Relson Gracie Nationals Tournament

Columbus, Ohio

The BJJ Gi & Nogi tournament down in Columbus was a great time. Combined with the Griffonrawl team, we had 10 competitors. Here are the results as I remember them: Jason Dent: Jason won his blue belt gi division with some hard fought matches and an exciting final ending with Jason finishing his opponent with a guillotine. Mike Russo: Mike went 2 and 1 for the day, if I remember correctly, catching his final opponent with a nice footlock from the bottom. Mike took the bronze in his blue belt division. AJ: AJ looked great in his no-gi division and after posting a nice win, had an absolute war with Jamie Toney, who went on to win the division. Lucas Beatty: Lucas had a great tournament. He won the silver in his gi division (though he should have won the gold. . . hooray for unfair refs. . .). Lucas also competed in the no-gi 155 and under division and easily dispatched of his first two opponents to reach the quarterfinals. Lucas bowed out in the next round to Jason Fox, an RGDA brown belt who runs our Indiana affiliate. Darren Branch: Darren took the gold in his gi division and showed some serious takedowns that were the talk of the tournament. He also competed in the no-gi 155 and under division (weighing 135) and lost by sub to Robert Bihn, who ended up taking the division. Pete Sherer: Pete took silver in his first tournament ever. His were some of the most exciting matches of the tournament. Pete came from behind in his first match (he was mounted) and spun for a nice armbar from the bottom to finish the match. Not bad for a 250+ lb'er with only a few months of experience. Steven Grubkin: With only 2 months of training, Steven showed a great deal of heart and awesome defense in his gi and no-gi matches. Everyone was proud to see Steven stay cool under pressure and mount some exciting offense as well. Greg Wallace and Bobby Gilliam: Greg and Bobby both lost their first round matches to very game opponents. Donald Park: I entered the no-gi 155 and under division. I won my first four matches against some tough opponents and ended up facing Robert Bihn in the finals. Robert is a great grappler who runs Gracie Barra Cincinnati. Robert showed great defense against my guard attacks and the match ended up 0-0 after regulation. A sudden death overtime was called and Robert scored the takedown as I was jumping guard, giving him the win. Again, everyone did really well at the tournament and it was great to join forces once again.Written by:Donald Park