On May 7th and 8th Ivey League MMA headed up to New Jersey for the Naga grappling championships. Like always, the naga had tons of people competing from all over the world. Of course Ivey League had to be in the mix.
As a whole we did very well. Team Lloyd Irvin ended up winning the over team title for the kids and took home more medals then I could list here. This was on the strength of all the academy’s such as BJJ united, Crazy 88, Beta, Camp Springs, Ivey League, Top Flight MMA, Paramount and Daddis MMA.
I thought Ivey League did well. The kids all placed in their divisions. Henry and Danny Red didn’t place. I think Danny is in a slump right now and I’m hoping he pulls away soon. He had a breakout tournament in November but has been fighting to reproduce that again. I trust time will work this out for Mr. Red.
The kids like always were awesome. We took seven kids and they all medaled. I was joking that this was the day of the silver medals as I think every kid on the rooster placed 2nd. I’m not too worried, for a few of the kids it was their first tournament. I thought they did very just fine out there.
The dvorak twins had tough matches, like mentioned above, they placed second in their divisions. I think once they get the hang of competing and using strategy they’ll be tough to beat. This was the first time for them but already we can tell they’ll be regulars on the circuit.
Donavon was fighting up a skill division and I’m pretty sure he got 2nd (will check with Mrs. Boggs on this) I thought he did great and the thing with Donavon is he just has a great attitude. You would be hard pressed to find a more happy and enthusiastic child then this kid. I see big things in his future.
Kevin and Jack had a good day. Both won some matches and came back with silver medals. Jack Thomson has improved 10 fold since the Grapplers Quest. He is starting to get some power and it showed here. He might just be the most improved child in the shortest time right now for us. Kevin was a beast and hit a sweet triangle in his first round match in nogi BJJ. Kevin like Jack was much improved from his last outing. I think part of that is the fact that they’re training harder now and doing more strength work in the BBC classes.
Alex “Tendon strength†Coe was on point for a few matches. The thing with Alex is he gets so worked up that it can sometimes hurt him in his matches. We keep telling him to calm down and he is doing better. I give a lot of credit to his brother Holden, Holden has helped Alex a ton and that’s why Alex did so well. He tends to get over worked up and sometimes that hurts his performance. He still did well, winning matches and placing. He will need time to work through his emotions but in the end he’ll be just fine. I keep telling him to eye up the prize and that’s the Pan kids tournament in 2012.
Holden Murphy is stuck in a rock and a hard place right now because of his age and size. He ends up in the teens division and at many tournaments it tends to be 14-17 years old. That might not seem like a big deal but Holden is only 14 (just turned 14) and he competes against kids a lot older and bigger. Now, not making excuses, he is doing well and winning here and there at that weight but I think that when he gets bigger and stronger and adds that to his skill set he will be an animal. He placed 2nd in both gi and nogi.
Like I said before, overall I thought the team did well. We have many things to work on and have already started on that. Mostly defensive things like not getting your back taken and whatnot. I think it’s a good start to a brought future for the new kids. We didn’t have any new adults competing but I have a feeling that at the Va Beach tournament we will.
Training starts for the new season…well right now!
–Master Danny Ives
