Mango wins freestyle silver medal on first day of CISM Military Worlds in Lithuania

KLAIPEDA, Lithuania – KLAIPEDA, Lithuania - SGT Ryan Mango of the U.S. Army won a silver medal at 61 kg/134 lbs. in men’s freestyle on the opening day of the CISM Military World Wrestling Championships on Wednesday.

Mango, who was a two-time NCAA All-American at Stanford in folkstyle wrestling before joining the Army, won his first three matches to reach the gold-medal finals.

He opened with a 13-2 technical fall over Laoundi Abdennour of Algeria, then stopped Yoo Seon-Ho of Korea, 11-6. Yoo was fifth in the 2012 Asian Junior Championships.

In the semifinals, he scored an impressive 10-0 technical fall over Tian Zhenguang of China. Tian has won three previous World Military Championships bronze medals, and also a bronze medal at the 2015 World Military Games. Tian was also a member of the 2015 China World Team that competed at the World Championships in Las Vegas.

In the finals, he was edged by Qalib Aliyev of Azerbaijan, 8-4. Aliyev has won gold medals at two major international freestyle events in 2017, the Kartozia and Balavadze Prizes in Georgia and the Yasar Dogu International in Turkey.

Mango was the only U.S. athlete to win a medal on Wednesday, as four other U.S. athletes competed by did not win a match.

Also competing on Wednesday in men’s freestyle was SGT Raymond Bunker of the U.S. Marine Corps, who went 0-2 at 65 kg/143 lbs. Bunker lost his opening match to Nachyn Kuular of Russia, who advanced to the finals, pulling Bunker back into repechage. Bunker was beaten in his second bout by Nashri Mehran of Iran.

PFC Michael Fuenffinger of the U.S. Army placed ninth at 57 kg/125.5 lbs., falling to 2017 European silver medalist Andre Dukov of Romania, 11-5. Dukov did not reach the finals, making Fuenffinger ineligible for the repechage. Fuenffinger was a Div. III national champion for Augsburg College.

Two U.S. women placed fourth in their four-athlete round robins with 0-3 records, PFC Allene Somera of the U.S. Army at 48 kg/105.5 lbs. and SPC Samantha Klingel of the U.S. Army at 55 kg/121 lbs. Klingel was a WCWA national champion for King University.

The U.S. will be represented on Thursday in men’s freestyle by 2LT Matthew Brown of the U.S. Army at 74 kg/163 lbs., SGT Vladyslav Dombrovskiy of the U.S. Army at 86 kg/189 lbs. and SGT Trent Osnes of the U.S. Marine Corps at 97 kg/213 lbs. Brown was an NCAA champion at Penn State, while Dombrovskiy was a California JC runner-up at Sierra College.

There will be four U.S. women’s freestyle competitors on Thursday, PFC Areana Villaescusa of the U.S. Army at 58 kg/128 lbs., PFC Jenna Burkert of the U.S. Army at 63 kg/138.75 lbs., PV2 Katerina Lobsinger of the U.S. Army at 69 kg/152 lbs. and PV2 Anastasia Lobsinger of the U.S. Army at 75 kg/165 lbs. Burkert is a U.S. Open champion and past U.S. Senior World Team member. Both Lobsingers have competed for the USA at the Cadet World Championships, with Anastasia winning a 2012 Cadet World bronze medal.

A pairings story will be posted separately if the draw is available.

A website has been set up with updated results from the CISM World Military Wrestling Championships at:
http://www.liga-db.de/Turniere/FT/2017/EE/170918_Klaipeda,Lithuania/indexENG.htm

CISM MILITARY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Klaipeda, Lithuania, September 20

Men’s freestyle medalists

57 kg/125.5 lbs.
Gold – Ibragim Ilyasov (Russia)
Silver – Adrian Hajduk (Poland)
Bronze – Efgan Xasalov (Azerbaijan)
Bronze – Haxhi Sina (Albania)

61 kg/134 lbs.
Gold - Qalib Aliyev (Azerbaijan)
Silver – Ryan Mango (USA)
Bronze – Yoo Seon Ho (Korea)
Bronze – Omak Siurun (Russia)

65 kg/143 lbs.
Gold – Nachyn Kuular (Russia)
Silver – George Burcur (Romania)
Bronze – Khanburged Gankhuyag (Mongolia)
Bronze – Agahuseyn Mustafayev (Azerbaijan)

70 kg/154 lbs.
Gold – Soslan Ramonov (Russia)
Silver – Oleksii Boruta (Ukraine)
Bronze – Aliaksandr Pauliuchenka (Belarus)
Bronze – Joshqun Azimov (Azerbaijan)

U.S. men’s freestyle performances

57 kg/125.5 lbs. - PFC Michael Fuenffinger (U.S. Army), 9th
LOSS Andre Dukov (Romania), 11-5

61 kg/134 lbs. - SGT Ryan Mango (U.S. Army), silver medal
WIN Laoundi Abdennour (Algeria), tech. fall 13-2
WIN Yoo Seon Ho (Korea), 11-6
WIN Tian Zhenguang (China), tech. fall 10-0
LOSS Qalib Aliyev (Azerbaijan), 8-4

65 kg/143 lbs. - SGT Raymond Bunker (U.S. Marine Corps), dnp/11th
LOSS Nachyn Kuular (Russia), tech. fall 10-0
LOSS Nashri Mehran (Iran), tech. fall 11-1

Women’s freestyle medalists

48 kg/105.5 lbs.
Gold - Alina Vuc (Romania)
Silver - Turkan Nesirova (Azerbaijan)
Bronze - Zhou Chengcheng (China)

53 kg/116.5 lbs.
Gold – Otgonjargal Ganbaatar (Mongolia)
Silver – Rong Liao (China)
Bronze – Iwona Matkowska (Poland)

55 kg/121 lbs. -
Gold - Hui Li (China)
Silver - Nadezeya Shushko (Belarus)
Bronze - Bolor-Erdene Batorshih (Mongolia)

U.S. women’s freestyle performances

48 kg/105.5 lbs. - PFC Allene Somera (U.S. Army), 4th
LOSS Zhou Chengcheng (China), tech. fall 10-0
LOSS Turkan Nesirova (Azerbaijan), tech. fall 11-0
LOSS Alina Vuc (Romania), tech fall 10-0

55 kg/121 lbs. - SPC Samantha Klingel (U.S. Army), 4th
LOSS Nadezeya Shushko (Belarus), tech. fall 10-0
LOSS Bolor-Erdene Batorshih (Mongolia), tech fall 11-1
LOSS Hui Li (China), 8-0

Mango wins freestyle silver medal on first day of CISM Military Worlds in Lithuania

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