Five Greco wrestlers undefeated after day one at Thor Masters
by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling
NYKOBING FALSTER, Denmark – Five U.S. Greco-Roman stars remain in the hunt for gold at the Thor Masters tournament in Denmark. Those putting together perfect days are Randon Miranda, Jesse Thielke, RaVaughn Perkins, Ben Provisor and Robby Smith.
Leading Team USA, Perkins won two matches at 72 kg/158 lbs., defeating Mikko Lyttinen of Finland, 6-4, before knocking out 2016 World Military bronze medalist and 2017 Thor Masters runner-up Kristupas Sleiva of Lithuania, 9-0.
The other four American finalists each won one bout in the first day of competition.
At 55 kg/121 lbs., Miranda, a two-time Junior World Team member, dominated two-time age-group Nordic champion Nikolai Mohammadi of Denmark to wrap up a perfect day.
Three Olympians are in the mix for gold: Thielke, Provisor and Smith.
2016 Olympian Jesse Thielke opened his tournament at 63 kg/139 lbs. with an 8-0 technical fall over Alex Bica of Sweden, who was fifth at the 2017 Nordic Championships.
Provisor, who has represented the U.S. at two Olympic Games and one World Championships, shut out Canada’s Phillip Barreiro at 87 kg/191 lbs.
2015 World fifth-place finisher and 2016 Olympian Robby Smith looks to repeat as Thor Masters champion. To put himself in winning position, Smith bested Artur Vititin of Estonia, who recently won a silver medal at the Herman Kare Tournament in January.
Day-two action begins at 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET) and the finals are set for 4:30 p.m. local time (11:30 a.m. ET).
THOR MASTERS
at Nykobing Falster, Denmark
U.S. Greco-Roman results
55 kg/121 lbs. – Randon Miranda (Palmdale, Calif./New York AC)
WIN Nikolai Mohammadi (Denmark), 10-1
63 kg/139 lbs. – Travis Rice (Washington, Ill./NMU-OTS)
LOSS Mate Krasznai (Hungary), 5-0
63 kg/139 lbs. – Jesse Thielke (Beresford, S.D./New York AC)
WIN Alex Bica (Sweden), 8-0
67 kg/147 lbs. – Aaron Kliamovich (Viera, Fla.)
LOSS Mikko Peltokangas (Finland), 8-0
67 kg/147 lbs. – Jessy Williams (Ithaca, N.Y./New York AC)
LOSS Rami Syrja (Finland), 9-1
72 kg/158 lbs. – Pat Smith (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm)
LOSS Maximillian Schwabe (Germany), 8-0
LOSS Daniel Soini (Sweden), 4-1
72 kg/158 lbs. – Anthonie Linares (Marquette, Mich./New York AC)
LOSS Timo Badusch (Germany), 9-0
LOSS Lukas Ahlgren (Sweden), 3-0
72 kg/158 lbs. – RaVaughn Perkins (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC)
WIN Mikko Lyttinen (Finland), 6-4
WIN Kristupas Sleiva (Lithuania), 9-0
77 kg/169 lbs. – Alec Ortiz (St. Paul, Minn./Minnesota Storm)
WIN Per Anders Kure (Norway), 8-0
LOSS Mark Madsen (Denmark), 4-0
77kg/169 lbs. – Mason Manville (State College, Pa./Nittany Lion WC)
LOSS Alex Kessidis (Sweden), 9-2
LOSS Igor Petrishin (Israel), 3-1
77 kg/169 lbs. – Jesse Porter (Albany, N.Y./New York AC)
WIN Paulius Galkinas (Lithuania), 10-2
LOSS Nicolas Christen (Switzerland), 9-0
77 kg/169 lbs. – Cody Pack (Beresford, S.D./Legends of Gold)
WIN Jakob Brink (Sweden), 8-0
LOSS Martin Szabo (Hungary), 9-0
87 kg/191 lbs. – Ben Provisor (State College, Pa./New York AC)
WIN Phillip Barreiro (Canada), 6-0
97 kg/213 lbs. – Michael Rogers (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC)
LOSS Felix Radinger (Germany), 4-2
LOSS Jan Zirn (Germany), 4-1
130 kg/286 lbs. – Robby Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC)
WIN Artur Vititin (Estonia), 4-2
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