Member News
August 30, 2007
Fall Classic National Championships Division Preview
(Fort Lauderdale,
Fla.)
– With nearly 200
athletes expected to compete and potential berths to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team
Trials for Judo on the line, the Fall Classic National Championships will be
held in
Coral Springs,
Fla.
on Saturday at Coral Springs Gymnasium,
2501 Coral Springs Dr
.
The Fall Classic, a USA Judo Senior D-Level Tournament, will
be followed by the Ladder Tournament on Sunday which will include both senior
athletes as well as master’s divisions.
A schedule of events is as follows:
Saturday September 1: Fall Classic Nationals
9:45 a.m.: Opening
Ceremonies
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (approximate): Competition. Preliminaries to be followed immediately by finals in all divisions.
Sunday September 2: Ladder Tournament
10 a.m. – 4 p.m. (approximate): Competition. Preliminaries to be followed immediately by finals in all divisions.
A breakdown of the top players in each division is as
follows:
Men’s 55kg
A non-Olympic weight division, 55kg should include a variety
of up-and-coming junior players, including Corwin
Learned (El
Grenada
,
Calif.
/ Cahill’s Judo) and Keith Beauvais
(Thornton, Colo.
/
Northglenn
Judo).
Men’s 60kg
The lightest of the men’s Olympic weight divisions, 60kg is
frequently populated by young players and this weekend will be more of the same
with none of the top players in the division being older than 21.
Nick Kossor
(Glenville,
N.Y.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at the
Jason
Morris
Judo
Center)
should enter the event as the top seed followed by 15-year-old Miguel Ballesteros
(Miami, Fla.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at
North
Miami).
Kossor defeated Ballesteros during their last match in the semifinals of
the Senior Nationals in April en route to winning a silver medal. Although only ranked sixth in the division,
expect Josh O’Neil (
Colorado
Springs,
Colo.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at the Olympic
Training
Center)
to be a strong contender for
gold. O’Neil moved down from 66kg
several weeks ago and placed fifth at the German Open on August 11 where he
upset a European medalist and nearly took out the reigning 60kg European
Champion.
Also watch out for juniors Kyle Taketa
(Torrance,
Calif.
/ Gardena Judo), a
15-year-old who just moved up to 60kg after winning the 55kg bronze medal at
the Senior Pan Ams in May, and Aaron Kunihiro
(Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE), a bronze medalist at
the Senior Nationals at 60kg.
Men’s 66kg
Always an “any given day” division, 66kg is stacked with
players who could win it. Three of the
four Senior Nationals medalists will be in attendance and all have the
potential to win the division. Kenny Hashimoto (
San
Jose
,
Calif.
/ USA Judo National
Training Site at San Jose State University), a 2007 Senior Nationals bronze
medalist, has the advantage of the
top seed, but will be on the same side of the draw as 18-year-old Jeremy Liggett (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC /
USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center). Liggett and Hashimoto had a close match at
the New York Open earlier this year where Hashimoto won out in Golden Score on
a penalty after Liggett was deemed to have not attacked sufficiently. The two fought again a month later in the
bronze medal of the Nationals where Hashimoto took the win there as well.
The second and third seeds will be held by Taylor Takata (
Colorado
Springs
,
Colo.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at the Olympic
Training
Center
) and Nate Torra (
El Cerrito
,
Calif.
/ NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute). Takata, the 2006 National Champion and 2007
runner-up, beat Hashimoto at this year’s Nationals and Torra in the finals of
the 2006 event. With the tournament
being run in a “true double elimination format,” though, players may fight up
to three times which should make a close division even more exciting.
Men’s 73kg
Nineteen-year-old Bobby
Lee (
Coral Springs
,
Fla.
/ USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) is the division’s top
seed and the reigning U.S. Open Champion, but repeating his 2005 Classic title won’t
be easy. On his side of the draw, expect
to see Nick Delpopolo (
Glenville
,
N.Y.
/ NYAC /
USA
Judo National Training Site at the
Jason
Morris
Judo
Center
) and RJ Cohen (
Buffalo Grove
,
Ill.
/ Cohen’s Judo). Delpopolo, the 2007 Senior Nationals silver
medalist, has flip-flopped wins with Lee in both the junior and senior
divisions, including a close win by Lee at the 2006 U.S. Open. At 28-years-old, Cohen is a smart, tactical
player who is 2-1 against Lee at National events, including a win by a koka
(smallest points) at the Senior Nationals earlier this year. Delpopolo, in turn, beat Cohen in the next
match at the Nationals to advance to the final.
On the other side of the bracket should be #2 and #3 seeds Michael Eldred (Fruitland, Idaho / Western
Idaho Judo Institute) and Radu
Brestyan (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE). While much attention was given to the rivalry
between Lee and Delpopolo last year, 22-year-old Eldred worked hard to make a
name for himself while being slightly off the radar. The work paid off in January when Eldred
defeated Lee at the British Open to finish second, earning his first major
international medal. Although he lost to
Delpopolo at Seniors, he also produced an impressive win over Cohen in the
bronze medal final.
Men’s 81kg
Five-time Pan Am medalist Aaron Cohen (
Buffalo Grove
,
Ill.
/ NYAC / Cohen’s Judo) is
the top seed and division favorite, but also look for solid performances out of
Senior Nationals medalists Harry St.
Leger (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Starrett Judo) and Andrew Hung (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San
Jose State University). Also watch
out for a rematch between hung and teammate Jose Bencosme (
San Jose
,
Calif.
) as Bencosme beat Hung
on Sunday at the Golden State Open.
Men’s 90kg
A bronze medalist at the 2007 Pan Am Championships, Garry St. Leger (
Brooklyn
,
N.Y.
/ Starrett Judo) is the top seed in the division and a former National
Champion. Also watch out for Senior
Nationals bronze medalist Atsushi
Yoshinaga (
San Jose
,
Calif.
/
USA
Judo National Training
Site at
San Jose
State
) and junior Jake Larsen (
Santa Rosa
,
Calif.
/ Redwood Coast Judo) who earned his first senior national ranking by
winning this event in 2006.
Men’s 100kg
The must-watch match in this division is surely expected to
be 2007 World Team member Adler Volmar (
Coral Springs
,
Fla.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at
North Miami
) vs. Shintaro Higashi (Scarsdale, N.Y. / Kokushi
Budo Institute of New York) in a rematch of their fights in April at the
Senior Nationals. Higashi won his first
title in the 100kg by upsetting top-ranked Volmar in the final and looked set
to take the World Team slot after winning the first match of the Trials and
leading the second when a mistake with two minutes in the match resulted in
Higashi committing in illegal move and getting thrown out of the match. Also watch for 46-year-old two-time Olympian Rene Capo (
Naperville
,
Ill.
/ Cohen’s Judo) who went 1-2 against
Volmar at this tournament in 2006; Micah
Bellamy (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the
Olympic Training Center) who lost only by a penalty to Volmar during their
match at the New York Open in March; and 17-year-old Kyle Vashkulat (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at
the Jason Morris Judo Center) who was the surprise of the Senior Nationals
where he won bronze in his first major event since moving up from 90kg.
Men’s +100kg
Anthony Turner (
Miami
,
Fla.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at
North Miami
) is the
top seed in the division and a silver medalist at the Senior Nationals in
April. Daniel McCormick (
Wakefield
,
Mass.
/
USA
Judo National Team FORCE), a bronze medalist at the Senior Nationals,
should pose to be Turner’s biggest threat.
Women’s 44kg
What for a while was “Veronica vs. Alexa in
Fill-in-the-Blank
City
” has now grown into an interesting
little division. In what will likely be
a round-robin, seeding isn’t expected to be an issue, but the top-ranked player
is 16-year-old Alexa Liddie (
Colorado Springs
,
Colo.
/
USA
Judo National Training
Site at the Olympic
Training
Center
). Liddie, the 2007 Senior Pan Am silver
medalist, and Veronica Prado (
Coral Springs
,
Fla.
/ USA
Judo National Training Site at North Miami) have fought each other for
years in the junior and senior divisions, but 13-year-old Katelyn Bouyssou (Hope, R.I. / Mayo Quanchi) shook things up in
July when she beat Prado at the USA Judo National Junior Olympic
Championships. The two fought another
hotly contested match the following weekend at the Junior U.S. Open in
Fort Lauderdale
with
Prado taking the win.
Women’s 48kg
Seven-time National Champion Sayaka Matsumoto (
El Cerrito
,
Calif.
/ NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute) and her EBJI
teammate Ann Shiraishi (
Elk Grove
,
Calif.
) went 1-2 last year at this event and are the top two seeds this
weekend. Although both are favored to
medal again, two-time Senior Nationals silver medalist Natalie Lafon (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at
Harlingen) moved down from 52kg to 48kg three weeks ago and should be
interesting to see how she fares in the lighter, faster division.
Women’s 52kg
Although many have moved out of this division recently, Anna Palmer (
Colorado
Springs
,
Colo.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at the Olympic
Training
Center
) will be sticking around as
the top seed after a third-place finish at the Senior Nationals. Also watch for juniors Tara Clark (Hercules,
Calif.
/ Amador
Judo), who Palmer beat earlier this week at the Golden State Open, and 2006
Pan Am Junior silver medalist Nicki
Schultheis (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris
Judo Center) who has moved back down to 52kg after a stint in the 57kg
division.
Women’s 57kg
This division will likely be all about a group of four
juniors who have been going back and forth for several years. The oldest of the group, 19-year-old
Hannah
Martin (
Burnt Hills
,
N.Y.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at the
Jason
Morris
Judo
Center
) is the second
seed after winning a silver medal at the Senior Nationals in April. Although Martin beat 17-year-old Angelica Delgado (
Miami
,
Fla.
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at
North
Miami
) at that event, Delgado’s win at the Puerto
Rico Open gives her the top seed this weekend. Martin and Delgado fought frequently in 2006 as juniors, but as Martin
ages out at the end of this year, she opted not to fight the summer junior
circuit. Meanwhile, Delgado and Senior
Nationals fifth-place finisher Hana
Carmichael (
Wellington
,
Fla.
/ Budokan Judo) fought in various
cities for four consecutive weeks in July during the junior events with Delgado
winning nearly all of their matches. Although she hasn’t been seen much this year after bypassing both the
Senior Nationals and the junior tournaments, Pauline Macias (
Colorado Springs
,
Colo.
/ USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic
Training Center) has the potential to come in as the unseeded spoiler. Also in this division, Marie Scott (
Rochester
,
N.Y.
/ Renshinkan Judo) will likely be on the same
side of the draw as Martin and, though she lost to Delgado at the Nationals,
she beat
Carmichael
to win bronze. A 2006 Senior Nationals medalist in the 63kg
division, Corinne Geier (
San Jose
,
Calif.
/ USA
Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University) moved down to
57kg recently and placed second at the Golden State tournament on Sunday after
a loss to Macias.
Women’s 63kg
Seventeen-year-old Kayla
Harrison (
Wakefield
,
Mass.
/
USA
Judo National Team FORCE) is the top seed in the division. Last year’s National Champion at 70kg,
Harrison
moved down to 63kg in April where she placed
second at the Nationals. While 57kg has
skewed more toward younger players, this division should feature more of the
“veteran set.” A 1991 World Team member,
39-year-old D’Anya Bierra (Colorado
Springs, Colo. / Timberline Judo) returned to competition at the Golden
State Open where she finished third after a loss to Cristal Ransom (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training
Site at the Olympic Training Center) who, at 25, is a former Senior
Nationals medalist in the 57kg division. A 2006 Senior Nationals medalist, 25-year-old Anastasia Krivosta (
Smithtown
,
N.Y.
/
Smithtown
YMCA) is
making another bid for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Judo as well. Twenty-nine-year-old Ashlie Martini (
Chicago
,
Ill.
/ Tohkon) also won a
medal in this division at the 2006 Nationals and, after a brief move down to
57kg, Martini is back to the 63kg division.
Women’s 70kg
As the pre-Trials division shuffle continues, this one has
shrank in size since the addition of Pan Am Games Champion Ronda Rousey (
Glenville
,
N.Y.
/ NYAC /
USA
Judo National Team FORCE), but Senior National medalists Katie Sell (
Harlingne
,
Texas
/
USA
Judo National Training Site at
Harlingen
) and Tomoyo Yoshinaga (
San Jose
,
Calif.
/ USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University) are among
those who remain at 70kg. Sell lost to
Yoshinaga in the finals of the Collegiate Nationals in March, but produced a
win during their last meeting at the Seniors in April.
Women’s 78kg
This continues to be a division with a lot of
questions. Nina Cutro-Kelly (San Antonio, Texas / Universal Judo) had one of
her most impressive days at the Senior Nationals when she defeated Katie Mocco (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA
Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center), a 2006 Pan Am
medalist at 70kg, and 2004 Olympian Nikki
Kubes (Fort Worth, Texas / Fort Worth Judo) in back-to-back matches, but
how will she and Mocco do against each other this time? And what about Molly O’Rourke (
El Cerrito
,
Calif.
/ East Bay Judo Institute)? The former #1 has been rehabbing injuries for
the past year and will be fighting for the first time since the Rendez-Vous
Canada in September 2006.
Women’s +78kg
It’s not often that you see the top women’s heavyweights
competing against each other in at tournaments outside Senior Nationals and the
U.S. Open, but most will be at the Classic. Brittni Bradford (
Universal City
,
Texas
/ Universal Judo) is the top-ranked player as a bronze medalist at the 2006
U.S. Open. Also an Open medalist, Lorey Edwards (
Columbus
,
Ohio
/
Chu
To
Bu West) should be the second seed and, likely, the division’s oldest
competitor at 36. Edwards’ half of the
bracket also includes Heidi Moore (
Englewood
,
Colo.
/
Denver
Judo), the
Senior Nationals silver medalist who will be competing at the Worlds in less
than two weeks in the Open division. Look
for Melinda Swanson (
Honolulu
,
Hawaii
/
Hawaii
Tenri) to enter as the fourth
seed, putting her on the same side of the pool as Bradford who she beat in the
final of the 2006 Senior Nationals. |
