Member News

June 16, 2007

Team USA Wins Six Gold Medals in Santo Domingo

Marti Malloy (blue) won the 63kg gold medal.

Malloy finishes one of two matches with an armbar.

Nick Kossor (second from left) represents the United States in Opening Ceremonies.

Members of the Pan American Judo Union.

PJU President Jaime Casanova delivers opening remarks.

Referees bow in for the tournament.

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – The competition on Saturday featured six gold medals for Team USA at the FEDOJUDO International Cup in Santo Domingo as some players made a mark with their first international titles while others secured key wins in their last competition before the Pan American Games, July 19-22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Anna Palmer (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center / 52kg) not only won her first international tournament with a 3-0 record, but beat her OTC teammate and 2007 Pan Am Games team member Grace Ohashi (Colorado Springs, Colo.) in the final.  Up by a penalty committed by Ohashi, Palmer threw her with a harai goshi (hip throw) for a yuko (quarter-point) score in the final 10 seconds of the match.

Always considered a player with tremendous potential in the division, Palmer made a breakthrough at the Senior Nationals in April where she won a bronze medal and is currently ranked fourth in the United States.

“It feels really good.  I’ve been working really hard and I’m finally getting the results I’ve been working for for a long time,” Palmer said.  “Something’s been driving me a lot harder.  I don’t know if it’s just that the Olympics are a lot closer, but I want it a lot more now.  I’ve got a lot of things to work on, but this is a good step in the right direction.”

Ryan Reser (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center / 73kg) not only won his division to earn his third international medal in the three weeks since winning the Pan American Championships, but captured a decisive victory over Rodrigo Lucenti (ARG), the 2006 Pan Am silver medalist in the final.

After a first-round bye, Reser beat 2005 Pan Am medalist Abraham Negrete (MEX) with a te guruma (hand wheel throw) for ippon (instant win).  Reser beat a Dominican in the semifinals with by a yuko and waza-ari (half-point) before advancing to the final against Lucenti who he picked up and threw with another te guruma in five seconds.

“I beat him with the usual.  If it’s working, why not?” Reser joked regarding the throw he has frequently used in quick wins.  “It’s been good to get down to South America for a couple tournaments.  I’ve gotten some good matches in and I’ve gotten to see a lot of the guys in my division, so I’m happy.”

Reser’s Pan Am Games teammate Marti Malloy (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University) won her first international event since moving up to 63kg.

Malloy beat an opponent from Haiti in the first round, throwing her for a yuko with an uchimata (inner thigh throw) off the grip and then armbarring her on the second exchange for the win.  In the semifinals, Malloy armbarred an opponent from Uruguay on the first exchange and advance to the final against Guatemala.  Malloy then threw the Guatemalan for a yuko with an o uchi gari (major inner leg throw) in the third minute.  Malloy was given a penalty in the final 10 seconds, but the yuko lead gave her the win.

“I feel better after this tournament mostly because I’m in a new weight division and when I fought a few weeks ago in Europe I wasn’t familiar with the new weight, but I felt good this week so I’ve got a lot of confidence going into Rio,” Malloy said.

Travis Stevens (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center), also a Pan Am Games Team member, won his second senior international event, taking the title at 81kg. 

Stevens had the toughest first round for the Americans, drawing 2007 Pan Am silver medalist Emanuel Lucenti (ARG).  The match went into Golden Score (overtime) before Stevens threw Lucenti with an o uchi gari.  Stevens’ next two wins came against players from the Dominican Republic to take the gold.

“I’m looking forward to Pan Ams,” Stevens said. “[Lucenti] was really quick with the sode [sleeve throw] to ko uchi [minor inner leg throw], but I should be able to fight well against him at Pan Ams.”

In a rematch of the 2006 Senior Nationals final, 2006 Pan Am Team member Taylor Takata (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen) fought Nate Torra (El Cerrito, Calif. / NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute) in the 66kg final. 

With a penalty each, at the end of five minutes, the match went into overtime where Takata threw Torra for the win.

Veronica Prado (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) won her second straight title at this event, taking gold at 44kg where she choked her Haitian opponent to win the first round and then threw a Dominican to win the gold medal with an o soto gari (major outer leg throw).

In her first international match since undergoing shoulder surgery in November, 2006 Pan Am bronze medalist Katie Mocco (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) finished second in the 70kg division.

After beating players from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, Mocco was thrown for ippon halfway through her final against 2007 Pan Am Champion Yuri Alvear (COL). 

“It felt good to be back today, but I just made a dumb mistake and got double-legged,” Mocco said.

Sayaka Matsumoto (El Cerrito, Calif. / NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute) placed third in the 48kg division.  Matsumoto won her first match, pinning her Guatemalan opponent with a sankoku (triangle hold) for ippon, but got countered in the semifinals against Colombia.  Matsumoto had been up by a yuko to a koka before getting thrown for a waza-ari.  In the bronze medal match, Matsumoto beat Bianca Ockedahl (CAN) by a penalty.

Matsumoto’s East Bay teammate Ann Shiraishi (Elk Grove, Calif.) fought up from 48kg where she is a Senior Nationals and U.S. Open medalist to win a bronze medal at 52kg.  Shiraishi lost to a Colombian in the early rounds, but beat a Dominican to finish third.

Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center / +100kg) placed third in his round-robin division with a 2-2 record.