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Stevens Is Gold in 81KG
Judo's Liberty Bell Classic |
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PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania — The Liberty Bell Classic, one of the largest judo tournaments on the East Coast and a USA Judo Senior E-Level point tournament, was held over the weekend with more than 700 athletes in attendance during the two-day tournament at Lincoln High School here.
In a tournament attended by athletes from Canada, Puerto Rico and Colombia, a number of top-ranked U.S. athletes competed in one of the final events before the USA Judo Senior National Championships, April 20-21 in Miami, Fla.
In the men’s 81kg division, 2006 U.S. Open Champion Travis Stevens (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) and Senior Nationals bronze medalist Harry St Leger (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Starrett) faced off in Stevens’ first match of the day. While Stevens took the win, and later the gold medal, St. Leger battled through the loser’s pool to win five straight matches in order to finish second.
Among his opponents, St. Leger accrued wins against 2006 Senior Nationals bronze medalist Yuko Sin (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) and 2007 Collegiate Nationals silver medalist Phillip Spano (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami).
In an ongoing rivalry, the top two juniors in the 73kg division fought twice during the day. Now the No. 1 senior in the division as well, Bobby Lee (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) lost the first match to 2006 Junior World Team member Nick Delpopolo (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) in the second round. Delpopolo advanced to the semifinals but lost to eventual champion Edwin Vallejo Alvares (COL) and dropped down to the loser’s pool where he lost his next match to Lee who finished second in the division.
Katie Mocco (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) returned to competition for the first time since sustaining an injury at the Rendez-Vous Canada in September.
A bronze medalist as a 70kg player at the 2006 Pan Am Championships, Mocco seemed well suited to the 78kg division at the Liberty Bell where she went 3-0 to win the event, defeating Canada’s No. 3 player, Isabelle Deschamps, in the semifinal and then throwing her Jason Morris Judo Center teammate Marina Shafir (Latham, N.Y.), a 2005 Senior National medalist, with an o soto gari (major outer leg throw) for a resounding ippon (instant win).
Katie’s sister, Colleen Mocco (Stillwater, Okla. / USA Stars), also won a gold medal, going undefeated in the +78kg division.
A six-time National Champion at 48kg, Sayaka Matsumoto (El Cerrito, Calif. / NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute) fought up in Philadelphia, winning three consecutive matches against Canadian opponents to win the 52kg gold medal.
While Matsumoto fought up, Jessica Sternick (San Antonio, Texas / Universal Judo) dropped down from 52kg to win the 48kg division with a 2-1 record in the round robin division. Stephanie Baim (Dallas, Texas / Ruben Martin Judo) also went 2-1, but as both athletes’ wins were by ippon, the tie was broken by Sternick’s win over Baim earlier in the day.
Anthony Turner (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami), the 2005 U.S. Open Champion, fought well in the men’s heavyweight division, winning the title as the top seed.
Turner’s North Miami teammate Daniel Santos (Coral Springs, Fla.) won the 66kg title with a 4-0 record.
Dariusz Mikolajczak (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Starrett) won his first point tournament since taking the 2005 Senior National title with three wins in the 90kg division.
As the top two players in the 44kg division, Alexa Liddie (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) and Veronica Prado (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) seem to fight nearly once a month in either junior or senior competition. Three weeks ago, the two fought at the Midwestern Championships in Chicago where Prado took the gold medal. On Saturday, Alexa threw Prado to win the junior division, but on Sunday Prado came out on top. Liddie finished second after defeating two-time Pan Am Infantile Champion in both the semifinals and the second place match.
Katie Sell (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen), a 2006 Senior Nationals bronze medalist, won the 70kg division with a 3-0 record.
Although the title in the 57kg division went to Canadian teenager Maude-Helene Benoit, the top three U.S. juniors were all in attendance. Hannah Martin (Burnt Hills, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center), a 2006 Junior World Team member, lost to Benoit in the final, but pinned No. 3 junior Hana Carmichael (Wellington, Fla. / Budokan) to finish second. Top-ranked junior Angelica Delgado (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami) and Carmichael had fought in the previous round as a rematch of their High School Nationals final last week in Miami. While Delgado won last week’s match in Golden Score (overtime), Carmichael won this week before losing to Martin.
COMPLETE SENIOR RESULTS
Senior Women’s 44kg
1. Veronica Prado (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami)
2. Alexa Liddie (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)
3. Katelyn Bouyssou (Hope, R.I. / Mayo Quanchi Judo)
Senior Women’s 48kg
1. Jessica Sternick (San Antonio, Texas / Universal Judo)
2. Stephanie Baim (Dallas, Texas / Ruben Martin Judo)
3. Kayla Chappell (Oklahoma City, Okla. / USA Stars)
Senior Women’s 52kg
1. Sayaka Matsumoto (El Cerrito, Calif. / NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute)
2. Clara Mongeon (CAN)
3. Lolita Dagher (CAN)
Senior Women’s 57kg
1. Maude-Helene Benoit (CAN)
2. Hannah Martin (Burnt Hills, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)
3. Hana Carmichael (Wellington, Fla. / Budokan Judo)
Senior Women’s 63kg
1. Joliane Melancon (CAN)
2. Aneta Mozdzen (CAN)
3. Laurence Cote (CAN)
Senior Women’s 70kg
1. Kathleen Sell (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen)
2. Maiko Hatano (Washington D.C. / Washington Judo)
3. Malinda Bridges (Coventry, R.I. / Mayo Quanchi)
Senior Women’s 78kg
1. Katie Mocco (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)
2. Marina Shafir (Latham, N.Y. / USA Judo national Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)
3. Renee-Claude Roussel (CAN)
Senior Women’s +78kg
1. Colleen Mocco (Stillwater, Okla. / USA Stars)
2. Adriana Fierastrau (CAN)
Senior Men’s 55kg
1. Julien Paradis (CAN)
2. Santiago Martinez (COL / Miami, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai)
3. Dan Scillath (Tom’s River, N.J. / Tom’s River Judo)
Senior Men’s 60kg
1. Juan Roman (PUR)
2. Jose Luis Mechato-Samaritano (CAN)
3. Miguel Ballesteros (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami)
Senior Men’s 66kg
1. Daniel Santos (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami)
2. Ricky Brown (Clairtown, Pa. / South Hills Pennsylvania)
3. Leonando Lopes (Harrison, N.Y. / Westchester Judo)
Senior Men’s 73kg
1. Edwin Vallejo Alvares (COL)
2. Bobby Lee (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami)
3. Hidekazu Achiha (Virginia / Washington Judo)
Senior Men’s 81kg
1. Travis Stevens (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)
2. Harry St Leger (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Starrett)
3. Maxime Tremblay (CAN)
Senior Men’s 90kg
1. Dariusz Mikolajczak (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Starrett)
2. Vasil Dimitrov (Philadephia, Pa. / Philadelphia Judo)
3. Carlos Moran (Clifton, N.J. / Camal Judo)
Senior Men’s 100kg
1. Oleg Uvarov (Seekonk, Mass. / Mike's Dojo)
2. Shintaro Higashi (Scarsdale, N.Y. / Kokushi)
3. Nedjo Sarenac (CAN)
Senior Men’s +100kg
1. Anthony Turner (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami)
2. Vinnie Mancuso (Clifton, N.J. / Camal)
3. Jamie Browne (Lemonte, Pa. / Penn State Judo)
— USA JUDO
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