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August 30, 2008    

Junior World Championships Team Named at Trials in Spokane

(Spokane, Wash.) – A year’s worth of training, competing and rivalries came to conclusion on Saturday when 13 of the top judo players under 20-years-old won the 2008 USA Judo Junior World Championship Team Trials at The Valley Hub in nearby Greenacres. 

The USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center will be well-represented at the Junior Worlds, which will be held Oct. 23-26 in Bangkok, Thailand, with five athletes named to the Team.

After making her first appearance on the senior scene last fall with a fifth-place finish at the B-Level Rendez-Vous Canada, it became apparent this year that one of Angela Creutzberger’s (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) biggest threat on both the junior and senior levels was going to come from a tiny 14-year-old named Katelyn Bouyssou (Hope, R.I. / Mayo Quanchi Judo Club) who just moved up from the 44kg division earlier this year. 

Going into the Trials, Bouyssou had beaten Creutzberger in six of their seven meetings with Creutzberger’s win came on the biggest stage – the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Judo where she beat Bouyssou in the first round.

Bouyssou took win #7 in the finals of the Trials which forced a sudden death match in a format where if the #1 seeded player wins the four-person bracket, he or she is named to the team and if another player wins, there is a one-match fight-off between the bracket winner and the #1 seed. 

Bouyssou’s win forced a fight-off, but Creutzberger fought well, winning by two yuko (quarter-point) scores and two penalties that equaled a third yuko score.

Four of Creutzberger’s JMJC teammates each were ranked #1 going into the Trials and won their finals matches to earn their Team berths.

Nick Delpopolo (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC) and Helen Delpopolo (Westfield, N.J.) made the Team as a brother-sister duo with 19-year-old Nick winning in the 73kg division and 15-year-old Helen winning 73kg.

A 2007 Senior Nationals silver medalist, Nick earned his second trip to the Junior Worlds by defeating 16-year-old Andrew Porras (Hialeah, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) in the finals.  Although Nick has held the #1 ranking in the division consistently for nearly two years, Porras defeated him twice at the Scholastic National Championships in March and many thought he had the potential to earn another win in Spokane.

Nick remained unfazed by the younger player, using his skills as a former high school wrestler to pin Porras for the win.

After amassing wins in the 63kg and 78kg divisions during the past year, Helen has settled into the 70kg weight division where she avenged her loss to Malinda Bridges (Coventry, R.I. / Mayo Quanchi Judo Club) at the USA Judo National Junior Olympic Championships in July by defeating Bridges in the finals of the Trials.

A 2006 Junior World Team member in the 60kg division, Jeremy Liggett (Scotia, N.Y. / NYAC) moved up to 66kg after that year’s event in Santo Domingo.  Liggett, who was an alternate to the 2008 Olympic Team, threw former 60kg player Miguel Ballesteros (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) with an o soto gari (outer leg throw) for ippon (instant win) in the finals.

Kyle Vashkulat (Scotia, N.Y.) rounded out the Trials wins for the JMJC team with his 100kg finals victory over Armen Babayan (Alendale, Calif. / Valley Judo Institute).

After years of fighting across town and across the country in the 57kg division, Hana Carmichael (Wellington, Fla. / USA Judo National Team FORCE / Budokan Judo) finally appeared to have gotten the upper hand over Angelica Delgado (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) who she began defeating on a consistent basis earlier this year after years of Delgado winning the majority of their matches.

Although Carmichael continued this trend with two wins at the Junior Olympics, Delgado still held the advantage with the #1 ranking going into the Trials. 

Carmichael won their final to force a second playoff match.  As the players both knew each other’s styles well, the match went a full five minutes and then into an overtime session which Carmichael won by a penalty committed by Delgado.

In the 52kg division, two players who compete against each other more frequently than anyone else at the Trials fought in the finals as well.

Sisters Chrissy and Mindy Chow (Honolulu, Hawaii / Hawaii Tenri) both won bronze medals at the Senior Nationals in April and 15-year-old Chrissy defeated 14-year-old Mindy as the division’s top seed.

A former 100kg player, top-ranked Tony Sangimino (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) fell in his opening round of the 81kg division to Jonathan Fernandez (Miami, Fla. / Baragua Judo Kai). 

Reigning Junior Olympic Champion Danny Satinsky (Buffalo Grove, Ill. / Cohen's Judo) then beat Fernandez in the final and Sangimino in the next round to qualify for his first Junior World Team.

Less than a year after moving from 63kg up two divisions to 78kg where she won her second Senior National title, Kayla Harrison (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE) needed only 14 seconds to throw Laquinta Allen (Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. / Onikusu Judo Club) with an o goshi (hip throw) in the final to qualify for her second Junior World Team.

Paola Genao-Butler (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), a 2008 Senior Nationals silver medalist in the 63kg division, struggled in her final match against Ronni Aragona (Schenectady, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center).  Genao-Butler was up by a yuko when Aragona threw her twice in the final 30 seconds to win the match. 

In the fight-off, though, Genao-Butler threw Aragona for ippon to qualify for her first Junior World Team.

Two-time Senior Nationals bronze medalist Aaron Kunihiro (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE) lost in the first round to Jeff Fujimoto (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University), but Fujimoto lost following an injury in his final match against Kyle Taketa (Torrance, Calif. / Gardena Judo).  Taketa and Kunihiro then fought again with Kunihiro winning the fight-off by a koka.

Top-ranked Steve Fayzakov (Fresh Meadows, N.Y. / Spartak Sports Club) defeated Ajax Tadehara (Pocatello, Idaho / Idaho State University judo Club) in the 90kg final.

In the +100kg division, 2008 Pan Am Juvenile Champion Colin Robinson (Atlanta, Ga. / Waka Mu Sha) defeated Doyle Richeson (Burleson, Texas) in the finals.

A complete team roster is as follows:

Women

48kg

Angela Creutzberger (Burnt Hills, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)

Alternate:  Katelyn Bouyssou (Hope, R.I. / Mayo Quanchi Judo Club)

52kg    

Chrissy Chow (Honolulu, Hawaii / Hawaii Tenri)

Alternate:  Kayla Chappell (Moore, Okla. / USA Stars)

57kg    

Hana Carmichael (Wellington, Fla. / USA Judo National Team FORCE / Budokan Judo)

Alternate:  Angelica Delgado (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami)

63kg

Paola Genao Butler (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)

Alternate:  Ronni Aragona (Schenectady, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)

70kg

Helen Delpopolo (Westfield, N.J. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)

Alternate:  Malinda Bridges (Coventry, R.I. / Mayo Quanchi Judo Club)

78kg

Kayla Harrison (Wakefield, Mass. / NYAC / USA Judo National Team FORCE)

Alternate:  Laquinta Allen (Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. / Onikusu Judo Club)

Men

60kg

Aaron Kunihiro (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE)

Alternate:  Kyle Taketa (Torrance, Calif. / Gardena Judo)

66kg

Jeremy Liggett (Scotia, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)

Alternate:  Joseph Hashimoto (Thornton, Colo. / Northglenn Judo)

73kg

Nick Delpopolo (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)

Alternate:  Andrew Porras (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami)

81kg              

Danny Satinsky (Buffalo Grove, Ill. / Cohen's Judo)

Alternate:  Tony Sangimino (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)

90kg              

Steve Fayzakov (Fresh Meadows, N.Y. / Spartak Sports Club)

Alternate:  Carlos Moran (Clifton, N.J. / Camal Judo)

100kg

Kyle Vashkulat (Scotia, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)

Alternate:  Armen Babayan (Alendale, Calif. / Valley Judo Institute)

+100kg

Colin Robinson (Atlanta, Ga. / Waka Mu Sha)

Alternate:  Doyle Richeson (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)