Pennsylvania’s a great state, I should know, it produced me, haha. What my students produced in Pennsylvania was also nice, lots of medals for Ivey League and Team Lloyd Irvin.
We ended up taking a team of 10 competitors. Some new and some more seasoned, everyone was game!
On Saturday the adults and teens competed. The stand out from Ivey League was young Alex Fogt, who snagged two bronze medals in teens gi and nogi.
Alex was coming off of some big wins at the Team Lloyd Irvin in house tournament 2 weeks ago so it was nice to see him keep up the winning ways.
Alex, being the 3%’er he is, wasn’t satisfied with his results but at the same time he did well and is only getting better.
First time competitor Gunner Steinhardt also looked sharp, bringing back a medal in his teen division. This was the first time Gunner had ever competed in anything and it was nice to see him do well. I see a bright future ahead for this go-getter.
Other teens who got out there and scrapped were Grayson Bitting and Tristan Garcia. Both did well and learned a lot with Tristan placing in his weight class.
OutFox MMA transfer Grayson Bitting didn’t place but at the same time he sure learned. That’s what’s really important, the learning process.
Coach Eddie Spiker also did well, bringing back a silver medal in the nogi division. While Coach Eddie fell short of his goal, winning the gold, he did however learn a lot. Next up for him will be the WKA MMA Natinal Tournament.
Below are Saturday’s results:.
Eddie Spiker – 2nd Place Adult Nogi
Grayson Bitting – DNP
Tristen Garcia – Bronze In Teens Gi
Alex Fogt – Double Bronze Teens Gi & Nogi
Gunner Steinhardt – Silver In Teens Gi
On Sunday the youth team took to the mats. We ended up taking 6 kids with us, just like with the teens, some new and some old timers.
The team leader and #1 ranked 10 year old for Ivey League is Jacob “Juji Gatame” Miller. He’s the one all the kids look up too when it comes to winning grappling tournaments.
Jacob like always didn’t disappoint. He took double gold in both gi and nogi. Jacob, who’s a huge fan of Judo, hit one of the most amazing throws ever seen at the Naga. A standing Seo Nage, which pretty much won the match and the division.
Newcomer Willie Montoya also made out well bringing back double gold medals.
This was the first time out for Willie and like we all thought he’s do, he won. He also won despite some controversy in his divisions which was out of his control. In the end it all worked out 🙂
Others who made a mark were Zach “Cutter” Gardner, Micheal “Mouth” Garlington, Jack Thomson and Lauren “Prototype” Miller. All of the kids medal-ed and at the same time learned a lot about what it takes to be #1.
Below are the results for Sunday:.
Zach Gardner – Double Bronze
Jacob Miller – Double Gold
Willie Montoya – Double Gold
Lauren Miller – Double Silver
Jack Thomson – Silver & Bronze
Micheal Garlington – Double Silver
All in all the PA Naga was good for Ivey League. Could we have done better? Sure. At the same time, you win some and you lose some but you’ve always got to be learning, always improving. I saw great improvement from the last outing.
Special thanks to those who came out and coached the kids/teens. Spike, Miss Chrissy, JJ Hyde, Emma Munsey and Coach Eddie. You guys/gals rule!
Next up for the little ones will be Pan Kids in California. This is the big tournament that all the kids look forward to. That’s this upcoming weekend, on the 10th.
The rooster for that is Jacob Miller, Lexi Garcia, Maddline & Dax Avila, Micheal Garlington, Brendan “Spike” Bill and Alexia Lara. Get to work kids 😉
Below are some videos to study. They feature Team Lloyd Irvin Superstar Keenan Cornelius, hands down the best brown belt in the world right now, at any weight class. Enjoy.
