USMA Dominates Grappler’s Quest
by
Chris Sinclair-Macleish
The United States Military Academy Mixed Martial Arts Team dominated the competition at the Grappler’s Quest Northeast Championship this past Saturday, September 26, 2009. The Grapplers Quest Northeast Championship is one of the largest tournaments in the country, offering approximately 1300 competitors from around the country, including 16 representatives of West point – the largest showing West Point has ever produced for a national tournament.
The team performed exceptionally at the Northeast Championship this year, walking away with a total of 13 medals. Team Captain and CIC Travis Anderson led by example, sweeping the competition away in his Intermediate Middleweight division, finishing in 1st place overall. He also competed in the Intermediate Absolute division (all weight classes combined) and won 2nd place after 7 grueling matches. Co-Captain and ACIC Will Nagy had a similarly strong showing, finishing 2nd in his Intermediate Light-Heavyweight division and 2nd in the Blue Belt Heavyweight Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu division. Team OIC MAJ James Smith epitomized “Army Strong” by fighting through 7 long matches to take home 1st place in the Executive (ages 30-39) Beginner Cruiserweight division and 2nd in the Executive Beginner Absolute division. An additional milestone for West Point was reached at this tournament when, for the first time, female cadets represented the United States Military Academy at a national grappling competition. Lauren Stitch, a plebe with less than two months experience with the team upset her Women’s Beginner Class “C” (the lowest weight class) division by taking her opponents down to eventually take 2nd. Jennifer Smith demonstrated excellent ground technique, finishing the tournament with a 3rd place medal in Women’s Beginner Absolute division. Colby Brunette demonstrated his impressive ground game by finishing the tournament with a second place medal in the Beginner Lightweight division. Mitchell Hansen fought 6 long matches to win 2nd place in the Beginner Welterweight division. Christopher MacLeish fought hard to produce a 2nd place finish in the Beginner Light – Heavyweight division. Shinwon Moon excelled at his first tournament earning him a 2nd place medal in the Novice Lightweight division. Finally, Seth Merrigan finished strong as the only plebe to medal in the Intermediate level of competition. He finished the day with a 3rd place medal in the Intermediate Welterweight division.
The Northeastern Championship contained some of the largest brackets West Point MMA has ever seen at competition, often containing three or more pages worth of names. In all, West Point Mixed Martial Arts participated in 71 matches over the course of the day with nearly 70% of the team earning their way onto the podium, with several members wining multiple medals. Additionally, the members of West Point MMA achieved this success with less than half as much training time as the competitors they faced. The club believes this tournament was a resounding success. However, it was only a precursor to the continued success of a bourgeoning team that will successfully prepare them for their next national tournament on November 14, 2009, the North American Grappling Championships at Essex College in Newark, New Jersey. Go Army, Beat Navy!
