Wreckroom Fight Series "Mansfield Mayhem 5"

Mansfield, Ohio
Richland County Fairgrounds

On March 22, 2008, Wreckroom Athletics held it’s fifth installment of “Mansfield Mayhem” in Mansfield, Ohio. Three GriffonRawl warriors entered the cage this night. For the second fight in a row, Kevin Doyle was unable to compete due to an opponent backing out. Look for Kevin to be in action in the very near future. What follows is a recap of Paul Keeney (135lbs), AJ Carl (155lbs) and Brian McCroskey (170lbs).Paul Keeney had the daunting task of making his MMA debut and being the first fight of the night, taking on Jullian Blanchard at 135lbs. Round one went well for Paul as he and Jullian traded heavy blows for the weight class. Early into round two, Jullian hit a solid right cross that sent Paul to the canvass. Thinking he won the fight Jullian turned around only to realize Paul’s warrior spirit had not thrown in the towel and as Paul was standing up, Jullian hit another solid shot that caused the referee to call a stop to the contest. Look for Paul, who’s tough as nails to be back soon!AJ Carl was pitted against Brian Smiley at 155lbs. Truly a 145lb fighter, AJ made the jump to taken on an experienced Smiley. Most of the posts on PKW were in favor of Smiley racking up another victory. AJ scored a quick takedown and began his ground and pound, but Smiley was able to stay safe in his guard and hit a deep arm lock. AJ remained calm, saving his arm from submission, and hit a series of devastating knees to the body that clearly caused damage as Smiley released the submission. AJ moved to a better position and began unloading, forcing the referee to call a stoppage in the first round. This fight improved AJ to 3-1 and he is on a three fight win streak.Brian McCroskey, fresh off his first MMA victory at Caged Combat II took on a very tough Marcus Turner at 170lbs. Brian seemed to be more comfortable in the cage than his first two matches and looked good in all aspects of the fight. He threw crisp hands and his ground game looked vastly improved, showing hard work does pay off. Brian executed a nice game plan but was unable to finish the tough Turner in regulation. The judges agreed Brian was the superior man in the cage rendering a unanimous decision in his favor, for his second MMA victory.Written by:John M. StrmacComplete Results:Preliminary BoutsHvwt - Nick Jones over Wade Roberts170lb - A.J. Winger over Brandon Mays155lb - A.J. Carl over Brian Smiley 1st Rd TKO205lb - Doug Bowling over Dave Howard135lb - Julian Blanchard over Paul Keeney185lb - Silas Maynard over Randy Adams170lb - Brian Mcroskey over Marcus Turner205lb - Hank Webb over Dan WinesHvwt - Brian Lewis over Andrew Johnson155lb - J.P. Jaranowski over Matt HatfieldMain EventWRFS 145lb TITLE FightMike Nesto over Bo Coleman 1st Rd rear naked choke

NAAFS "Midwest Combat Challenge 4"

Akron, Ohio
Chapparell's Community Center

The NAAFS treated MMA fans to an exciting night of action on Saturday night at the sold out Chapparell's Community Center in Akron, Ohio. Team GriffonRawl sent three veterans into action and what follows is a recap of each team member.Tom Lutz was pitted against Mark Strickland of Kombat MMA at 205lbs for his NAAFS debut. Tom looked excellent on his feet to start the first round, landing two beautiful combinations before Mark shot in for a takedown. Two times, Tom had Mark in a triangle choke but Mark was able to escape and moved to the mount position where he unleashed a wicked ground and pound attack. Tom escaped a choke to end a crazy round one. Both men were cut and bleeding and the fans knew these two were the real deal. Mark scored a takedown early in round two, where the G&P continued before the refereee was forced to stop the contest at 1:19 of the second round. Tom handled himself with class and will no doubt be back soon, better than ever.John Strmac was up against Edison "Puerto Rican Thunder" Martinez in a rematch from their November contest at 145lbs. John was able to score takedowns in all three rounds and executed ground and pound the entire fight, but could never finish the super tough Martinez as he kept tying up John and manuevering to rarely take a clean shot. John ended the final minute of round three in the mount position. After three rounds, all judges scorecards read 30-27 in favor of Strmac, giving him his fourth win in a row. (This portion written by Jason Dent.)Finally up for the team was Dominic "The Ironman" McGhee, taking on Joey "The Hitman" Holt from Gym City Gladiators at 155lbs. Joey and Dominic stood toe to toe for three exciting rounds, in what many deemed to be the fight of the night. The two appeared to forget it was an MMA fight and were happy to put on a kickboxing exhibition. Everytime one appeared to catch the other with a good hand combination, the other came right back and executed a combination of his own. Throw in wicked leg kicks, multiply that by three rounds and there's your fight. Both men laid it all on the line showing excellent striking and even better chin's. Announcer Jake Dingman summed up the fight by saying "Every time Holt hit McGhee he smiled, and everytime McGhee hit Holt he smiled." When the dust settled, a split decision in favor of Holt was rendered from the judges scorecards.Technically of Team Playland, Dan "Daredevil" Jones supplemented training at GriffonRawl. Taken from the NAAFS website, here is the NAAFS recap: "Dan “Daredevil” Jones (5-0/Team Playland) defeated Jason Davis (3-2/Pain Headquarters) at 0:29 into the first round after a Technical Knockout when the ref stopped the fight. The two touched gloves and Jason took an immediate swing with his right, which appeared to me to be a blatant cheap shot. Dan landed a quick punch, which busted Jason open badly. This was the shortest bloodbath I’ve ever seen. Dan totally dominated."The energy in the arena was electric and it was clear the fighters drew from it. Congratulations to all those that competed. On a personal note, I was able to meet a lot of fighters and enjoyed the "BS" sessions backstage.Written by:John M. StrmacComplete Results:Kris Morin (1-1/Team Air Gadfly) defeated James Fenske (1-1/Underground MMA) at 1:47, Rd 1Brad Muns (1-0/Underground MMA) defeated Mike Conner (0-2/Pain Headquarters) at 1:23 Rd 1 via Guillotine ChokeSean Hefflemen (2-2/East Coast Martial Arts) defeated Derrick Nothum (0-1/Team Air-Gadfly) at 2:30 RD 2 via Triangle ChokeMarvin Williams (2-0/Rising Dragon MMA) defeated Ric Ady (0-1/Team Instigator) via a Split Decision Josh Lang (2-0/Western New York MMA) defeated Fadi Nader (1-1/Kombat MMA) via a Unanimous DecisionKearn Nedd (1-1/Kombat MMA) defeated Brad Stanton (0-1/East Coast Martial Arts) at 1:30 Rd 2 via Technical Knockout Aaron “The Hamburglar” Bartow (2-0/Team Instigator) defeated Brandon “Birdman” Bailey (0-2/Independent) at 1:49 into the first round via tapout from strikesMax Gretch (2-1/Kombat MMA) defeated Garrett Matheron (1-2/Team Air-Gadfly) at 1:38 Rd 2 via Technical Knockout Mark Strickland (2-1/Kombat MMA) defeated Tom Lutz (2-1/GriffonRawl) via Technical Knockout at 1:19 Rd 2Chris Bradley (2-2/Team Instigator) defeated Dan Gale (2-2/Pain Headquarters) at 1:43 into the second round via armbarJohn Strmac (4-2/GriffonRawl) defeated Edison “Puerto Rican Thunder” Martinez (3-4-1/Lorain, Ohio) via unanimous decisionChase Martin (2-0/Team Instigator) defeated Paris Boyd (2-4/Underground MMA) at 2:41 Rd 2 via a rear-naked chokeJoey “Hit-Man” Holt (4-1/Gym City Gladiators) defeated Dominic “Iron Man” McGee (2-4/GriffonRawl) via a split decisionMatt “Light Breeze” Rosborough (2-2/Western New York MMA) defeated Anthony “Hurricane” Hayes (4-3/Gym City Gladiators) at 2:10 Rd 2 via triangle chokeRuss Halsey (3-1/Pain Headquarters) defeated Jacob Mitchell (1-3/Salem, Ohio) at 1:41 Rd 1 via Technical KnockoutJohn Hawk (3-0/Jungle Fight Team) defeated Richard Wadell (4-3/Higher Power) at 2:24 Rd 1 via Technical KnockoutDan “Daredevil” Jones (5-0/Team Playland) defeated Jason Davis (3-2/Pain Headquarters) at 0:29 Rd 1 via Technical Knockout Nick “The Savage” Duell (9-2-1/Jungle Fight Team) defeated Mickey Hughes (3-2/Team Bloody Buddy) at 2:23 Rd 1 via an armbar