Delpopolo Shines at NY Open

         Manhattan, NY - Burnt Hills High School Junior, Nick Delpopolo (17) shocked the 73kg field by posting a 4-1 record on the day to claim a bronze medal at his first NY Open, which included many high quality International players. Delpopolo, who trains at the Glenville, NY based Jason Morris Judo Center (JMJC), opened with wins over Josh Hagan (Canada), Alan Leonardo (Brazil) and 2000 Jr. World Bronze medalist, Tomas Krecielewshi (Poland) before falling to #2 ranked Amercian, Radu Brestyan in the semifinals. Delpopolo then scored a major upset by beating 2003 7th place finisher and many time European medalist, Yoel Razvozov (Israel) in the bronze medal bout. Razvozov held a comfortable lead but Delpopolo came out ahead in a tight exchange and slammed the Israeli for ippon (full-point) in dramatic fashion with 40 seconds remaining in the match to gain the victory. This result vaulted Delpopolo into the #2 slot in the US Jr. rankings at 73kg behind only Bobby Lee. It also gave him a #5 ranking on the Sr. roster. JMJC teammate and Burnt Hills classmate, Jeremy Liggett (16) almost matched Delpopolo's result taking 5th place in the 60kg division. Liggett had wins over Hector Galloza (USA), Josue Marcial (Puerto Rico) and Zaur Jalilzade (Ukraine) before losing in the semifinals in a horribly refereed match to Juan Roman (Puerto Rico). Roman was illegally avoiding the grip, which should garner a penalty but it was never called then Liggett was given a passivity penalty which was the difference in the match. Liggett was then in the bronze medal bout leading Sergio Pessoa (Brazil) by a small score when the Brazilian stumbled Liggett with a foot technique and threw the American for ippon. This result allowed Liggett to maintain his #1 Jr. ranking and #2 Sr. ranking on the US rosters. Burnt Hills High Senior, AJ Silverman also had a break through victory and performed extremely well at this high level event. Silverman defeated 2x European "A" world cup medalist, Omer Izhaki (Israel) in the first round before losing a tight battle with veteran Canadian #2, PA LaForest which eliminated Silverman. Albany State Freshman, Yuko Sin (18)  dropped his first match in a tough battle with Canadian #2, Kalem Kachur and was eliminated from his first NY Open. Burnt Hills Sophomore, Kyle Vashkulat (15) lost in the first round to Tiziano Babic (Italy) and was eliminated in his first try at the NY Open. Nick Kossor continued on the comeback trail trying to shake the rust off after being out over 8 months due to reconstructive knee surgery and lost both his bouts to the two eventual bronze medalists, Vitali Vanyan (Ukraine) and Sergio Pessoa (Brazil).  

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