Member News
October 19, 2007
Brian Olson
Begins
Olympic Comeback with Gold at the
U.S.
Open, Rousey Earns Third
Straight Title
(
Duluth
,
Ga.
) – It’s been just over three
years since
Brian
Olson
 |
Brian Olson (blue) def. Garry St. Leger (white) in the 90kg finals. |
| |
 |
Ronda Rousey (white) def. Gemma Gibbons (blue) in the 70kg finals. |
| |
 |
70kg medals. |
| |
 |
Ronda Rousey receives her $10,000 award check from CEO Jose Rodriguez and President Dr. Ron Tripp. |
(Boulder,
Colo. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center /
90kg) walked off the mat for the last time at the 2004 Olympic Games in
Athens and his comeback was met at the U.S. Open on Friday with much
anticipation.
“I came in with three years worth of rust, but now I feel
like I’m down to about two and a half,” Olson laughed after winning his sixth
U.S. Open title. “It was definitely
tough and I don’t think I really started finding my rhythm until that last
match, but it’s hard trying to getting back to the person you were when you
retired.”
The person Olson “was” is definitely a hard act to live up
to as the 34-year-old is a three-time Olympian and former World medalist.
“Really the only pressure I felt coming into this was from
me,” Olson said. “[Coach] Eddie [Liddie]
and I talked about just wanting to get in here and get the old feeling
back. Win, lose or draw, we wanted to
see where I was at.”
Olson won his first three matches to advance to the
semifinals against Alexandre Emond (CAN). Although Emond was up on points throughout
the match, Olson came back in the final minute to throw the Canadian for the
win to advance to the gold medal round against top-ranked Garry St. Leger (
Brooklyn
,
N.Y.
/ Starrett Judo), a
bronze medalist at the Pan American Championships.
Twenty-two-year-old St. Leger didn’t look the least bit
intimidated during the final round, attacking consistently, but found himself
down by a penalty before ultimately losing when Olson caught him with an armbar
in the final minute.
“This being my first tournament back, to know that I’m not
yet training five days a week on the mat and lifting every single day, but that
I can still come back and win and get into the Trials means a lot. Getting into Trials is the first step. Now I just need to work on building from
here,” he said.
Olson’s win virtually guarantees him a slot in the 2008 U.S.
Olympic Team Trials for Judo, June 13-14 in
Las Vegas
,
Nev.
The men’s 81kg division featured a long-awaited rematch
between Travis Stevens (
Glenville
,
N.Y.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at the
Jason
Morris
Judo
Center
) and Aaron Cohen (
Buffalo Grove
,
Ill.
/ NYAC / Cohen’s Judo).
Last year Stevens beat Cohen for the first time in the
finals of the Open – a win which would lead to three more during a single
evening at the Senior Nationals and World Trials in April.
Now the #1 and reigning Pan American Games Champion, Stevens
appeared to have the edge coming into their final match, but Cohen threw
Stevens in the first minute for a koka (smallest points) and then countered his
uchimata (inner thigh throw) three minutes into the match to pick up a yuko (quarter-point).
With less than 30 seconds left, Stevens threw Cohen for a
waza-ari (half-point) with a sumi gaeshi (sacrifice throw), but the throw was
downgraded by the side judges to a yuko score.
Both players picked up the pace, but Stevens didn’t score
again and Cohen won both the match and his first U.S. Open gold.
Ronda Rousey (
Wakefield
,
Mass.
/ USA
Judo National Team FORCE) advanced to the finals of the 70kg division, as
was expected, quickly and efficiently, ending each of her first two matches in
less than a minute before defeating Gemma
Gibbons (GBR) in the final with a throw for ippon (instant win)
The win is Rousey’s third in as many years after taking the
2005 and 2006 titles in the 63kg division.
A silver medalist at the World Championships last month,
Rousey was recognized for her achievement prior during Opening Ceremonies with
a $10,000 award check.
One of Rousey’s former opponents, 17-year-old Kayla Harrison (
Wakefield
,
Mass.
/
USA
Judo National Team FORCE /
NYAC) won her second U.S. Open title on Friday. After winning the Open division and earning a
silver medal in the 70kg division last year, Harrison moved back down to 63kg
in April and won her first Olympic weight title in the division.
Ironically,
Harrison
’s
opponent was the same as Rousey’s in 2006 – Canadian Jennie Bonsant.
After a back-and-forth match in which
Harrison
scored after two minutes with a throw for a yuko, Bonsant took the match to the
ground several times.
Harrison
managed to escape
the groundwork, but It wasn’t until the last minute when she threw Bonsant
again that she secured the win.
Heavyweight Heidi
Moore (
Englewood
,
Colo.
/
Denver
Judo) won the +78kg division for
her first U.S. Open title when she choked Brittni
Bradford (
San Antonio
,
Texas
/ Universal Judo) to win gold.
In the non-Olympic weight division of 44kg, 17-year-old Veronica Prado (
Coral
Springs
,
Fla.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at
North Miami
) won her
round-robin division with three matches all by ippon (instant win). Among Prado’s wins were throwing 2006
Champion Taylor Ibera (Honolulu, Hawaii
/ Hawaii Tenri) as well as 2007 Pan Am medalist Alexa Liddie (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site
at the Olympic Training Center) and a last-minute win against Katelyn Bouyssou (Hope, R.I. / Mayo Quanchi
Judo).
Katie Mocco
(Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris
Judo Center) advanced to her first U.S. Open final since moving from 70kg
to 78kg.
Mocco secured her slot as the #1
U.S.
player in the division when
she placed second in the Senior B-Level Point Tournament behind two-time Pan
American Champion Amy Cotton (CAN) who
pinned Mocco early in the match.
Although she lost in the final, Mocco did earn a key win in
the semifinals over 2007 Pan Am Championships medalist Marylise Levesque (CAN).
Daniel McCormick (
Wakefield
,
Mass.
/
USA
Judo National Team FORCE) won his first
U.S.
Open
silver medal in the +100kg division. McCormick’s
most notable win was in the semifinals when he beat Alexandru Ciupe (CAN) by two penalties to three.
In the 100kg division, Keith
Morgan (CAN) defeated his Canadian teammate Guillaume Cavali (CAN) in the first minute of their final match.
Colombian
Santiago
Martinez
(
Coral
Springs
,
Fla.
/
Ki-Itsu-Sai) went to Golden Score (overtime) in his final against 2007
Senior National Champion Hiram Cruz
(PUR) before throwing Cruz for a koka a minute into the Golden Score
period.
Competition continues on Saturday with the women’s 48kg,
52kg, 47kg and open divisions and the men’s 60kg, 66kg, 73kg and open
divisions.
Complete results are as follows:
Female 44kg
1. Veronica Prado (
Coral Springs
,
Fla.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at
North Miami
)
2. Katelyn Bouyssou (
Hope
,
R.I.
/ Mayo Quanchi Judo Club)
3. Taylor Ibera (
Honolulu
,
Hawaii
/
Hawaii
Tenri)
3. Alexa Liddie (
Colorado Springs
,
Colo.
/
USA
Judo National Training
Site at the Olympic
Training
Center
)
Women’s 63kg
1. Kayla Harrison (
Wakefield
,
Mass.
/
USA
Judo
National Team FORCE / NYAC)
2. Jennie Bonsant (CAN)
3. Maude-Helene Benoit (CAN)
3. Marti Malloy (
San Jose
,
Calif.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at
San Jose
State
University
)
5. Emilie-Claude Leroux (CAN)
5. Isabelle Pearson (CAN)
Women’s 70kg
1. Ronda Rousey (
Wakefield
,
Mass.
/
USA
Judo
National Team FORCE / NYAC)
2. Gemma Gibbons (GBR)
3. Kathleen Sell (
Harlingen
,
Texas
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at
Harlingen
)
3. Megan Fletcher (GBR)
5. Sabrina Baron (CAN)
5. Anna-Soffia Vikingsdottir (ISL)
Female 78kg
1. Amy Cotton (CAN)
2. Katie Mocco (
Clifton Park
,
N.Y.
/ NYAC
/
USA
Judo National Training
Site at the
Jason
Morris
Judo
Center
)
3. Marylise Levesque (CAN)
3. Molly O'Rourke (
El Cerrito
,
Calif.
/ East Bay Judo Institute)
5. Nina Cutro-Kelly (
Schertz
,
Texas
/ Universal Judo)
5. Stephanie Grant (AUS)
Women’s +78kg
1. Heidi Moore (
Englewood
,
Colo.
/
Denver
Judo)
2. Brittni Bradford
(Live Oak,
Texas
/ Universal Judo)
3. Melinda Swanson (
Honolulu
, Hawiaii /
Hawaii
Tenri)
3. Lorey Eedwars (
Avon
,
Ohio
/
Chu
To Bu)
5. Andrea Bongert (
Dubuque
,
Iowa
/
Sioux City
)
5. Alyssa Coughy (CAN)
Men’s 55kg
1.
Santiago
Martinez
(
COL
)
2. Hiram Cruz (PUR)
3. Julien Paradis (CAN)
3. Keith Beauvais (
Thornton
,
Colo.
/
Northglenn
Judo)
5. Steve Perez (
Miami
,
Fla.
/ Ki-Itsu-Sai)
5. Joshua Villani (
Bellevue
,
Wash.
/ Ippon Judo)
Men’s 81kg
1. Aaron Cohen (
Buffalo Grove
,
Ill.
/ NYAC / Cohen’s Judo)
2. Travis Steens (
Scotia
,
N.Y.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at the
Jason
Morris
Judo
Center
)
3. Tyler Boras (CAN)
3. Harry St. Leger (
Brooklyn
,
N.Y.
/ NYAC / Starrett Judo)
5. Andy Hung (
San Jose
,
Calif.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at
San Jose
State
University
)
5. Kalem Kachur (CAN)
Men’s 90kg
1.
Brian Olson
(
Boulder
,
Colo.
/ NYAC /
USA
Judo National Training Site at the Olympic
Training
Center
)
2. Garry St. Leger
(Brookly, N.Y. / NYAC / Starrett Judo)
3. Alexandre Emond (CAN)
3. Rick Hawn (
Eugene
,
Ore.
/
USA
Judo National Team FORCE)
5. Fredrick Jaskiewicz (CAN)
5. David Ellis (
Roselle Park
,
N.J.
/
Cranford
Judo)
Men’s 100kg
1. Keith Morgan (CAN)
2. Guillaume Cavali (CAN)
3. Andrew Burns (GBR)
3. Christian Aarona (
Waimanalo
,
Hawaii
/ Makiki Seid)
5. Shintaro Higashi (
Scarsdale
,
N.Y.
/ NYAC / Kokushi Budo Institute of N.Y.)
5. Victor Jean-Baptiste
(
Brooklyn
,
N.Y.
/ NYAC)
Men’s +100kg
1. Yasutaka Ohkawa (JPN)
2. J. Daniel McCormick
(
Arlington
,
Texas
/ NYAC /
USA
Judo National Team FORCE)
3. Anthony Turner (
Hialeah
,
Fla.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at
North Miami
)
3. Alexandru Ciupe (CAN)
5. James Thompson (
Las Vegas
,
Nev.
/
San Jose
State
University
Alumni)
5. Jonathan Leonhardt
(
San Jose
,
Calif.
/
USA
Judo National Training
Site at
San Jose
State
University
)
Results by Country
Point System:
Place won | Point
Value
1 1
2 1
3 1
Country name |Total|# 1 |# 2 |# 3 |
1.
United States of America
24 6 6 12
2.
Canada
10 2 2 6
3.
Great Britain
3 0 1 2
4.
Colombia
1 1 0 0
4.
Puerto Rico
1 0 1 0
4. Japan 1 1 0 0
|
