ST. PAUL — Utahn Cael Sanderson recorded a rare loss in the Wrestling World Team Trials but won his first trip to the World Championships Sunday.
In the match that took center stage, Lee Fulhart, a former national champion at Iowa, battled former Iowa State star Sanderson of Heber City in men's freestyle at 185 pounds. After Fulhart won the first match 3-2 by scoring on a two-point move with just seconds remaining, Sanderson stormed back to win the second match 7-1 and take the third by a 6-1 score.
Sanderson, who breezed through college with a career 159-0 record and four national titles, had not lost a match since the 2000 Olympic trials.
Spurred by a hometown crowd that shouted his name, Brandon Paulson of Anoka, Minn., a 1996 Olympic silver medalist, defeated Lindsay Durlacher on Sunday to advance to the World Championships in Greco-Roman at 121 pounds.
"The crowd helps a lot when you're getting tired," Paulson said. "You can hear them yelling, 'Come on, Brandon!' And you know then that it's time to perform. It's time to get these people excited."
Paulson — who beat Durlacher, of Evanston, Ill., 6-0 and 8-1 — will be joined at the World Championships by fellow Minnesotans Garrett Lowney, Tim Hartung and Jenny Wong, all of whom won matches Sunday at Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
Hartung, who won a pair of national championships at Minnesota, beat Chad Lamer of Iowa City, Iowa, 12-5 and 11-4 in men's freestyle at 211.5 pounds.
"I've been looking forward to this all month," said Hartung, who had more than 90 family and friends in the crowd on Sunday. "It was great to be able to show them that my dream is real and that I'm right there."
Hartung said advancing to the World Championships will help move him closer to his ultimate goal — making the 2004 Olympic team.
"The experience of wrestling at the Worlds will be great for me," he said. "It can only help me in working toward making the Olympics."
Lowney, the Golden Gopher wrestler who won a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics, advanced to the World Championships in Greco-Roman at 211.75 pounds after his opponent, Jason Ruiz of Taylorsville, Utah, declined to wrestle on Sunday because it conflicted with his Mormon faith.
Wong, who is from Stillwater, defeated Katie Kunimoto of Kaheohe, Hawaii, 3-0 and 3-0 in overtime, in women's freestyle at 112 pounds to advance.
"I still have a long way to go to get to where I want to be," said Wong, whose goal is to be an Olympic champion. "But this is a step on the way."
Other winners included Joe Williams, a three-time NCAA champion at Iowa, who defeated Casey Cunningham of Michigan, 5-1 and 7-5 in men's freestyle at 163 pounds.