Member News
September 2, 2006
Completed Women's Pool Sheets
Completed Men's Pool Sheets
Fall Classic Nationals Results
(Harlingen, Texas) – Saturday’s action at the Fall Classic Nationals featured excellent judo from some of the top-ranked players in the country as well as close-call matches and comeback stories.
Justin Flores (Palo Alto, Calif. / San Shi Judo Club) was the top-ranked player in the United States in 2005 in the 66kg division. A National Champion who had placed in the top five on the European Tour, the 25-year-old took a break from competition after the World Championships in September and didn’t resurface again until the Senior Nationals in April.
Although the self-imposed break caused his #1 ranking to drop, Flores was considered a favorite to reclaim his title at the Senior Nationals – until an injured knee in an early match shut him out of the competition entirely.
Earlier this week Flores returned to competition, easily winning the Golden State Open at 73kg on Sunday before coming down to Harlingen to compete in the heavier division.
“I’ve only competed a handful of times since Worlds and so I just wanted to start getting some matches in without having to worry about cutting weight,” Flores said. “I’m going back to 66kg for the Rendez-Vous and U.S. Open, so I wanted to get some fights in, but not worry about winning or losing, just going out and doing judo.”
With no expectations or pressure to be had, Flores went undefeated, winning five matches and the gold medal.
Unprotected by seeding, Flores had a difficult half of the draw, meeting Junior World Team member and New York Open bronze medalist Nick Delpopolo (Scotia, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center) in the second round.
Flores came out fast, throwing Delpopolo in the first 15 seconds of the match for a yuko score (quarter-point). Although Delpopolo tried to pick up a score of his own, he never managed to produce one and Flores took the match.
In his next match, Flores and 17-year-old Senior Nationals bronze medalist Bobby Lee (Lauderhill, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site) were evenly matched until the final 30 seconds when Flores threw Lee with a low, rolling kata guruma (fireman’s carry).
No score was called and the clock continued to wear down until Flores repeated the same throw with 12 seconds left.
“The first time I did it, maybe the throw was too slow, but when I did it again, I think I sealed the deal.”
With just over a minute remaining in his next match with Senior Nationals silver medalist Radu Brestyan (Medway, Mass. / Pedro’s Judo Center), the score was tied at a yuko (quarter-point) a piece after, Brestyan was handed a pair of shidos.
In the final minute, Flores threw Brestyan with an uchimata (inner thigh throw) for ippon (instant win) and the match.
Brestyan subsequently withdrew from the remainder of the tournament with an injury and would finish third.
Meanwhile, Lee fought through the loser’s pool where he and Delpopolo would compete to fight Flores for gold.
Like their last matchup at the Junior U.S. Open final a month ago, neither athlete scored during the match with both attacking consistently to avoid penalties. Less than 30 seconds into the overtime session, Lee caught Delpopolo in the corner with a throw for ippon.
The Golden Score (overtime) session was brought back again half an hour later when Flores and Lee fought for gold. With neither scoring during the regulation period, Flores threw Lee for ippon more than two minutes into overtime to win the match and the division.
“I had to move a lot more [in the 73kg division]. I had to find a lot more angles and fight a much more technical match and just kept coming at them and I could feel them all start to diminish slowly during the match,” Flores said. “I used everything I had and threw it all out there.”
Flores hopes to finish his undergraduate degree in the next semester and then focus on judo until the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008.
“I’m really excited to be able to work on doing judo full-time and focus on training my hardest for the next two years,” Flores said.
Men’s heavyweight Anthony Turner (Miami, Fla. / IntoCombat) had a difficult serious of competitors, but dominated his division, winning each of four matches by ippon, including a defeat over #1 Daniel McCormick (Arlington, Texas / Bedford Kodokan Judo Club) and two wins against Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site).
Saturday’s win will move Turner into the #1 Senior Elite National ranking in the division, while 2005 National Champion Hoffmann will move to #2 and McCormick will fall to #3.
At 45-years-old, two-time Olympian Rene Capo (Ballston Lake, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center) was the oldest competitor of the tournament, but made a striking comeback Saturday, winning a silver medal in the 100kg division.
Capo came in unseeded, but fought his way through the division for a three-match final with 1996 Hatian Olympian and 2006 Senior Nationals bronze medalist Adler Volmar (Miami, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site). The two split the first two matches. Although Capo sustained an injury during his win in the second match over Volmar, he continued to compete in the third match, but ultimately tapped out and settled for the silver medal.
In the men’s 66kg division, hometown favorite and Hawaii native Taylor Takata (Harlingen, Texas / Harlingen USA Judo National Training Site) quickly found himself fighting a lineup of National and international medalists in rapid succession.
First up was Jeremy Liggett (Scotia, N.Y. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center), a Pan American silver medalist and Junior World Team member at 60kg who was fighting up this weekend.
After picking up an early koka (smallest points), the score became tied when Takata was handed a penalty just under two minutes into the match. Takata quickly became the aggressor, though and threw Liggett for ippon on the next attack.
Liggett subsequently lost his next match to his JMJC teammate AJ Silverman (Scotia, N.Y.) and was eliminated from the tournament.
Next up, Takata drew Nate Torra (El Cerrito, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute) for a reprise of their final from the Senior Nationals in April. Following a close match in which the score was tied after Takata was given two shidos, Takata won the match to advance to the final where he subsequently threw his former Olympic Training Center teammate Josh O’Neil (Colorado Springs, Colo.) for ippon.
O’Neil then moved down to the loser’s bracket to fight second-ranked Kenny Hashimoto (Thornton, Colo. / Northglenn Judo Club) for the second time. Previously O’Neil had beaten Hashimoto in an earlier round, but with the scored tied, Hashimoto threw O’Neil for a yuko with 21 seconds on the clock to guarantee the match.
After battling through the day’s toughest division, Takata still had enough energy for a five-minute match with Hashimoto, winning the gold by two yukos.
National Champion Valerie Gotay (57kg) also competed this weekend for the Harlingen USA Judo Training Site after moving to South Texas from Temecula, Calif. several weeks ago.
Gotay won each of her first three matches through groundwork, including wins over Nicki Schultheis (Gurnee, Ill. / Gurnee Judo), the #2-ranked junior at 52kg and Senior Nationals bronze medalist Ashlie Martini (Chicago, Ill. / Tohkon).
Gotay and Martini met again for a second time in the finals where she threw the former 63kg player with an o soto gari (major outer reaping) for ippon and the gold medal.
“I really enjoy fighting on the ground, but Israel [Hernandez, Harlingen Head Coach and two-time Olympic medalist] and I have been working on my stand-up judo and we really wanted to finish that last match with a throw.”
Gotay, a 1992 Olympian, just completed her relocation to Harlingen a week ago where she trains under Hernandez and alongside Takata and sister Natalie Lafon, the #2-ranked athlete at 52kg.
“Israel is the full package. I’ve never met a coach like him. He’s educated in every way: training, athletics, psychology, strength and conditioning, everything,” Gotay said. “I’ve only been here a short while, but I’m looking forward to how I’m going to improve because my judo is only going to go up from here.”
In the women’s 52kg division, reigning National Champion Carrie Chandler (Scotia, N.Y. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center) was the favorite coming into the event and led by a koka early in her first match against 2004 Junior World Team member Anna Palmer (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site).
Palmer, however, was in the middle of sankaku (triangle hold) when Chandler sustained an injury. The 2005 Pan American gold medalist opted to continue the match and threw Palmer for ippon before withdrawing from the tournament.
Palmer would go on to win over Senior Nationals silver medalist to advance to the final match against Senior Nationals bronze medalist Franchesca Durand (Coral Springs, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site).
The two looked to be headed to Golden Score when Palmer attempted a double leg takeout, only to be caught be Durand and thrown at the buzzer.
In the women’s 48kg division, Sayaka Matsumoto (El Cerrito, Calif. / NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute) revisited her finals match with Jeanette Rodriguez (Margate, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site) from the Senior National Championships during the Fall Classic finals.
This time Matsumoto dominating the match, choking the 16-year-old to end the match and send Rodriguez down to the loser’s bracket in the true-double elimination tournament.
Earlier in the day, Rodriguez fought Senior Nationals bronze medalist Ann Shiraishi (El Cerrito, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute) in a 10-minute Golden Score epic match that ended in a decision by flags for Rodriguez.
In the loser's bracket, however, Shiraishi got the win, pinning the Junior World Team member.
Rodriguez finished third while Matsumoto pinned Shiraishi in the gold medal match to win the division.
Also on the women’s side, Athens Olympian Ronda Rousey (Santa Monica, Calif. / NYAC) routed each of her three opponents by ippon, including defeats of 2006 Senior Nationals silver medalist Kristen Allan (Springfield, Va. / Sport Judo) and a four-second dispatch of Christine Ellis (Westfield, N.J. / Cranford).
Complete results are as follows:
Women’s 44kg
1. Alexa Liddie (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site)
2. Margaret Drake (Scotia, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center)
Women’s 48kg
1. Sayaka Matsumoto (El Cerrito, Calif. / NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute)
2. Ann Shiraishi (El Cerrito, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute)
3. Jeanette Rodriguez (Margate, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site)
Women’s 52kg
1. Franchesca Durand (Coral Springs, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site)
2. Anna Plamer (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site)
3. Natalie Lafon (Harlingen, Texas / Harlingen USA Judo National Training Site(
Women’s 57kg
1. Valerie Gotay (Harlingen, Texas / Harlingen USA Judo National Training Site)
2. Ashlie Martini (Chicago, Ill. / Tohkon Judo Club)
3. Hana Carmichael (Wellington, Fla. / Budokan Judo Club)
Women’s 63kg
1. Ronda Rousey (Santa Monica, Calif. / NYAC)
2. Kristen Allan (Springfield, Va. / Sport Judo)
3. Anastasia Krivosta (Smithtown, N.Y. / Smithtown YMCA)
Women’s 70kg
1. Katie Mocco (Scotia, N.Y. / NYAC / Jason Morris Judo Center)
2. Katie Sell (Harlingen, Texas / Halringen USA Judo National Training Site)
3. Tomoyo Yoshinaga (San Jose, Calif. / San Jose State University Judo Club)
Women’s 78kg
1. Molly O’Rourke (El Cerrito, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute)
2. Marina Lambert (Chesapeake, Va. / Washington Judo)
3. Marina Shafir (Latham, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center)
Men’s 55kg
1. Arnold Toriumi (Honolulu, Hawaii / Hawaii Tenri)
2. Jose Cos (Elbert, Colo. / Olympic Training Center Juniors)
3. Zachary Maes (Wheat Ridge, Colo. / Northglenn Judo Club)
Men’s 60kg
1. Nick Kossor (Scotia, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center)
2. Rafael Ramos (North Lauderdale, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site)
3. Miguel Ballesteros (North Lauderdale, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site)
Men’s 66kg
1. Taylor Takata (Harlingen, Texas / Harlingen USA Judo National Training Site)
2. Kenny Hashimoto (Thornton, Colo. / Northglenn Judo)
3. Josh O’Neil (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site)
Men’s 73kg
1. Justin Flores (Palo Alto, Calif. / San Shi)
2. Bobby Lee (Lauderhill, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site)
3. Radu Brestyan (Medway, Mass. / Pedro’s Judo Center)
Men’s 81kg
1. Travis Stevens (San Jose, Calif. / San Jose State)
2. David Ellis (Westfield, N.J. / Cranford)
3. Andrew Hung
Men’s 90kg
1. Jake Larsen (Santa Rosa, Calif. / Redwood Judo)
2. Atsushi Yoshinaga (San Jose, Calf. / San Jose State)
3. Justen Otaka (Northglenn, Colo. / Northglenn Judo)
Men’s 100kg
1. Adler Volmar (Miami, Fla. / North Miami USA Judo National Training Site)
2. Rene Capo (Scotia, N.Y. / Jason Morris Judo Center)
3. Derek Alef (Goleta, Calif. / Santa Ynez Judo)
Men’s +100kg
1. Anthony Turner (Miami, Fla. / Intocombat)
2. Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site)
3. Daniel McCormick (Arlington, Texas / Bedford Kodokan)
Men’s Open
1. Adam Blackburn (Salt Lake City, Utah / USA Stars)
2. Patrik Bokor (Winter Park, Fla. / Central Florida Judo and Jujitsu)
|
