The Good Fight - NY Open
The Gracie New Jersey Competition Team started off the 2012 Tournament Year with a Bang at The Good Fight's New York Open Event on February 4th at Nyack College, in New York.
Skyler Brazdovic, the Academy's sole Teenage competing at that day, made us all proud by medaling both with the gi (3rd place) and without (2nd place) in the teens white belt under 141 pound divisions. Skyler set the tone for an awesome team performance by staying relaxed, listening to his coaches and teammates on the sidelines, and utilizing his impeccable technique.
Next to compete was Adam Skillin, who finally got a chance to compete at weight, although the division was very small. Adam bested his first opponent in the 3-man Purple <135.5 pound division in just over 30 seconds by quickly pulling his opponent into a triangle, which he finished after rolling his opponent onto his back and squeezing from the top. In Adam's second match, he took his opponent down, rolled him to the turtle position and set about taking the back, where he eventually finished with a choke to nail down the gold medal.
Cliff Stewart was the next competitor to show that hard work pays off. Cliff spoiled the day for his first opponent via repeated guard sweeps. Cliff lost a hard-fought finals match to take 2nd place in the Executive Medium-Heavy Blue Belt division.
Vinny Renda and Kevin Schuttler represented us well in the Adult Blue Belt 162-pound division. Kevin had 2 hard-fought very close matches in which his opponents managed to have their hands raised.
Vinny put on an absolute judo clinic, throwing all his opponents and heading to dominant positions on the ground. He kept a very strong pace, staying ahead on the score, winning 4 straight matches, with 3 submissions (2 chokes + 1 armbar) before settling for Second place in one of the day's toughest and biggest divisions.
Chris Bennett and Terren Suydam also had a lot of contenders to deal with, but took home 2nd and 4th place, respectively in the White Belt Adult Middleweight Division. Chris armbarred his way into the finals, winning 3 matches straight all with the same finish. Terren started out strong but ultimately 2 tough losses resulted in a still admirable 4th place finish.
Closing out the day, Tom Piotrowski smashed his way to a third place finish in the Purple Belt No-Gi Mens 162-pound division.
The Gracie New Jersey team ended up with a total of 62 team points for the day. What a great starting point for 2012! The Good Fight organization plans to hold its next tournament in Langhorne, PA on March 17th.
Please see one of the Competition Team instructors or coaches if you're interested in competing.
A few photos follow below and more to come. Stay tuned!
Cliff Stewart - 2nd Place
Vinny Renda - 2nd Place
Skyler Brazdovic, the Academy's sole Teenage competing at that day, made us all proud by medaling both with the gi (3rd place) and without (2nd place) in the teens white belt under 141 pound divisions. Skyler set the tone for an awesome team performance by staying relaxed, listening to his coaches and teammates on the sidelines, and utilizing his impeccable technique.
Next to compete was Adam Skillin, who finally got a chance to compete at weight, although the division was very small. Adam bested his first opponent in the 3-man Purple <135.5 pound division in just over 30 seconds by quickly pulling his opponent into a triangle, which he finished after rolling his opponent onto his back and squeezing from the top. In Adam's second match, he took his opponent down, rolled him to the turtle position and set about taking the back, where he eventually finished with a choke to nail down the gold medal.
Cliff Stewart was the next competitor to show that hard work pays off. Cliff spoiled the day for his first opponent via repeated guard sweeps. Cliff lost a hard-fought finals match to take 2nd place in the Executive Medium-Heavy Blue Belt division.
Vinny Renda and Kevin Schuttler represented us well in the Adult Blue Belt 162-pound division. Kevin had 2 hard-fought very close matches in which his opponents managed to have their hands raised.
Vinny put on an absolute judo clinic, throwing all his opponents and heading to dominant positions on the ground. He kept a very strong pace, staying ahead on the score, winning 4 straight matches, with 3 submissions (2 chokes + 1 armbar) before settling for Second place in one of the day's toughest and biggest divisions.
Chris Bennett and Terren Suydam also had a lot of contenders to deal with, but took home 2nd and 4th place, respectively in the White Belt Adult Middleweight Division. Chris armbarred his way into the finals, winning 3 matches straight all with the same finish. Terren started out strong but ultimately 2 tough losses resulted in a still admirable 4th place finish.
Closing out the day, Tom Piotrowski smashed his way to a third place finish in the Purple Belt No-Gi Mens 162-pound division.
The Gracie New Jersey team ended up with a total of 62 team points for the day. What a great starting point for 2012! The Good Fight organization plans to hold its next tournament in Langhorne, PA on March 17th.
Please see one of the Competition Team instructors or coaches if you're interested in competing.
A few photos follow below and more to come. Stay tuned!
CONGRATS GRACIE NJ COMPETITION TEAM!
Adam Skillin - 1st Place
Cliff Stewart - 2nd Place
Vinny Renda - 2nd Place
News Contribution by Adam Skillin
Photos by Eric Cahill
Photos by Eric Cahill
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