Robby Smith wins bronze medal at Kristjan Palusalu Memorial in Estonia
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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling
Competition portrait of U.S. star Robby Smith by Tony Rotundo, Wrestlers Are Warriors.
TALLINN, Estonia – 2016 Olympian and four-time World Team member Robby Smith (Chicago, Ill./New York AC/Chicago RTC) won a bronze medal at 130 kg/286 lbs. at the Kristjan Palusalu Memorial International on Saturday.
The tournament, which was not large in size, was very competitive, with top European powers including Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Norway, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia in the draw.
Smith finished with a 3-1 record, including a pin and two technical falls. Smith pinned Estonia’s Artur Vititn in the bronze-medal match.
He scored technical falls over Volodymyr Tesienko of Ukraine and Tomasz Wawrzyncyk of Poland. His only loss came in the semifinals, when he dropped a 5-0 match to six-time age-group World Champion Zviadi Pataridze of Georgia. Pataridze, who went on to win this tournament, boasts three Junior World titles, two Cadet World titles and a U23 World title.
Smith was also in Estonia last weekend, helping young athletes as a coach during the Tallinn Open, which featured age-group competition for boys and girls. Wyoming Seminary sent a team, as well as a large youth tour team including young athletes from across the nation.
Two other U.S. athletes entered and placed in the top 10 of their weight class: Chris Rodgers (Colorado Springs, Colo./OTC) at 67 kg and Nick Tarpley (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 72 kg.
KRISTJAN PALUSALU MEMORIAL
At Tallinn, Estonia, April 6
Greco-Roman results
60 kg
Gold - Ihor Kurochkin UKR
Silver - Andriy Martynyuk UKR
Bronze - Andrei Ivanov RUS
63 kg
Gold - Giorgi Gujabidze GEO
Silver - Hevorh Arzumanian UKR
Bronze - Vasyl Symonenko UKR
67 kg
Gold - Oleksii Kalinichenko UKR
Silver - Havard Jorgensen NOR
Bronze - Anton Kutsenko UKR
72 kg
Gold - Adlet Tjuljubaev RUS
Silver - Iuri Lomadze GEO
Bronze - Arslan Zubairov RUS
77 kg
Gold - Marad Huseinau BLR
Silver - Artem Komarov RUS
Bronze - Tsimur Berdyieu BLR
82 kg
Gold - Adel Sadykov RUS
Silver - Oleksii Osniach UKR
Bronze - Ruslan Vardanyan RUS
87 kg
Gold - Kiryl Maskevich BLR
Silver - Laimutis Adomaitis LTU
Bronze - Martynas Nemsevicius LTU
97 kg
Gold - Yevhenii Saveta UKR
Silver - Gerard Kurniczak POL
Bronze - Dzimitry Kaminski BLR
130 kg
Gold - Zviadi Pataridze GEO
Silver - Giorgi Barbakadze GEO
Bronze - Robert Smith USA
U.S. Greco-Roman performances
67 kg - Chris Rodgers, Colorado Springs, Colo. (OTC), 7th place
LOSS Havard Jorgensen (Norway), tech. fall 8-0
LOSS Oleksii Kalinichenko (Ukraine), pin
LOSS Kristo Vlidas (Estonia), pin
72 kg - Nick Tarpley, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), 10th place
LOSS Toni Ojala (Finland), 9-6
130 kg - Robby Smith, Chicago, Ill. (New York AC/Chicago RTC), bronze medal
WIN Volodymyr Tesienko (Ukraine), tech. fall 8-0
LOSS Zviadi Pataridze (Georgia), 5-0
WIN Tomasz Wawrzyncyk (Poland), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Artur Vititn (Estonia), pin
TALLINN, Estonia – 2016 Olympian and four-time World Team member Robby Smith (Chicago, Ill./New York AC/Chicago RTC) won a bronze medal at 130 kg/286 lbs. at the Kristjan Palusalu Memorial International on Saturday.
The tournament, which was not large in size, was very competitive, with top European powers including Russia, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Norway, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia in the draw.
Smith finished with a 3-1 record, including a pin and two technical falls. Smith pinned Estonia’s Artur Vititn in the bronze-medal match.
He scored technical falls over Volodymyr Tesienko of Ukraine and Tomasz Wawrzyncyk of Poland. His only loss came in the semifinals, when he dropped a 5-0 match to six-time age-group World Champion Zviadi Pataridze of Georgia. Pataridze, who went on to win this tournament, boasts three Junior World titles, two Cadet World titles and a U23 World title.
Smith was also in Estonia last weekend, helping young athletes as a coach during the Tallinn Open, which featured age-group competition for boys and girls. Wyoming Seminary sent a team, as well as a large youth tour team including young athletes from across the nation.
Two other U.S. athletes entered and placed in the top 10 of their weight class: Chris Rodgers (Colorado Springs, Colo./OTC) at 67 kg and Nick Tarpley (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC) at 72 kg.
KRISTJAN PALUSALU MEMORIAL
At Tallinn, Estonia, April 6
Greco-Roman results
60 kg
Gold - Ihor Kurochkin UKR
Silver - Andriy Martynyuk UKR
Bronze - Andrei Ivanov RUS
63 kg
Gold - Giorgi Gujabidze GEO
Silver - Hevorh Arzumanian UKR
Bronze - Vasyl Symonenko UKR
67 kg
Gold - Oleksii Kalinichenko UKR
Silver - Havard Jorgensen NOR
Bronze - Anton Kutsenko UKR
72 kg
Gold - Adlet Tjuljubaev RUS
Silver - Iuri Lomadze GEO
Bronze - Arslan Zubairov RUS
77 kg
Gold - Marad Huseinau BLR
Silver - Artem Komarov RUS
Bronze - Tsimur Berdyieu BLR
82 kg
Gold - Adel Sadykov RUS
Silver - Oleksii Osniach UKR
Bronze - Ruslan Vardanyan RUS
87 kg
Gold - Kiryl Maskevich BLR
Silver - Laimutis Adomaitis LTU
Bronze - Martynas Nemsevicius LTU
97 kg
Gold - Yevhenii Saveta UKR
Silver - Gerard Kurniczak POL
Bronze - Dzimitry Kaminski BLR
130 kg
Gold - Zviadi Pataridze GEO
Silver - Giorgi Barbakadze GEO
Bronze - Robert Smith USA
U.S. Greco-Roman performances
67 kg - Chris Rodgers, Colorado Springs, Colo. (OTC), 7th place
LOSS Havard Jorgensen (Norway), tech. fall 8-0
LOSS Oleksii Kalinichenko (Ukraine), pin
LOSS Kristo Vlidas (Estonia), pin
72 kg - Nick Tarpley, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), 10th place
LOSS Toni Ojala (Finland), 9-6
130 kg - Robby Smith, Chicago, Ill. (New York AC/Chicago RTC), bronze medal
WIN Volodymyr Tesienko (Ukraine), tech. fall 8-0
LOSS Zviadi Pataridze (Georgia), 5-0
WIN Tomasz Wawrzyncyk (Poland), tech. fall 10-0
WIN Artur Vititn (Estonia), pin
