Sergeant lands spot on U.S. wrestling team

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- A 2002 world champion wrestler will represent the U.S. Army on Team USA at the 2009 World Wrestling Championship, the Army wrestling program's coach said.

Sgt. 1st Class Dremiel Byers is a Greco-Roman heavyweight wrestler in the Army's World Class Athlete Program, the Defense Department said Tuesday. The world championships are scheduled Sept. 21-27 in Herning, Denmark.

"A senior NCO can really take the guys to a higher level on the military side," said Staff Sgt. Shon Lewis, the program's wrestling coach, who also will go to Denmark. "As a staff sergeant, you can walk some things through. Of course, the more rank you get, the farther you can walk with it, so that's going to be huge for the wrestling team."

Byers, who has been working out in Fort Carson, Colo., helped Team USA win its only Greco-Roman team title at the 2007 World Championships. Two-time Olympic medalist Rulon Gardner bested Byers for a spot on the 2004 Olympic team. Byers qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where he finished seventh, and has an eye on participating in the London Summer Games in 2012, when he would be 37 years old.

"I'm representing the Army, and my coaches do a good job of reminding me that people are counting on me to get it done, and why we're doing this," Byers said. "I've got to stick around until the next Olympic Games."