THE RESULTS ARE IN!!!!!!!

Record: 4 - 1 (2nd Place) 145-160lb Division


First and foremost, I made weight last night. I weighed in at 157.00 and instantly enjoyed a full Red Baron pizza right afterwards. It was so much harder cutting this time than last for some odd reason. I think it may have been because Aimee is on a high fat diet for Kayleigh to get as much nutrients as possible, the cooking reality shows we have been watching or the twinkies that are sitting on the island in my kitchen just staring at me everyday. I was three pounds over about 2 hours before weigh-ins. I decided to put on the bath at a steaming hot temperature, cut on the shower at full heat and laid in the tub for about 25 minutes. I then got out and sat on the side of the tub to continue to sweat as the bathroom was as hot as a sauna. I then laid on our bedroom floor for about 35 minutes after that, still sweating and trying to cool down. I dropped the pounds and headed to weigh-ins confident that I was in good shape to make it under 160. Their scale weighed a little light compared to mine at home, so that helped solidify reaching my weight class.

Well, I am pleased and proud to say that this tournament was a complete success for me. I ended up getting 2nd place amongst 8 competitors in my weight class. Below I am going to describe every fight individually and then you will be able to see the video of it all. There must have been something in the water these past 8 months because the guys in my weight class were in unbelievable shape. They must have come out of the wood works because these top notch athletes were not around during the first tournament. I mentioned before that if the level of competition was the same as last time, I would have no problem at all in this tournament. Well, I will be completely honest and tell you that I was not being very positive when I saw the guys I was about to go up against. I was thinking that I better have increased my skill level tremendously to be able to hang in there with these guys. I guess going in without a big head and being over confident helped me do the job that needed to be done.

The first fight started off a little shaky. When you see it, you will see the most unbelievable ankle pic I have ever seen. The guy takes me down within 2 seconds of starting and I hit the ground with him on top feeling like I was in really big trouble. This guy was good! I landed in half guard and worked a couple positions that I knew best which is called the lock down. It is where I tie up his one leg with my two legs causing agonizing pain to his shin. I keep him in for a little bit until he stands up, I then take him back down landing in side mount. He quickly regains the half guard where I put the lock down back in. Okay, now one of the submissions that you set up with the lock down goes a little like this...Once I get the lock down on his leg, I slide under his other leg, which will then spread his "cookies" apart and put major pain in the groin area. I then will grab the front of his knee and apply a knee bar while splitting his legs apart still. This submission is exactly what I did, although it didn't end how I would have wanted. He didn't tap! So I applied more and more preasure until his knee ripped like a stick that you break with two hands. "Crrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaccccckkkkk" is all I heard. I easily tore some ligaments in his knee which really stinks, but that is what happens when you don't tap. You are taught to apply pressure as slow and safe as possible so the opponent can tap before something like that happens. I hope the guy heals quick and he gets back out there because he was a hell of a grappler.

The second fight included the only mistake I made all day. I shot in too far out with my head down. That is a no no and of course I paid for the mistake. After he sprawled on me, he went for the guillotine choke, but I was able to pull my head out quickly. His guard was high and he landed a sweet triangle that I was not able to get out of. I was going to try to hang in there, but when the room started to go dark, I thought it would be wise to tap out before I went to sleep. The bad news is that I lost, but the good news is all the other fights were just as quick to the finish, but in my favor.

The third fight was sweet!!! I have been joking with my buddies in class that I would pull off a flying arm bar in this tournament if someone made the mistake in wrapping their hand around my neck when standing. If you have never seen a flying arm bar, you now have and it may not have looked as pretty as what some of the pros I have seen pull off, but it was effective because I tapped the guy out in about 20 seconds. This is a sight to see and I apologize, but I am stoked about pulling this move off. This move in grappling is like a triple play in baseball.

The fourth fight was shocking. This guy that I went up against has beaten all the other competitors he faced and showed unbeatable skills. When I saw who I was going up against, I literally said to myself, "Oh crap, I guess I am not going to place at all this year" Well, it turns out, that I proved myself wrong because I tapped this guy out in 35 seconds. When were standing for a short time when I actually tried to nail the flying arm bar again, but it didn't work this time around. I went straight to his guard and ended up reaching around getting a guillotine choke on him to tap him out. I was on a roll and shocking myself completely. This was a great feeling and I only have one more guy to go.

This is for second or third placing, so I sure didn't want to go home with third place. The guy I went up against had lost one fight already to a guy that I beat, but that was nothing to get confident over. It is anyones fight at anytime. When the round started, the guy pulled guard not to far in the match. I was trying to break his guard to pass and get a better position, but he wasn't budging. He tried to get a triangle choke by throwing his leg up over my shoulder. I went to pass his legs to get to side mount, but he blocked that quickly and unfortunately left a leg for me to grab. I sat back to pull off an ankle crank, but he stood up to defend against it. This guy knows what he is doing. But, all of a sudden he twisted to pull his leg out leaving a heal out for me to lock up and I ended up getting him in a heal hook to tap him out.

This tournament was a complete success and I am so excited about the outcome. I have a nice little metal for keepsake. 2nd place feels so good because I not only improved my game tremendously in 8 months, but I reached my goal of placing in the top three like I wanted. Above is the video and I hope you enjoy it. I am going to go eat a brownie with a glass of milk and watch it myself :)

***A TRIBUTE TO JAKE***

Record: 2-2 (2nd Place) 130-145lb Division

Jake Kozlowski is a good friend of mine and my training partner at Seven Owl. He and I have been training hard for this tournament for the past couple months. When we are not working out during normal class periods, we would get together in his garage to roll around. We changed our training to work a lot on our endurance by grappling for sometimes up to (15) 3 minute rounds with only a minute rest in between rounds. This has allowed us to get used to the round lengths and train our hearts to recover quickly inbetween rounds. Compared to the last tournament, I know it has greatly increased my cardio and from watching Jake kick ass today, I am sure it helped him too.

Jake was competing in the tournament today too and he was supposed to be in the 130-145lb class for 30 years and up, but there was only him and one other guy in that class. So, he decided to drop down to fight against the 18-29 year olds in the same 130-145lb weight class, which I give him total props because that is a tough class with a lot of talent. I am very proud of Jake because he kept a level head and remained calm while on the other hand, my heart was pounding out of my chest with nervousness. He did an amazing job today finishing 2nd place too in his weight class.

Jake won his first match by gaining higher points in the second round against his opponent. The guy was strong, but Jake was able to control him with a double leg take down and remained in side mount for most of the match. He swapped positions a couple times, but was able to remain in a more dominant position more often giving him higher point for the win. Jakes, second match didn't go so well, as his opponent pulled off one of the quickest set ups for an arm bar that I have ever seen in my life. There was just no time to react and he had to tap. Jakes third match ended with a sweet submission. To be honest, I don't think we know what the name is. I think we call it some kind of crusifix, but it is something Jake has pulled off on me several times in class so I know how bad it hurts. The tape cuts out a little between the round a little, but you can see the crusifix submission and the guy tapping out. Jakes last fight was against the guy who already beat him once before. Jake put up a good fight with him this time around, but got stuck in a triangle choke. I must say, Jake was able to hold on for dear life with that triangle choke as you will see in the video. It is not an easy submission to get out of and it usually ends people pretty quickly, like the one I was submitted with but Jake hung in there for a while before the guy tightened just enough. The finaly fight put Jake in second place with a proud fan base behind him.

Jake! We are all proud of you for your hard work and impressive results! Way to go dude!

Now enjoy Jake's video -