Highland Heights, OhioTeam Energenics Training Facility
Tim Payne held his third promotion of "Caged Combat" on Saturday night with another packed house in attendance. Team GriffonRawl, a go-to camp for Tim, was set to send nine men into action until Kevin Doyle and Reggie Parks' opponents cancelled thier bouts. What follows is a recap of the seven team members who represented Team GriffonRawl.First up was Miguel Defina against an experienced Luke Wilder. Miguel quickly took the fight to the ground where he looked impressive. Miguel moved from side position to full mount and unleashed a few solid strikes before Luke spun to escape. But Miguel was lying in wait and spread out his opponent flat on his stomach where a barrage of strikes forced Luke to tap at 1:35 of the very first round.Landon Kladoust made his MMA debut at 185lbs in impressive fashion, taking on Chris Hayes. Landon withstood an early flurry of strikes, countering with some of his own. Forcing his opponent against the fence, Landon took the fight to the ground where he eventually passed the half-guard and was able to tie up both of Chris' arms in a reverse crucifix. Landon was able to strike cleanly from the top position and forced Chris to tap to the strikes towards the end of round one.Miles King was pitted against the experienced and aggressive Josh Miller at 205lbs. Miles looked to stand early but Josh moved in for the takedown early and often. Josh looked to end the fight early with his ground and pound tactics, but Miles kept recovering his guard and defending himself from side body position, the back mount and inside the guard while Josh was landing solid shots. Rounds two and three went much the same as round one with Miles showing tremendous heart, tenacity and a never-say-die attitude. Josh was awarded a unanimous decision after three hard fought rounds.At 170lbs Brian McCroskey was looking to avenge his first loss against Keith VanDyke. Brian and Keith exchanged a few punches before Brian was able to move the action up against the cage, weathering a vicious hook that split his skin just to the side of his left eye. Showing improved ground work, Brian held side position before advancing to the mount where kept solid position while unloading on his opponent, forcing the referee to call at stop to the action at 2:43 seconds of round one.Jim Payne was pitted against Austin White at 185lbs. Austin showed his game plan early by shooting in and looking to unleash his ground and pound. Jim defended well from the guard, but was pressed against the cage. The referee stood them up, and again Austin scored a takedown. Jim defended the initial takedowns in round two and executed a beautiful hip toss to dominate position, where he trapped Austin's arm and unloaded a series of rights. Austin eventually scrambled out where he was able to secure the back of Jim and sunk in a deep rear naked choke that caused a stop at 2:17 of round two. An all out back and forth war that was bloody as they come, both men treated the crowd to an excellent contest.Tony Groys made his debut under the GriffonRawl flag against Corey Frantz at 155lbs. Tony came out intense and looked incredibly crisp landing solid upper cuts, hooks and straight rights. Corey scored a takedown where Tony recovered his guard and found himself being picked up for a slam when he released the guard and got the fight standing. Tony stalled a few takedown attempts and weathered two hard over-hand rights by Corey. Tony set up a right straight, left hook combo that hit right on the button knocking out Corey at 1:24 of the very first round.In the main event, Chuck Schilling battled Carl Kettle at 155lbs. Chuck scored an early takedown in round one where he held dominate position for most of the first round landing solid knees from side body position and good punches from different angles. Chuck appeared to be well on his way to victory in round two from the mount before Carl escaped and set up a nice arm bar attempt that had Chuck in trouble for about 15 seconds. He escaped to dominate position scoring with strikes as the round ended. The final round showed Carl's tremendous heart as he got taken down by Chuck but reversed positions to score strikes and appeared to have Chuck in trouble with a guillotine choke. After three exciting rounds, Chuck was awarded a split-decision victory.Everyone knows how hard and how ready Reggie and Kevin were and it's a shame they weren't able to compete. The team sent first timers and veterans into action and came away with a solid night, finishing 5-2, but more importantly gained a tremendous amount of experience as Team GriffonRawl continues to be one heck of a busy gym.Written by:John StrmacComplete Results:155: Kris Morin over Justin Taylor by Triangle; 1:19 Rd 2145: Ron Counter over Elijah Wallace by Choke; 1:11 Rd 1170: Miguel Defina over Luke Wilder by Tapout/Strikes; 1:35 Rd 1145: Lyle Sansoucie over Dustin Vitrano by RNC; 0:59 Rd 1145: Doug Hodges over Logan Cooper by Unanimous Decision185: Landon Kladoust over Chris Hayes by Tapout/Strikes; 2:33 Rd 1205: Josh Miller over Miles King by Unanimous Decision155: Ryan Victory over John Combest by TKO170: Brian McCroskey over Keith Van Dyke by TKO; 2:43 Rd 1185: Austin White over Jim Payne by RNC; 2:17 Rd 2155: Tony Groys over Corey Frantz by KO; 1:24 Rd 1145: Ivan Copenhaver over Jerrel Hamby by TKO; 1:15 Rd 1155: Chuck Schilling over Carl Kettle by Split Decision
