Pins by Smith and Perkins lift Team USA to 9th-place finish at Greco-Roman World Cup

American Robby Smith went 3-2 during the two-day World Cup in Tehran, Iran. Alireza Akbari photo.

TEHRAN, Iran – Robby Smith and RaVaughn Perkins won by fall to lift the United States to a ninth-place finish at the World Cup in Greco-Roman wrestling on Friday.

The U.S. trailed 4-3 against Armenia and Smith trailed 3-0 after the first period of the final bout at 130 kg/286 lbs. But Smith stormed back strong and eventually earned a pin over Aremenia’s Vachik Yeghiazaryan. 

The dual ended in a 4-4 deadlock, but the U.S. won the tiebreaker based on classification points boosted by the pins by Smith and Perkins.

Americans Andy Bisek and Jordan Holm also won by decision against Armenia. 

Team USA dropped into the ninth-place match after falling to Kazakhstan by a 5-3 score in its final pool match on Friday morning. Bisek, Holm and Smith recorded wins in that match.

The U.S. finished 1-4 in the two-day event. Smith, Bisek and Holm each went 3-2 in the event. Perkins won two matches.

"Obviously, we did not come here for ninth place,” U.S. Coach Steve Fraser said. “However, finishing with a win over Armenia was a great way for us to finish. Perkins came up big with his second pin of the weekend. Keep in mind this is his first international tourney. Bisek wrestled very strong to beat a tough guy 1-0. Holm stepped up big as well with his 5-0 victory over another tough Armenian. 

“And then there was Robby. He was down 3-0 at the half. Then in the second period, he did what he does so well. Four front headlocks in a row and broke his opponent. He won by fall and sent the Iranian crowd into a frenzy. It was a great way to finish my last official assignment as the U.S. National Coach.

“In the locker room after the match, the team came together and talked about how we will build upon this for the future. I believe this team has the heart to keep moving forward toward the Olympic Games." 

Tournament host Iran defeated Russia 6-2 to win the team title. Azerbaijan finished third.

2014 FILA Greco-Roman World Cup

Tehran, Iran, March 16, 2014

First-Place Match

Iran (IRI) def. Russia (RUS), 6-2
59 kg/130 lbs. – Hamid SORYAN (IRI) v. Mingiyan SEMENOV (RUS), 6-5
66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Adam KURAK (RUS) df. Omid NOROOZI (IRI), 8-6 
71 kg/156 lbs. – Saeed ABDEVALI (IRI) df. Chingiz LABAZANOV (RUS), 3-0
75 kg/156 lbs. – Roman VLASOV (RUS) df. Farshad ALIZADEH (IRI) by TF, 11-0
80 kg/176 lbs. – Habibollah AKHLAGHI (IRI) df. Evgeny BOGOMOLOV (RUS) by TF, 8-0
85 kg/187 lbs. – Taleb NEMATPOUR (IRI) df. Davit CHAKVETADZE (RUS), 3-1
98 kg/215.5 lbs. – Mehdi ALIYARI (IRI) df. Nikita MELNIKOV (RUS), 3-1
130 kg/286 lbs. – Bashir BABAJANZADEH (IRI) df. Vasily PARSHIN (RUS), 9-0

Third-Place Match

Azerbaijan (AZE) def. Hungary (HUN), 6-2
59 kg – Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Csongor KNIPLI (HUN) by TF, 11-0
66 kg – Hasan ALIYEV (AZE) df. Krisztian JAGER (HUN) by DQ
71 kg – Rasul CHUNAYEV (AZE) df.  Balint KORPASI (HUN), 4-2
75 kg – Elvin MURSALIYEV (AZE) v. Laszlo SZABO (HUN), 3-0
80 kg – Emin AHMADOV (AZE) v. Gabor MADARAS (HUN), FALL
85 kg – Viktor LORINCZ (HUN) df. Shahriyar MAMMADOV (AZE), 1-0
98 kg – Balazs KISS (HUN) df. ARAZ HASANOV (AZE), 4-0 
130 kg – Sabah SHARIATI (AZE) df. Balint LAM (HUN) 1-0

Fifth-Place Match

Turkey (TUR) def. Korea (KOR), 4-4 (Classification Points, 18-14)
59 kg – CHOI Gi-uk (KOR) df. Serif KILIC (TUR), 12-10 
66 kg – RYU Han-Su (KOR) df. Enes BASAR (TUR), 5-0
71 kg -  JUNG Ji-Hyun (KOR) df. Yunus OZEL (TUR) via criteria 5-5
75 kg – KIM Hyeon-Woo (KOR) df. Furkan BAYRAK (TUR) by TF, 9-0
80 kg – Dogan GOKTAS (TUR) df. KIM June- Hyoung (KOR) by TF, 9-0
85 kg – Basar DEMIRCI (TUR) df. No wrestler (KOR) via forefeit
98 kg – Suleyman DEMIRCI (TUR) df. GU Hak-Bon (KOR) by TF 9-0
130 kg – ATILLA GUZEL (TUR) df. KIM Yong-Min (KOR), 3-1

Seventh-Place Match

Kazakhstan (KAZ) def. Finland (FIN) 4-4 (Classification Points, 17-15)
59 kg – Jussi-pekka HNIMISTO (FIN) df. Daulet ABSALIMOV (KAZ), 5-0
66 kg – Askhat ZHABIROV (KAZ) df. Tero VVALIMAKI (FIN), 4-3
71 kg – Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) df. Henri PALOMAKI (FIN), 9-0
75 kg – Askhat DILMUKHAMEDOV (KAZ) – No wrestler (FIN) via forfeit
80 kg – Aleksandr KAZAKEVIC (LTU) df. Danyal GAJIYV (KAZ), 6-0 
85 kg – Alkhazur OZDIYEV (KAZ) df. Rami HIETANIEMI (FIN) by TF, 10-0
98 kg – Timo KALLIO (FIN) df. Ilya NASTOCHENKO (KAZ), 8-0
130 kg – Mindaugas MIZGAITIS (LTU) df. Yessenkeidi ZHALGASBAYEV (KAZ), 9-1 
Ninth-Place Match

United States (USA) def. Armenia (ARM) 4-4 (Classification Points, 21-15)
59 kg – Narek KHACHATRYAN (ARM) df. Ryan MANGO (USA), 9-6
66 kg – Ravaughn PERKINS (USA) df. Gevorg SAHAKYAN (ARM) by FALL
71 kg – Rafayel ALEKSANYAN (ARM) df. Patrick SMITH (USA)  by TF, 10-2
75 kg – Andrew BISEK (USA) v.  Karapet CHALYAN (ARM), 1-0
80 kg – Rafik MANUKYAN (ARM) df. Geordan SPEILLER (USA) by TF, 10-0 
85 kg – Jordan HOLM (USA) df. Hrach HOVHANNISYAN (ARM), 5-0
98 kg – Movses ADAMYAN (ARM) df. Daren BURNS (USA) by TF, 12-4 
130 kg – Robert SMITH (USA) v. Vachik YEGHIAZARYAN (ARM) by FALL

Group A, Session V
Kazakhstan (KAZ) def. United States (USA), 5-3 
59 kg – Daulet ABSALIMOV (KAZ) df. Ryan MANGO (USA), 13-7 
66 kg – Askhat ZHABIROV (KAZ) df. Ravaughn PERKINS, 1-0
71 kg – Demeu ZHADRAYEV (KAZ) df. Patrick SMITH (USA) by TF, 16-7
75kg – Andrew BISEK (USA) v. No Wrestler via forfeit
80 kg – Danyal GAJIYV (KAZ) df. Geordan SPEILLER (USA), 8-0
85 kg – Jordan HOLM (USA) v. Alkhazur OZDIYEV (KAZ) by TF, 8-0
98 kg – Ilya NASTOCHENKO (KAZ) df. Daren BURNS (USA) by TF, 9-0 
130 kg – Robert SMITH (USA) v. Yessenkeidi ZHALGASBAYEV (KAZ) by TF, 8-0