long-term goals in freestyle as well.    Chad Lamer of the Hawkeye WC, who was second to Hartung at the U.S. Nationals and World Team Trials last year, captured sixth at the U.S. Nationals. Lamer is a horse, a big, strong and agile athlete who can battle with the best of them. He made his mark in college as a three-time NCAA Div. II champion at South Dakota State. Among his top international achievements are a University World Championships gold medal and a silver medal at the 2002 World Cup.    Claiming a spot in the Challenge Tournament by placing seventh in Las Vegas was Nick Preston of Ohio International, who did his college wrestling at Ohio State. Preston seems to be very adept at freestyle, and has been in the mix for a few seasons now    A current college star from Ohio State, Tommy Rowlands of the Dave Schultz WC, is ranked No. 2 on Team USA at super heavyweight, but may be dropping to this division.  Rowlands was a 2002 NCAA champion, who has won World medals on the Junior level. His ankle was severely injured at the NCAA Championships, and he skipped the U.S. Nationals in Las Vegas. Rowlands is reportedly wrestling well in training and seems to have taken off the weight in order to test himself at this division. Many expect this is the weight that Rowlands will pursue his Olympic dream years into the future.    Two other talents, Ryan Tobin of the Dave Schultz WC and Franklin Lashley of the U.S. Army, qualified for the event by winning a medal at a major international meet. Tobin made his name in college at Nebraska. Lashley was a NAIA star at Missouri Valley College, who made a successful jump into the freestyle scene after joining the U.S. Army.  NCAA champion Damion Hahn of Minnesota has been a strong freestyler going back to high school days, and is competing at a new higher weight class this year. Fans may remember how Hahn, as a New Jersey high school wrestler, fell just short of qualifying for the 2000 Olympic Trials, beating many experienced older stars. Now with a few seasons of college in his briefcase, and a renewed enthusiasm for wrestling, Hahn might be ready to put his freestyle skills to work at this level.    Kyle Cerminera of the Univ. of Buffalo gets into the field by claiming a Regional title. Many wonder if 2000 Olympian and 1993 World Champion Melvin Douglas of the Sunkist Kids will make a comeback, since he placed ahead of everybody still competing in this division a few years ago. As time goes by, and the popular Douglas continues to stay on the sidelines rather than on the mat, it becomes less likely we will ever see him as a competitor.    This is perhaps the most wide-open division in U.S. freestyle wrestling. There have been two different No. 1 athletes since Douglas wrestled at the 2000 Olympics, with Black as the man in 2001 and Hartung as the boss in 2002. This year, heading into the World Team Trials, Daniel Cormier has assumed the top spot after his first U.S. Nationals title. If he intends to be the athlete who competes in next year's Olympics, it would be very helpful to win the World Team Trials this year. Fans must realize that Dean Morrison's improvement is real, and that nobody will be able to beat him unless they are at their best. The insertion of talented Tommy Rowlands in the mix adds some real drama and depth. The Challenge Tournament should be a tremendous war. Cormier has the advantage of letting these warriors hammer on each other for a few days before the survivor gets a shot at him. The first match of the Championship Series will be vital for the challenger, who must try to take the edge off Cormier's recent success.    2003 U.S. Freestyle Nationals results at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.  1st - Daniel Cormier (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC) dec. Dean Morrison (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), 3-0  3rd - Tim Hartung (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm) dec. Dominic Black (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army), 3-1  5th - Jon Trenge (Bethlehem, Pa./New York AC) tech. fall Chad Lamer (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC), 12-2  7th - Nick Preston (Columbus, Ohio/Ohio International) by inj. default over Ryan Tobin (Colorado Springs, Colo./Dave Schultz WC)    2003 Freestyle World Team Trials at 96 kg/211.5 lbs.  National champion - Daniel Cormier (Stillwater, Okla./Gator WC)  National placerwinners - 2. Dean Morrison (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC); 3. Tim Hartung (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm); 4. Dominic Black (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army); 5. Jon Trenge (Bethlehem, Pa./New York AC); 6. Chad Lamer (Iowa City, Iowa/Hawkeye WC); 7. Nick Preston (Columbus, Ohio/Ohio International)  Past World or Olympic team member - Melvin Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Sunkist Kids); NCAA Div. I finalist - Damion Hahn (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm); Regional champions - Kyle Cerminera (Lewiston, N.Y./UB); Medalist at Group A Tournament - Franklin Lashley (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army), Ryan Tobin (Colorado Springs, Colo./Dave Schultz WC)