Hannah Martin (right)	Justin Flores (left)	Travis Stevens (left)

November 10, 2007

Vantaa, Finland - Nick Kossor (21) from the Glenville, NY based Jason Morris Judo Center (JMJC) broke through big time to win his first major European medal taking a silver at the Finnish Open. Kossor defeated Alexey Strelnikov (RUS), Vadim Fomin (FIN) and Juho Reinvall (FIN) before losing a tight battle to Fatih Terim (TUR) in the final. This result put Kossor in shouting distance for the 60kg #1 spot in USA Judo closing the gap to only 2 points from current #1, Taraje Williams-Murray. Kossor will next compete in the Korean & Japanese Opens at the beginning of December.

Katie Mocco (24) joined her JMJC teammate on the podium also winning her first European medal when she captured a bronze in 78kg the stretch her points lead as the #1 in the US. Mocco registered wins over Monika Stampf (HUN), Raimonda Gedutyte (LTU) and Emma Fletcher (GBR). Mocco will join Kossor for the Asian tour along with Travis Stevens and Justin Flores.

Nick Delpopolo (18) bested his good showing last week in Sweden which was his first European event to finish seventh this week posting a 3-2 record. Delpopolo opened with a win over Eetu Laamanen (FIN) before losing to eventual champ, Ian Feenan (GBR) sending Delpopolo into the loser's bracket. Delpopolo then defeated Erik Erlansson (SWE) and Last week's Swedish Open champ, Lee Shinkin before dropping his match with Nate Stapleton (GBR). Ironically, Stapleton trains often at the JMJC.

November 11, 2007

Martin Wins Bronze, Flores Wins Silver and Stevens Golden in Finland

Vantaa, Finland - Travis Stevens (21) of the Jason Morris Judo Center (JMJC) led the way on day two of the Finnish Open going 4-0 to win his first European title taking the 81kg gold. Stevens easily beat James Gilmore (GBR) in his opening bout to set up a meeting with North American rival, Canadian #1, Tyler Boras for the third straight week. Stevens blew a close match wide open when he threw Boras for ippon in the last minute to move into the semis against last week's Swedish open champ, Mika Toroi (FIN). Stevens slammed Toroi twice scoring two waza-ari's to make the final where he threw Aigars Milenbergs (LAT) at the 3:38 mark of the five minute bout to claim the title. This victory allowed Stevens to gain a sizable lead for the US #1 spot at 81kg over rival, Aaron Cohen.

2007 World team member, Justin Flores (27) got back on the winning track in a big way posting a 4-1 record to win a silver medal. After a disappointing North American tour, Flores raised his level of play to reach the podium for the first time at this event. Flores started his day defeating Juho Nurminen (FIN) and Eino Vainikka (FIN) then won a tough battle against North American rival, Mike Popiel (CAN) to reach the semis. Flores then threw James Millar (GBR) before dropping his final match to Colin Oates (GBR). Flores has had to deal with a variety of injuries, but has been able to fight trough them so far to keep his Olympic dream alive.

2006 Jr, World team member, Hannah Martin (19) collected a bronze in 57kg in only her second european event. Martin defeated Emmylier Ranhult (SWE) and Stepahnnie Inglis (GBR) before losing to eventual champ, Yahaira Aguirre de Juan (ESP) in the semis. Martin then recovered and beat Julia Bezko (EST) in a tough bronze medal match. Martin moves up a spot in the US ranking from #4 to #3 behind only JMJC teammate, Carrie Chandler (26) who is #2 and Val Gotay who sits at #1. Martin's medal was JMJC's fifth from this event with Nick Kossor winning a silver and Katie Mocco capturing a bronze yesterday. The JMJC athletes have now won a total of six medals at the Finnish Open with Carrie Chandler winning a bronze at 52kg last year. "I am extremely proud of our group" JMJC Head Coach, Teri Takemori said. Takemori, who made the trip with the athletes continued, "the hard work and commitment of these athletes and JMJC Coaching staff is certainly paying off".