I’m a little late to the game writing this blog post, sorry! But hey I’m here now so let’s talk about news, tournaments and all that jazz 🙂
Last weekend we sent a team of competitors to Las Vegas for the 2nd annual IBJJF American Nationals Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) Tournament.
For those unfamiliar with these types of tournaments I’ll put it to you like this: The IBJJF Events are the highest level tournaments in the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Look at the IBJJF Events kind of like the superbowl level of BJJ.
So to even place at American Nationals is a big deal. The best always show up and you know us, we’re always looking to take on the best, otherwise what’s the point right?
Listed below are those who made the trip to compete and how they placed:
Teresa Ives – Silver
Chrissy Smith – Bronze
CC Folwer – Bronze
Jameson Gerrity – DNP
Michael Garlington – Bronze
Jacob Miller – Silver
Magnus Benz – Silver
Seton Gerrity – Bronze
As you can see we didn’t snag any gold medals this year, which stinks sure, but at the same time we did have some really outstanding performances from a few of the competitors.
I’m the kind of guy who tried to focus on the positive and believe me there was without a doubt some positive stuff to take away from American Nationals.
Juji Does what Juji Does Best…KEEP IT REAL!
Notable performances came from Students like 12 year old Arnold Resident and former Pan Kids Champion Jacob “Juji” Miller.
Juji was fantastic, showcasing tons of heart, technique and grit on his way to capturing a silver medal in his weight division.
Along the way he beat some really good kids from high level teams such as Art of Jiu-Jitsu in California and Soul Fighters down in Texas.
Some of Juji’s matches were so close that Miss Teresa started to call him the “heart attack” kid.
I’m pretty sure he shaved at least 10 years off his father’s (Dave Miller) life with some very close, action packed battles.
Magneto Proves He Can Hang With The Big Dogs
Another standout was 13 year old Magnus “Magneto” Benz from Edgewater MD. Magnus Like Juji, placed 2nd in his division and picked up a silver medal for his efforts.
Magnus started his run for the gold by picking up a win over a super-skilled kid from the highly respected and top ranked youth Team Checkmat.
He showed a variety of different skills both standing and on the mats including takedowns, guard passing and sweeps.
I can tell you from first hand experience this kid has come a LONG WAY in his training from just one year ago. Heck he’s only been competing in tournaments for 11 months now, and to be at this level, that’s just crazy!
It’s really cool to see Magnus grow with us and to see his technical knowledge and skill set grow leads and bounds in such a short amount of time.
Both Magnus and Juji proved once again that hard work, focus and discipline are the necessary ingredients for success, and they showed that in Las Vegas.
More Then Just a Pretty Face…
The last person I’d like to talk about is kids instructor Miss Chrissy Smith. Chrissy is one of those girls that just enjoys matches that resemble more of a rumble then a smooth, back and forth battle.
She ended up placing 3rd and bringing back the bronze medal which, for a first time high level international tournament like this, is nothing to sneeze at trust me.
If she hadn’t suffered a knee injury during his semi final match who knows how this could’ve played out.
I’d like to write about everyone and how great they did but sadly my time is limited so this will have to do. This will have to do for now.
Thanks to everyone who took part and gave it their all on the mats! You make the whole Ivey League Staff and students so proud!
I want to also point out that the moment everyone touched down from their flights to the east coast it was back to business as usual. They hit the the mats AKA “laboratory” and got right to work prepping for their next tournament.
Speaking of competition, Next up for Ivey League MMA is the NAGA Battle at the Beach in Wildwood NJ on 08/08/15. Can’t wait because this is a solid event with lots of good competitors. Should be fun, stay tuned 🙂
P.S. Below are some more pics from the tournament, enjoy.
