Most people I talk to don’t care much for the state of New Jersey. Even those who’ve never been don’t like NJ based solely on reputation only.
Me on the other hand, I love NJ. I spent many of my early years training for MMA in NJ. In fact, I did more training in Jersey than in my hometown of Philadelphia.
So NJ is near and dear to my heart for that reason and some others.
At the end of the day, whether you’re a fan of New Jersey or hate the place, Jersey continues to produce some of the best Wrestlers, Boxers, MMA Fighters, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) competitors in the United States and World.
So If you’re looking to test yourself against some of the best and you live within driving distance, be prepared to make lots of trips to Atlantic City, Newark and the place Ivey League called home this past weekend, Wildwood.
We loaded up the vans and made the three hour drive to Wildwood to compete at the Battle at the Beach (BATB).
This is the largest Grappling/BJJ Tournament on the east coast with over 3000 thousand competitors battling it out, and looking for the top spot on the winners podium.
We came to do battle and battle we sure did. Below you’ll find the results for our students. 1st place champions are in bold:
Tierney Gerrity – 1st Place
Jameson Gerrity – 2nd Place
Seton Gerrity – 2nd Place
Teresa Ives – 1st Place
Joe Huggins – DNP
Chrissy Smith – DNP
Michael Garlington – 1st Place
Magnus Benz – 1st Place
Kevin Gerrity – 2nd Place
Finton Moreno – DNP
Darryan McKann – DNP
Darrel McKann – 1st Place
CC Fowler – 2nd Place
Naomi Johnson – 1st Place
The standout for our adult team none other than Miss Naomi Johnson. Naomi was awesome in her NoGi division and ended up submitting her opponent in the finals via nasty guillotine from the guard.
I can also say that without a doubt taking the Thursday night Wrestling classes made a significant different in terms of takedowns and overall aggressiveness.
For the kids, I’d have to say the one who impressed me the most was 8 year old Tierney Gerrity.
Tierney hadn’t competed in a while so this was step one in her quest to capture grappling glory. Well if Sunday was any indicator of future success, we’ll all be in for a treat.
Tierney looks fantastic on her way to 1st place in the kids 8-9 GI division. She won all three matches by sticking to a smart game plan and avoiding bottom mount.
Next up for our competition team is the DC Open and following that we’ll be down south for the Atlanta Open. Stay tuned!
