Smith wins gold, Porcher silver and Bisek bronze in Haavisto Cup in Finland

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Gary Abbott (USA Wrestling)
11/24/2012


Robbie Smith, pictured in a previous event, won a gold medal at 120 kg in Finland today. Larry Slater photo

ILMAJOKI, Finland – The United States won three medals in Greco-Roman at the Arvo Haavisto Cup on Saturday.

Claiming a gold medal at 120 kg/264.5 lbs. was Robbie Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo./New York AC), winning all four matches in a five-athlete roundrobin competition.

Smith stopped runner-up Mykola Kuchmi of Ukraine, 1-0, 3-0 in his final bout. He also had wins over Sebastian Lonnborn of Sweden, Jusso Huovinen of Finland and Oskari Riihioja of Finland.

Capturing a silver medal at 66 kg/145.5 lbs. was Thrasher Porcher (Chuluota, Fla./USOEC) with a 2-1 record. Porcher opened up with victories over Jerry Pitkanen of Finland, 2-0, 1-0 and  Niklas Amnemo of Sweden, 2-0, 1-0. He was defeated in the finals by Mykola Savchenko of Ukraine, 1-0, 6-0.

Winning a bronze medal was 2011 U.S. World Team member Andy Bisek (Colorado Springs, Colo./Minnesota Storm) at 74 kg/163 lbs. Bisek won his bronze medal bout over Henri Valimaki of Finland, 0-1, 2-0, 1-0. Valimaki was seventh at the 2009 World Championships.

Bisek opened with two victories, stopping Berneri Varekoski of Finland, 1-0, 4-0 and Geordan Speiller of the United States, 2-0, 7-0. He was defeated in the semifinals by Valtteri Moisio of Finland, 0-1, 1-6. Moisio was fifth in the 2008 European Championships.

It was the second straight weekend that Bisek won a medal overseas. He claimed the gold medal at the Haparanda Cup in Sweden last weekend.

HAAVISTO CUP
At Ilmajoki, Finland, November 24

55 kg/121 lbs.
Gold - Niko Ohukainen (Finland)
Silver - Toufan Ahmadi (Finland – VaaTo)
Bronze - Emil Sundberg (Sweden)
Bronze - Taaniel Piiskoppel (Estonia)
5rh - Mikko Peltokangas (Finland – VirkiÃ)
6th - Rami Syrja (Finland- SPM)

60 kg/132 lbs.
Gold - Dmytro Tysmbaliuk (Ukraine)
Silver - J. Niemista (Finland – Koovee)
Bronze - M. Shirmohammadi (Finland-HeTa)
Bronze - Ville Pasanen (Finland)
5th - Arttu Kalliolevo (Finland-PPM)
5th - Joakim Fagerlund (Sweden)

66 kg/145.5 lbs.
Gold - Mykola Savchenko (Ukraine)
Silver - Thrasher Porcher (USA)
Bronze - Niklas Amnemo (Sweden)
Bronze - Kostyantyan Stas (Ukraine)
5th - Jerry Pitkanen (Finland – HeTa)
5th - Ruslan Isralifov (Ukraine)

74 kg/163 lbs.
Gold medal match –A. Visnakovs (Latvia) vs. Valtteri Moisio (Finland-Koovee)
Bronze - Andy Bisek (USA)
Bronze - Veli-Karri Suominen (Finland – VV)
5th - Henri Valimaki (Finland)
5th - Tomas Sobecky (Czech Republic)

84 kg/185 lbs.
Gold medal match – Alo Toom (Estonia) vs. Antti Hakala (Finland-AU)
Bronze - Julius Matuzevicius (Lithuania)
Bronze - Oleksandr Shyshman (Ukraine)
5th - Erik Gobozov (Ukraine)
5th - Andrii Bielykh (Ukraine)

96 kg/211.5 lbs.
Gold medal match – Rami Hitaniemi (Finland) vs. Maksim Safaryan (Russia-St. Petersburg)
Bronze - Tuomas Lahti (Finland – TTK)
Bronze - Timo Kallio (Finland – TWM)
5th - Vitali Kalina (Russia – St. Petersburg)
5th - Jonne Jokela (Finland – OP)

120 kg/264.5 lbs.
Gold - Robbie Smith (USA)
Silver - Mykola Kuchmii (Ukraine)
Bronze - Juuso Huovinen (Finland – Haka)
4th - Sebastian Lonnborn (Sweden)
5th - Oskari Riihioja (Finland)

U.S. Greco-Roman participants

66 kg/145.5 lbs.- Ben Sanchez, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), 10th
LOSS Sasu Kaasinen (Finland), 2-0, 1-0

66 kg/145.5 lbs. - Thrasher Porcher, Chuluota, Fla. (USOEC), 2nd
WIN Jerry Pitkanen (Finland-Heta), 2-0, 1-0
WIN Niklas Amnemo (Sweden), 2-0, 1-0
LOSS Mykola Savchenko (Ukraine), 1-0, 6-0

74 kg/163 lbs. - Andy Bisek, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Minnesota Storm), 3rd
WIN Berneri Varekoski (Finland-YTK), 1-0, 4-0
WIN Geordan Speiller (USA), 2-0, 7-0
LOSS Valtteri Moisio (Finland-Koovee), 0-1, 1-6
WIN Henri Valimaki (Finland), 0-1, 2-0, 1-0

74 kg/163 lbs. - Geordan Speiller, Oviedo, Fla. (Florida Jets), 9th
WIN Aki Palkki (Finland – AH), 2-0, pin
LOSS Andy Bisek (USA), 0-2, 0-7

120 kg/264.5 lbs. - Robbie Smith, Colorado Springs, Colo. (New York AC), 1st
WIN Sebastian Lonnborn (Sweden), 1-0, 0-1. 5-0
WIN Jusso Huovinen (Finland-Haka), 3-0, 1-0
WIN Oskari Riihioja (Finland), 4-0, 7-0
WIN Mykola Kuchmi (Ukraine), 1-0, 3-0