January 23, 2011 – Duncanville, TX – Fight to Win / World Grappling Circuit and tournament organizers Brett Boyce and Seth Daniels wrapped up another successful event in the first of their 2011 tournament season.
Offering a healthy dose of area rivalries and individual competition, about two-hundred-and-fifty competitors in all turned up at the Bob Knight Fieldhouse in Duncanville this past Sasturday. Naturally, most of the teams on-hand were primarily resident schools from the Dallas / Fort Worth area but teams also drove-in from other parts of Texas (Houston, Austin, Killeen, etc.) to partake in action.
Many teams did well on Saturday but the prized overall team title went to Brandon Quick’s Team Trinity of the Bruno Bastos BJJ Association. Boosted by a strong showing from their kids and beginners, the winning team showed much poise in earning the coveted honor of tournament champions.
Likewise, fellow Nova Uniao affiliates Alvarez BJJ and Peak Performance also showed impressive grappling in attaining second and third respectively in the team standings.
To cap of the day’s action, the absolute divisions offered up plenty of excitement before culminating in well-earned final matchups in both the gi and no-gi divisions.
In the no-gi portion of the absolute main event, Jason Sampson of Mohler Alliance took on Seth Daniels of Colorado BJJ. Daniels fought gamely to try and win using his aggressive judo but Sampson was able to take home the win via points using his likewise aggressive wrestling and low takedown attempts.
In the gi absolutes, the future of Dallas-area and perhaps statewide Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was showcased as two purple belts battled it out for first place. Hayward Joshua Charles of Ironside / Team Genesis came out as the winner over a game Matt Waltmon of Peak Performance in the finale. Using a game that capitalized on a very impressive arm drag series, Charles was able to best many impressive competitors to win the day.
In other action, many individual competitors were also able to capture a sense of glory with accomplishments of their own in division action.
Some competitors that deserve honorable mention include Alec Mildren of Combative Sports Center, Sue Ausman of Team Lutter, Julian Vega and Robert Yamashita of Elite MMA, Kelly Fasholz of Nova Unaio, and Jarrod Clontz of American Fight Company, who competed for the first time as a BJJ Black Belt.
I’d like to note that there are many more individuals deserving of credit besides the names listed above.I mention those names specifically because they are who I was able to get match footage of. You can check those videos out on the link below.
As with all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition – win or lose, everyone that competed should feel like a winner in that they should have gained valuable lessons from this experience to progress their games. Ultimately, the measure of a person’s progress in the sport is not dictated by how many medals adorn their walls, but rather how much they learn and how much persevere to keep moving forward.
Hope you guys enjoyed the recap of Fight to Win’s Tournament of Champions VII and I hope to see you guys at another tournament soon, like the IBJJF in Houston on February 12-13th. Until then, for the most comprehensive coverage of the Texas MMA & BJJ Scene keep following here at TXMMA.com and look for more BJJ footage here. Osss!
Here are the Tournament of Champions VII in pictures below. Enjoy!
Note: If anyone wants high-def copies of the pictures above or additional photos which I may have, feel free to e-mail me for price here.
