Virginia Beach, VA - Athletes from the Glenville,
NY-based Jason Morris Judo Center (JMJC) unleashed a tremendous
performance over the weekend producing a record number of athletes that made it to
the medal rounds along with qualifying an astounding number (15) of athletes for the
Olympic trials in June.
Natalie Lafon (27) and
Nick Kossor (22),
each of whom had been to the finals of USA Judo's Senior Championships without winning, earned the
right to stand on the top of the podium after upsetting the top seeds in their
respective divisions. Lafon broke through in the finals against 7x
National b
48kg Champion Sayaka Matsumoto (El Cerrito, CA). Although Lafon is
new to the division
(having moved down from 52kg last August), she’s adapted quickly to
the speed of lighter players and
showed Matsumoto no sign of being intimidated in their match.
Matsumoto (25) has been
challenged by very few US players since 2000. Matsumoto opened the
match by throwing
Lafon for a koka (smallest points), but Lafon's continuous and
patient attacks yielded a
yuko score shortly thereafter (quarter-point) off of a technique
recently added at JMJC to Lafon's
arsenal. The startled Matsumoto then got caught by the hard-charging
Lafon for wazari (half-point) almost ending the match but Matsumota
regrouped and rallied scoring a koka on a throw and getting a yuko
scores off two penalties by Lafon. Lafon held on though to win her
first gold medal at the Nationals as well as at least a #3 seed at the
U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Judo, June 13-14 in Las Vegas.
Unlike Lafon Nick Kossor found himself trailing early his final's
match against rival
Taraje Williams-Murray (Wakefield, MA), a 4x National 60kg Champion
and 2004 Olympian. “I
wasn’t even thinking about being down. The only thing I was thinking
of during the
whole match is what my coaches kept telling me – 'that I’m going in
with nothing to
lose and I should just have fun out there',” Kossor recounted. “I
just wanted to relax,
have fun and take my shots.” With nine seconds left on the clock,
Kossor countered Williams-Murray
(22) with a throw for ippon (instant win) to end the match and win
the gold. “It feels awesome.
I guess it’s still surreal, but all of the hard work is paying off,”
said Kossor who has the #2
seed going into the Trials and who recently returned from a
three-week sojurn of intense college
club training in Japan with coach Jason Morris. “It’s
definitely a huge confidence boost [Beating Williams-Murray]. We’ve
only fought twice and he beat me at the Nationals last time." Kossor,
when asked about the future, offered "I’m just going to keep doing
what I’ve been doing up until now because,
obviously, it’s been working.”
Veteran Katie Mocco (24) picked up her fifth National
medal taking a bronze at 78kg with a 3-1 record.
Mocco secured her #1 ranking and qualified to compete at the Pan Am
Championships and Zone Cup in
Miami, FL May 8-11. JMJC stalwart Travis Stevens (22)
has already qualified for the Olympic trials.
As a result Stevens didn't compete at the 2008 Nationals as his #1
seed at the trials is all sewn up on
the strength of his stellar year. Seeking to make the Olympic trials
at 100kg as a 17-year old, Burnt Hills High
School Senior Kyle Vashkulat (17) made it all the way to
the semis beating former JMJC teammate and 2X
Olympian Rene Capo along the way. He lost a tight, exciting overtime
battle to 2004 Olympic alternate Mike Barnes and then dropped the
bronze medal match to Brian Picklo to finish in fifth place.
Vashkulat needed to win a medal at 100kg to qualify for the Olympic
trials (as the Open division is not an Olympic category) but he came
up short. To his credit Kyle rallied overnight from his disappointment
and came out smoking the next day in the non-Olympic qualifying
Open-weight category. Kyle posted a 4-0 record to win his first
National title. Burnt Hills Junior Angela
Creutzberger (17) won a bronze in 48kg posting a 3-1 mark
on the day to land on the nationals podium for the
first time. Creuztberger also locked up the #4 seed at the trials.
Hannah Martin (19) bumped up in weight to take a bronze
at 63kg with a 3-1 record. The reason Martin competed at 63kg instead
of her normal 57kg was to get into the trials in both categories so if
63kg qualifies in the Pan Am union she can have a shot at that weight.
If it doesn't qualify, Martin will be seeded #3 in the trials at 57kg
and JMJC teammate Carrie Chandler (26) (who did not
compete in Virginia due to illness) will be #2. Hudson Valley
Freshman Jeremy Liggett (19) competed despite having a
severely damaged right index finger having shut it in a car door five
days before the event. Jeremy ended up
providing the crowd with some of the best action on the day even as
he struggled throughout to gain even a basic grip. His efforts got
him to the bronze medal fight which he won in spectacular fashion over
Seiji
Hashimoto (20) in an action-packed overtime thriller. This was
Liggett's first medal in an Olympic weight class at the Nationals.
Liggett has locked up the #3 seed for the Olympic trials and the #1
spot for the Jr. World trials. He has been assigned a personal
assistnat at both these events to both open and close his car doors!
Nick Delpopolo (19) also had to deal with an injury as
he has a high-ankle sprain that has hampered him greatly in his last
two competitions. Nonetheless, the sturdy Delpopolo managed to pull
out a fifth-place finish posting a 3-2 record. Delpopolo almost made
it to the finals as he was tied with #3 seed Chuck Jefferson late into
their
semifinal bout. It appeared Nick was gaining the advantage when
Jefferson purposefuly head butted Delpopolo. The referee quickly
called the side judges in for a conference to discuss disqualifying
Jefferson but upon further review they decided to let the match
continue. Delpopolo, suffering from a mild concussion from the
collision, didn't have the same awareness as earlier in the fight and
came in with a weak seionage attack that Jefferson countered. The
counter led to the mat where Jefferson submitted Nick with an armbar
with 20 seconds remaining. Delpopolo then did his best in the
bronze-medal match but lost to #2 Mike Eldred. Delpopolo will be
seeded #5 at the trials. Justin Flores (28), who has
already secured the #5 seed at the trials in 66kg, competed in 73kg
and made it to the semis before losing to eventual champ, Bobby Lee.
Flores didn't fight
in the bronze-medal match due to slightly injuring his shoulder in
the Lee match. Flores settled for fifth place. Janelle Snider (31)
was a surprise Olympic trials' qualifier posting a 2-2 record at +78kg
to finish fifth. Her results was good enough to earn her the #7 seed
for the trials. UAlbany Freshman Nicki Schultheis (19)
placed fifth at 52kg with a 2-2 mark earning her the #3 seed in the
trials. Schultheis lost an overtime heartbreaker in the bronze-medal
match getting countered a minute into the extra period in a bout that
Schultheis had dominated.
Kathy DeValk provided the JMJC with its first National
Masters' championship as Kathy took gold in the Masters 30-40-year-old
63kg division. DeValk posted a 3-0 mark to become the JMJC's first
National Masters'
Champion. Tony Sangimino (17) was outstanding all day
placing seventh in the very tough 81kg division and going 3-2.
Sangimino made it all the way to the quarters giving eventual silver
medalist Harry St. Leger a hard
time before getting thrown with a cross-leg pick. Sangimino is
currently the #1 ranked Jr. at 81kg but has two big Jr. events to
maintain that to go into the Jr. World trials #1. Kim Carpenter
(24) and Helen Delpopolo (15) both placed seventh
in their respective weight classes. Carpenter will now be the #7 seed
at 52kg and Delpopolo will also be #7 but at 70kg for the Olympic
trials. The old man of the JMJC team, Bill Shanahan
(38), fought very well placing seventh at 73kg to secure the #8
slot at the trials. This will be the second Olympic trials for
Shanahan as he competed 12 years ago in the 1996 trials at 65kg in
Colorado Springs, CO. Schenectady Community College Freshman
Brad Bolen (19) fought well placing seventh at 66kg going 2-2.
One of his losses
was to JMJC teammate Jeremy Liggett in the second round. Yuko
Sin (1-1), AJ Silverman (0-1), Ronni Aragona
(0-1), Paul Borodin (0-1) and Leah
Fisher (0-2) also competed for the JMJC but did not place. Sin
(20) and
Silverman (20) both are alternates for the Olympic trials as they are
in the #9 spot at 90kg and 73kg respectively. USA Judo invites the
top eight athletes in each weight class to the Olympic trials.
