CLEVELAND -- When Blaine Wilson won his first national title, Paul Hamm was watching from home, hoping he'd be standing on the same podium someday.

Six years later, that day has arrived. And in a bit of irony, Hamm beat his former idol Friday night to win his first title at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.

"It feels great,'' Hamm said. "It's been a dream of mine since I was a little kid to be a national champion. To have it over and done with and accomplish it, it is amazing.''

Hamm beat Wilson in convincing fashion, ushering in a new era in American gymnastics. It was Wilson's first loss at a major meet in the United States since the Olympic trials in 1996, and spoiled his bid to become the first man to win six U.S. titles.

Hamm finished with 114.375 points, 2.375 ahead of Wilson. Just how big is that margin? Think of those early season routs in college football and you get the idea.

"He did a good job, he did a really good job,'' Wilson said. "He didn't leave the door open in any way.''

Give Wilson some credit, though. He missed last year's nationals after tearing his rotator cuff, and he competed this week with a hyperextended knee and bum ankle.

"It would have been interesting, that's all I can say,'' Wilson said when asked if the results would have differed if he had been healthy. "We'll see next year.''

Guard Young was third, while Paul Hamm's twin, Morgan, who was out more than a year because of a nerve injury in his shoulder, finished fourth.

"I didn't expect to do as well as I did,'' Morgan Hamm said. "I knew I had routines I could hit and I knew if I got the adrenaline and the meet atmosphere, it turned out to be a really great competition for me.''

Defending champion Sean Townsend had a rough night, getting lost in the air on a handspring twist on the floor exercise. That seemed to throw him off, and he struggled the rest of the meet, dropping to fifth.

"I didn't have one normal Townsend routine,'' he said. "I hit a bump in the road, but I'm just going to go on from here.''

Great things have been expected of Paul Hamm since 2000, when he and Morgan made the Olympic squad at just 17. Paul was sixth after the first day of competition, and finished a respectable 14th in the all-around.

Afterward, Wilson predicted that Paul Hamm would be one of the best in the world someday. Last fall, Paul was in contention for an all-around medal at the world championships until he fell off the high bar.

"Look at him, he's good,'' Wilson said Friday night. "He's got every attribute of a good gymnast.''

Those considerable skills were on display Friday. From the start of the meet, he was consistently solid, opening a bigger lead on Wilson with every event.

His parallel bars routine was one of the more difficult of the night, but he swung smoothly and easily. The only sign of its difficulty was an occasional grimace on his face.

He knew it was good, too, pumping his right fist after he landed.

His high bar routine was impressive, too. The apparatus has given him trouble recently, but he had no problems this time. He drew oohs and aahs from the crowd as he did three straight release moves -- doing a somersault above the bar, coming down to catch it and then repeating the move two more times.

Morgan was already pumping his fists as his brother landed. As Paul came off the podium, he slapped hands with his twin. When his score of 9.625 was announced, the audience booed.

He made a slight mistake on his last event of the night, stepping out of bounds once on floor exercise. But he still scored a 9.775, second only to Morgan.

The crowd screamed as he trotted off the podium, and Paul saluted them by pumping his fist.

"We've had a lot of second places in his career, and it's so frustrating,'' said Stacy Maloney, the Hamms' longtime coach. "It feels really good to put it all together.''

And even better to beat the deepest field the United States has had in years.

Even with his bad ankle and knee, Wilson is a formidable opponent. He scored a 9.925 on the still rings, doing a routine that could be turned into an instructional video. While other gymnasts wobble and sway on rings, Wilson holds perfectly still, doing strength moves that would make most people shriek in pain.

His high bar routine was equally impressive, earning him a 9.9. But he had trouble on floor and vault, and that wasn't good enough to top Hamm.

''(Beating Wilson) is going to help him a lot,'' Maloney said. "I don't want to say we've conquered the United States, but in a way, we have. He's only going to get better from here.''