Smith and Mango receive draws for Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov Cup in Bulgaria

SOFIA, Bulgaria – The first two U.S. Greco-Roman athletes received their draws for the first day of the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov Cup, which starts Thursday.

Competing for the Red, White and Blue tomorrow are 2017 Senior World Team member Pat Smith at 72 kg/158 lbs. and two-time U.S. National Team member Ryan Mango at 63 kg/139 lbs.

Smith drew France’s Evrik Nikoghosyan, who finished eighth at the 2017 Senior World Championships this summer in Paris. Since Worlds, Nikoghosyan won Arvo Haaviso Cup in December, took third at the Grand Prix of Zagreb and most recently finished eighth at the International Ukrainian Tournament in February.

Smith is a two-time Pan-American champion and a 2014 University World silver medalist.

To open his tournament at 63 kg, Mango will take on 2016 Junior World champion Dato Chkhartishvili of Georgia. Chkhartishvili represented Georgia at the U23 Worlds in Poland last fall, where he took 10th. Most recently, he produced a seventh-place finish at the International Ukrainian Tournament.

Mango owns a silver medal from the 2017 World Military Championships and most recently won silver at the Dave Schultz Memorial International in November.

Action is slated to begin at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) with preliminary rounds. Since it is a two-day tournament for each weight, Thursday’s action will wrap up at 4:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET) with semifinals. The finals at 63 and 72 kilos are set for Friday at 5 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET).

DAN KOLOV-NIKOLA PETROV CUP

at Sofia, Bulgaria (March 22-25)

U.S. Greco-Roman Draws
63 kg/139 lbs. – Ryan Mango (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP)
vs. Dato Chkhartishvili (Georgia), 2016 Junior World champion, 10th at 2017 U23 Worlds

72 kg/158 – Pat Smith (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm)
vs. Evrik Nikoghosyan (France), Eighth at 2017 Senior Worlds, 2017 Arvo Haavisto Cup champion, bronze at 2018 Grand Prix of Zagreb