Smith falls in repechage at Kolov-Petrov Cup, Perrelli starts freestyle action

SOFIA, Bulgaria – U.S. Greco rising star Pat Smith fell in his second day of competition in the 72 kg/158 lbs. repechage at the Dan Kolov-Nikola Petrov Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Smith, who was pulled back into the repechage on Thursday, opened his day on Friday against Japan’s Tomohiro Inoue, who finished fifth at the 2016 Olympics and won the Dave Schultz Memorial International in November.

Smith led his Japanese opponent, 8-4, early in the second period, before Inoue stormed back, sticking the Smith at 3:42 to end the American’s tournament.

On the freestyle side, Frank Perrelli competed at 57kg/125 lbs. He took on Italy’s Givi Davidovi, who won bronze at the event just a year ago. Perrelli emerged with a 9-6 decision to move onto the next round. There, he fell 2017 European U23 silver medalist Baris Kaya of Turkey in a tight 4-2 bout.

Kaya’s semifinals results have not yet been reported, so USA Wrestling does not know if Perrelli has been pulled into repechage. USAW will update as more info is given.

DAN KOLOV-NIKOLA PETROV CUP

at Sofia, Bulgaria (March 22-25)

U.S. Greco-Roman results
63 kg/139 lbs. – Ryan Mango (Colorado Springs, Colo./U.S. Army WCAP)
WIN Dato Chkhartishvili (Georgia), fall 4:58
LOSS Shinobu Ota (Japan), 12-2

72 kg/158 lbs. – Pat Smith (Minneapolis, Minn./Minnesota Storm)
LOSS Evrik Nikoghosyan (France), 9-0
LOSS Tomohiro Inoue (Japan), fall 3:42

U.S. freestyle results
57 kg/125 lbs. – Frank Perrelli (Bethlehem, Pa./Titan Mercury WC)
WIN Givi Davidovi (Italy), 9-6
LOSS Baris Kaya (Turkey), 4-2