  The reaction $\pi^-p \to \eta\pi^o n$ has been studied with GAMS-2000
spectrometer in the secondary 38 GeV/c $\pi^-$-beam of the IHEP U-70
accelerator. Partial wave analysis of the reaction has been performed in the
$\eta\pi^o$ mass range up to 1200 MeV. The $a_0(980)$-meson is seen as a sharp
peak in S-wave. The $t$-dependence of $a_0(980)$ production cross section has
been studied. Dominant production of the $a_0(980)$ at a small transfer
momentum $t$ confirms the hypothesis of Achasov and Shestakov about significant
contribution of the $\rho_2$ exchange ($I^GJ^{PC}=1^+2^{--}$) in the mechanism
of $a_0(980)$ meson production in $t$-channel of the reaction.
