Bode Ogunwole (Millersville, Md./Harvard) won a bronze medal at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. for the United States in men's freestyle wrestling at the FILA Junior World Championships in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 6. It was the second medal won by the United States during the two-day event. Patrick McCaffrey of Glen Ellyn, Ill. won a bronze medal in freestyle wrestling at 50 kg/110 lbs. during the first day of competition on Tuesday. Ogunwole, a Harvard student, won three straight matches to reach the semifinals. He opened with a 2-0, 1-0 win over Hajinia Osbo Askari of Iran. His second victory was a 1-0, 0-1, 1-0 decision over Bahtdaulet Kerimhanov of Kazakhstan. In the quarterfinals, he won the first period, but was defeated in clinches in the next two periods to lose to Betshana Karanadze of Georgia), 2-1, 0-1, 0-1. In the bronze medal match, Ogunwole needed three periods to defeat Yasin Kilic of Turkey, 1-0, 0-1, 4-2. "Bode had a great tournament," said Dave Bennett, USA Wrestling Freestyle Developmental Coach. "He wrestled talented guys. When he lost, it was a close match. He had an exhausting tournament for a heavyweight. He didn't have much time between his matches. He sucked it up when he had to. It was a great effort. He is a good person, trained very hard and wrestled well." Henry Cejudo (Colorado Springs, Colo./Sunkist Kids) added a fifth-place finish at 55 kg/121 lbs. during Wednesday's action. Cejudo won his first two matches to advance to the semifinals, beating Yuri Bolandyuk of Ukraine, 1-2, 4-0, 2-0 and Andrejs Vasiljevs of Latvia, 2-0, 7-0. In the semifinals, Cejudo lost a two-period match to Besik Kudhukov of Russia, 1-1, 1-5. In the bronze-medal match, Cejudo dropped a heart-breaking bout to Mostafa Aghajaniozonbalagh of Iran, 4-1, 1-1, 2-2. The tie-breaking criteria in the third period went to the Iranian, who had a two-point takedown, while Cejudo had two one-point takedowns. Cejudo was a Colorado state high school champion for Coronado High School this year, and trains at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. He is originally from Arizona. "Henry had a tough quarter-bracket. He had to wrestle some of the greatest wrestlers in the world in every match," said Bennett. "The losses could have gone the other way. I liked that when he had to take a risk, he took it. He went for it. He pushed when he had to. It was a great experience for him." Eric Tannenbaum (Naperville, Ill./Overtime), a student at the Univ. of Michigan, was eliminated after his first match at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. He lost by decision to Aleksandr Matyl of Belarus in two periods, 1-4, 4-7. When Matyl was defeated in the semifinals, Tannebaum was eliminated from the wrestle-backs. Only losers to gold-medal finalists are able to enter the wrestle-backs for the bronze medal. The U.S. did not have an entry at 84 kg/185 lbs. in freestyle. U.S. team member Jake Varner (Bakersfield, Calif.) was injured in training just prior to the competition and was unable to participate. "Our Senior teams will be better off because this Junior team competed this year," said Bennett. "It was some very stiff competition, especially from nations like Russia and Iran, but every weight class was loaded. Some of these guys will be future Senior athletes. They learned what it will take to do well at this level." Two U.S. wrestlers placed eighth on the first day of competition, after being eliminated from medal contention, Steve Luke (Massillon, Ohio/Michigan) at 74 kg/163 lbs. and Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill.) at 96 kg/211.5 lbs. Russia won the team title with five champions and 70 points, followed by Iran with 52 points and Georgia with 41 points. Bulgaria was fourth with 35points. Japan and the United States were next with 28 points, followed by Kazakhstan and Turkey with 23 points, Ukraine with 20 points and Belarus with 18 points. Women's freestyle competition will be held Thursday, July 7 and Friday, July 8. Men's Greco-Roman competition is set for Saturday, July 9 and Sunday, July 10. The U.S. World Team members for men were determined in their Junior World Team Trials at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., May 27-28. For more information, visit the official event web page at: http://www.event-management.lt/wjwc2005/index.php?lang=eng