It dawned on me that I never did a write up for the student awards we handed out for 2010 back in April. A little background story, every year in either March or April we have our anniversary party and give out some awards to students at Ivey League MMA who have exiled.
For most improved in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we gave this award to Bill Hughes. This was a tough one because we had Brandon Hendrickson and Ross L in the running’s but in the end we felt like Bill had won this but it could have been given to all 3 students due to the way they’ve moved along in their training.
Most improved Muay Thai Kickboxing went to Kyle “Foxcatcher” Fox. Kyle is a true example of what Martial Arts can do for a person. Kyle came to us about a year ago with no training what-so-ever and in that time he build up some insane Muay Thai and MMA skills. No shock for us because he works hard all the time. Props must be given to Coach Cungle for all the side work he puts in with the Foxcatcher.
For competitor of the year we awarded this to none other then Jack Dawson. Jack had a breakout year in both MMA and the BJJ grappling circult. Jack ended up winning the MMA national tournament held in Hampton VA and put himself in the top of the class for MMA fighters in the county. Jack is by far the best at the MMA game we’ve ever produced here at Ivey League. He had also won the Naga and Grapplers Quest grappling tournaments on top of that.
Last but not least we had our award for student of the year. This year we had a hard time picking who we thought would and should be student of the year, so much so that we decided to give this award to 2 students. Mr. Mike “Cadillac” Murphy and Mr. Mike “socks” Sunderland won this award and rightfully so! Both are model students and have always been there for the program, much like the program has been there for them.
So there you have it, the awards for Ivey League MMA. Side-note, we also gave Ivey League student Jeaneo “Black eye” Binney a nice bottle of wine for all she’s done for the program and students. She has been an asset for us right from the start. She travels from Bowie, MD to come out here to take classes with us and we couldn’t ask for a better student and person. She teaches the Tuesday morning back to basics GI classes which is a huge hit.
Keep an eye out in 2011 for more students from Ivey League on the rise here in Annapolis!
–Master Danny Ives
