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FLASH: Team USA wins six Greco-Roman medals in Haavisto Cup in Finland

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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling

USA medalists at 59 kg at Haavisto Cup: silver medal to Nikko Triggas, bronze medals to Jermaine Hodge and Spenser Mango.


ILMAJOKI, Finland – The United States came home with six medals, three silvers and three bronzes, in Greco-Roman at the Haavisto Cup on Saturday.


The three silver medalists were Nikko Triggas (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 59 kg/130 lbs., Cheney Haight (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 75 kg/165 lbs. and Jon Anderson (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) at 85 kg/185 lbs.


Triggas fell to 2015 Nordic Junior champion Ardit Fazlija of Sweden in the finals by technical fall, 1-10.


Triggas opened with a 6-6 win over Jani Haapamaki of Finland, who was seventh in the 2010 World Championships. Haapamaki had beaten Triggas in a dual meet the day before. Triggas then scored a pair of 8-0 technical falls over Isak Selder of Sweden and Jermaine Hodge of the USA.


Haight was defeated in the finals by Alex Kessidis of Sweden by technical fall, 0-9. Kessidis was fifth in 2015 Junior World Championships. Haight won twice to reach the finals, beating Vili Popponen of Finland 5-4 and Dawid Klimek of Poland, 5-2.


Anderson was defeated by Tobias Kvarnmark of Sweden in his finals, 2-7. Kvarnmark was a returning champion in this tournament, and also won the 2015 Vantaa Cup.


Anderson opened with a pair of technical falls against Finnish opponents, stopping Toni Metsomaki, 9-0 and Einari Ukkola, 8-0. In the semifinals, he beat 2015 Junior World bronze medalist Zakrias Berg of Sweden, 7-4.


Three Americans were bronze medalists: Spenser Mango (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) at 59 kg/130 lbs., Jermaine Hodge (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) at 59 kg/130 lbs. and Toby Erickson (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 130 kg/286 lbs.


Mango, a two-time Olympian, finished with a 1-1 record, and scored a 10-0 technical fall over Mikkel Lassen of Denmark in his bronze-medal bout. Hodge finished 2-1, and edged Jani Haapamaki of Finland, 2-1 in his bronze-medal match.


Erickson was in a four-athlete roundrobin and finished with a 2-1 record. He beat Tuomas Lahti of Finland, 2-0 and Kaarel Maaten of Estonia, 4-2, but lost to Lukasz Banak of Poland, 0-7. Three athletes were tied with 2-1 records, and tiebreakers gave Banak the gold, Lahti the silver and Erickson the bronze.


Three-time U.S. World Team member Caylor Williams (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP) placed fifth at 98 kg/215 lbs. with a 2-2 record. He fell in the bronze-medal round to Erwin Imbierski of Poland, 2-3.


In a dual meet held on Friday, Finland defeated the United States, 5-3. U.S. winners were Haight, Anderson and Erikson.


This U.S. team also competed at the Vantaa Cup in Vantaa, Finland last weekend, where it won six medals. Ildar Hafizov won a gold at 59 kg/130 kg, a silver medal went to Triggas and bronze medals went to Mango, Williams Brian Graham at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. and Taylor Walsh at 75 kg/165 lbs.

HAAVISTO CUP

At Ilmajoki, Finland, Nov. 28



59 kg/130 lbs.

Gold – Ardit Fazliija (Sweden)

Silver – Nikko Triggas (USA)

Bronze – Jermaine Hodge (USA)

Bronze – Spenser Mango (USA


66 kg/145.5 lbs.

Gold – Dawid Karecinski (Poland)

Silver – Matias Lipasti (Finland)

Bronze – Fredrik Bjerrehuus (Denmark)

Bronze – Mikko Peltokangas (Finland)


71 kg/156 lbs.

Gold – Grzegorz Wanke (Poland)

Silver – Niko Erkkola (Finland)

Bronze – Artem Komarov (St. Petersburg, Russia)

Bronze – Robert Fritsch (Hungary)


75 kg/165 lbs.

Gold – Alex Kessidis (Sweden)

Silver – Cheney Haight (USA)

Bronze – Evrik Nikghosyan (France)

Bronze – Vili Roppnen (Finland)


80 kg/174 lbs.

Gold – Henri Valimaki (Finland)

Silver –Raijbek Bisultanov (Denmark)

Bronze – Arkadiusz Kulynucz (Poland)

4th – Christoffer Nilsson (Sweden)

5th –Jarno Alander (Finland)


85 kg/185 lbs.

Gold – Tobias Kvarnmark (Sweden)

Silver – Jon Anderson (USA)

Bronze – Zakrias Berg (Sweden)

Bronze – Eerik Aps (Estonia)


98 kg/215 lbs.

Gold –Damian Janikowski (Poland)

Silver - Elias Kuosmanen (Finland)

Bronze – Erwin Imbierski (Poland)

Bronze – Oskari Riihoja (Finland)


130 kg/286 lbs.

Gold – Lukasz Banak (Poland)

Silver – Tuomas Lahti (Finland)

Bronze – Toby Erickson (USA)

4th – Kaarel Maaten (Estonia)

U.S. Greco-Roman performances


59 kg/130 lbs. – Spenser Mango, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP), bronze medal

LOSS Ardit Fazlija (Sweden), 6-6

WIN Mikkel Lassen (Denmark), tech. fall 10-0


59 kg/130 lbs. – Ildar Hafizov, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP), 7th place

LOSS Jermaine Hodge (USA), default


59 kg/130 lbs. – Jermaine Hodge, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP), bronze medal

WIN Ildar Hafizov (USA), default

LOSS Nikko Triggas (USA), tech. fall 0-8

WIN Jani Haapamaki (Finland), 2-1


59 kg/130 lbs. – Nikko Triggas, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), silver medal

WIN Jani Haapamaki (Finland), 6-6

WIN Isak Selder (Sweden), tech. fall 8-0

WIN Jermaine Hodge (USA), tech. fall 8-0

LOSS Ardit Fazliija (Sweden), tech. fall 1-10


66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Brian Graham, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm), 5th place

LOSS Dawid Karecinski (Poland), 0-2

WIN Julian Gunnels (USA), 5-2

WIN Arkadiusz Gucik (Poland), 5-2

LOSS Mikko Peltokangas (Finland), tech. fall 3-13


66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Ellis Coleman, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP), 7th place

WIN Mazyar Shirmohammadi (Finland), tech. fall 8-0

WIN Tobias Fonnesbek (Denmark), 1-0

LOSS Fredrik Bjerrehuus (Denmark), 2-3


66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Julian Gunnels, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm), 9th place

WIN Tomi Eronen (Finland), pin

LOSS Dawid Karecinski (Poland), tech. fall 0-8

LOSS Brian Graham (USA), 2-5


75 kg/165 lbs. – Cheney Haight, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), silver medal

WIN Vili Popponen (Finland), 5-4

WIN Dawid Klimek (Poland), 5-2

LOSS Alex Kessidis (Sweden), tech. fall 0-9


75 kg/165 lbs. – Taylor Walsh, Cherry Hill, N.J., 8th place

LOSS Ahuai Mamedov (St. Petersburg, Russia), tech. fall 0-8


85 kg/185 lbs. – Jon Anderson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP), silver medal

WIN Toni Metsomaki (Finland), tech. fall 9-0

WIN Einari Ukkola (Finland), tech. fall 8-0

WIN Zakrias Berg (Sweden), 7-4

LOSS Tobias Kvarnmark (Sweden), 2-7


85 kg/185 lbs. – Ron Dombkowski, Marquette, Mich. (NMU/OTS), 8th place

LOSS Arttu-Pettteri Klami (Finland), 6-11


98 kg/215 lbs. – Caylor Williams, Colorado Springs, Colo. (U.S. Army WCAP), 5th place

WIN Bogdan Churkin (St. Petersburg, Russia), 10-6

WIN Konsta Maenpaa (Finland), tech. fall 11-2

LOSS Elias Kuosmanen (Finland), 4-6

LOSS Erwin Imbierski (Poland), 2-3


98 kg/215 lbs. – Patrick Carey, Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnesota Storm), 8th place

LOSS Konsta Maenpaa (Finland), 10-10


130 kg/286 lbs. – Toby Erickson, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), bronze medal

WIN Tuomas Lahti (Finland), 2-0

WIN Kaarel Maaten (Estonia), 4-2

LOSS Lukasz Banak (Poland), 0-7

FINLAND 5, USA 3 DUAL MEET

At Ilmajoki, Finland, Nov. 27


59 kg/130 lbs. – Jani Haapamaki (Finland) tech. fall Nikko Triggas (USA), 8-0

66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Toni Ojala (Finland) tech. fall Julian Gunnels (USA), 8-0

66 kg/145.5 lbs. – Matias Lipasti (Finland) dec. Brian Graham (USA), 8-2

75 kg/165 lbs. – Cheney Haight (USA) tech. fall Vili Ropponen (Finland), 9-0

85 kg/185 lbs. – Toni Mesomaki (Finland) tech. fall Ron Dombkowski (USA), 8-0

85 kg/185 lbs. – Jon Anderson (USA) dec. Rami Hietaniemi (Finland), 3-1

98 kg/215 lbs. – Elias Kuosmanen (Finland) tech. fall Patrick Carey (USA), 8-0

130 kg/286 lbs. – Toby Erickson (USA) dec. Tuomas Lahti (Finland), 4-3

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