It’s rare for us to have a grappling/BJJ tournament right in our own backyard. More often than not we end up driving a team either to NJ or down to places like Virginia Beach and Florida.
We got lucky this time because The Good Fight Tournament held it’s event right in Severn Maryland, a stone’s throw away from us here in Arnold.
The Good Fight is a smaller, local tournament circuit that holds events most on the upper east coast. We’ve been sending students to compete for a while and we know the guys who run it pretty well.
This particular tournament featured matches in the “No Time Limit” format. That means matches go until someone gets the tap out. Some of these matches can last for hours, I’ve seen it many times.
Competing under these rules can be extra challenging and good cardio is a must for success. Good cardio and for many it also means making adjustments to your game plan and match tactics.
Thankfully our students have always thrived in this type of submission only tournament. The style we teach here at IL seems to translate well and because of this, our winning percentage for submission only events is really high.
Our team this past Saturday consisted of the following Ivey League Students (How they placed also included):
Frank Speaks – Silver
Michael Garlington – Double Gold
Sean Garlington – Bronze
Magnus Benz – Gold
CJ Monger – DNP
Hannah Goldman – Bronze
Everyone had fun and did well, which is always a plus. For students like Hannah and CJ, just being able to get that experience competing in front of a crowd makes it totally worth the time.
For others, like Micheal “Mouth” Garlington, it’s just another day at the office and one more tournament leading up to Pan-Ams in March. No matter what, seasoned competitor or new to the tournament scene, great times were had.
The standout performance for the day was without a doubt 14 year old Magnus “Magneto” Benz.
Magnus looked like his old self out on the mats, winning match after match using an in-your-face, aggressive style that when combined with his solid technical skills, was too much for his opponents to handle.
I’d like to point out that he won the adult white belt division, competing against grown men in their 20’s and 30’s, at just 14 years old. That’s pretty impressive for a kid his age to pull off.
Next up for Magnus will be either Pan-Kids in California or NAGA NJ. I’d really like to see the Magnus I saw at Good Fight make a return in the very near future..stay tuned.
Next up for Ivey League is the Atlanta Open on February 4th and on the same day, the PA NAGA. We follow that up with the most high level kids martial arts tournament in the world, Pan-Kids.
Be sure to check back to this blog for the latest news and events related to IL.
