FEBRUARY 09, 2019 Burbank, California was home to another edition of the United States ADCC West Coast Trials, arguably the most important trials event for this grappling promotion in the Northern Hemisphere.
Although the event didn’t garner the interest of the current big-name competitors in our industry, exception made to Josh Hinger, the trials did call on a few grappling armies, none bigger than the platoon brought forth by the 10th Planet Academy (74 soldiers!). The California based team packed the brackets and dwarfed any other flag in numbers of athletes. To have a grasp of how many competitors this represented on an event of this scale, there were 10P athletes who went through 3 matches before finding an opponent outside their team. Some of the bigger names from Eddie Bravo’s workgroup who represented today were Marvin Castelle, Keith Krikorian, Richie Martinez, Kyle Boehm, and Nathan Orchard.
One of the largest North American trials ever produced, with 342 competitors, the event had many points of interest. One of those was certainly the rise of the “Deadly Baby Grapplers”, teenagers who came in ready to put on a show and disrupt the adult divisions in the process. From those spectacular teens, 5 stood out the most, namely the 15-year-olds Andrew “Pirulito” Tackett (Checkmat), Kade and Tye Ruotolo (Atos), 17YO William Tacket (brother to Andrew) as well as 18YO Roberto Jimenez (Alliance) all of who have had outstanding careers in the gi and are now proving their worth under the ADCC rules with modern, forward-moving jiu-jitsu. A pleasure to watch.
Another name worth mentioning was brown belt Mason Fowler of Caio Terra Association. Although already recognized as a rising star in the gi, having earned an IBJJF world title last year, Fowler proved he is a force also under ADCC rules by taking control of the 99-kilogram division. In the lower weight class (88) Stan Rosa stood out as a very strong prospect with excellent leglock knowledge and a fantastic killer instinct.
Then we had the surprise performance of the night, that of Mr. John Combs! The 77 KG category was one of the most talent dense at this ADCC trials, but that was not a problem for the Easton Training Centre standout. Combs submitted all but 1 of his matches and had, arguably, the biggest comeback of the tournament against Max Rohskopf. Max had Combs in all sorts of trouble with a tight-tight katagatame early in the match but John never gave up, escaped and returned the favor with a tight RNC, a momentum he kept at the final versus teenage prodigy William Tacket.
Maybe less surprising, but very impressive nonetheless were the performances of 17YO prodigy Nicky Ryan (Renzo) and veteran Josh Hinger. The two looked outstanding throughout the day with exciting submissions, always aggressive, always precise.
The female division had many exciting matches, though, from all the performances we saw, the two champs – Jenna Bishop and Amanda Leve were the most joyful to follow. One generation apart and of different teams, Leve and Bishop showed similarities in their approach to victory: nothing more than composure and aggression, a real grappling show put on by these two athletes who submitted a lot of bodies tonight.
66 KILOGRAMS (Male)
¼ Finals
– Nicky Ryan def. Kade Ruotolo by outside heel hook
– Richard Alarcon def. Tye Ruotolo by 2×0
– Keith Kirkorian def. Pedro Serrano by anaconda choke
– Sal Guerriero def. Junny Ocasio by 2×0
Semi-Finals
– Nicky Ryan def. Richard Alarcon by RNC
– Keith Kirkorian def. Sal Guerriero by triangle
Final
– Nicky Ryan def. Keith Kirkorian by RNC
3rd Place
– R. Alarcon def. Sal Guerriero by decision
77 KILOGRAMS (Male)
¼ Finals
– Enrico Cocco def. Thomas Keenan by 2×0
– John Combs def. Max Rohskopf by RNC
– William Tacket def. Jason Rau by 4×2
– Stephen Simms def. Nathan Orchard by 4×0
Semi-Finals
– John Combs def. Stephen Simms 3×2
– William Tacket def. Enrico Cocco by 2×0
Final
– John Combs def. William Tacket by mounted guillotine
3rd Place
– Enrico Cocco def. Stephen Simms by referee decision (2×2 pts)
88 KILOGRAMS (Male)
¼ Finals
– John Blank def. W. Lavine by footlock
– Josh Hinger def. H. Colvin by 8×0
– Roberto Jimenez def. Kevin Crane by kneebar
– Stan Rosa def. Quentin Rosenzweig by straight ankle lock
Semi-Finals
– Josh Hinger def. John Blank by 4×0
– Stan Rosa def. Roberto Jimenez by verbal tap (injury?)
Final
– Josh Hinger def. Stan Rosa by anaconda choke
3rd Place
– Jon Blank def. Roberto Jimenez by heel hook
99 KILOGRAMS (Male)
¼ Finals
– Nick Schrock def. Andy Perez 7×0
– Paul Ardila def. Erick Cruz by inside heel hook
– Manson Fowler def. Stephen Martinez by 4×0
– Diego Vazquez def. H. James Seide by 6×0
Semi-Finals
– Manson Fowler def. Paul Ardila by decision
– Diego Vazquez def. Nick Schrock by decision
Final
– Manson Fowler def. Diego Vazquez by choke/crank from omoplata
3rd Place
– Paul Ardila def. Nick Schrock by 5×0
+99 KILOGRAMS (Male)
¼ Finals
– Casey Hellenberg def. J. House by 7×0
– N. Rodriguez def. by Jimmy Friederich by submission
– Jesseray Childrey def. J. Taghvai by straight ankle lock
– J. Hansen def. A.Baker by 5×0
Semi-Finals
– Nick Rodriguez def. Casey Hellenberg by 5×0
– Jon Hansen def. J. Childrey by submission
Final
– Nick Rodriguez def. Jon Hansen by RNC
3rd Place
– Casey Hellenberg (forefeit)
60 KILOGRAMS (Female)
¼ Finals
– H. Sharp def. Heather Raftery by decision
– N. Sullivan def. D. Kelly by submission
– Jenna Bishop def. B. Stikkelman by submission
– Erin Herle def. F. Jorge by 6×0
Semi-Finals
– Jenna Bishop def. Erin Herle by RNC
– Nikki Sullivan def. H. Sharp by 2×0
Final
– Jenna Bishop def. Nikki Sullivan by 2×0
3rd Place
– N/A
+60 KILOGRAMS (Female)
¼ Finals
– E. Clay def. C. Hansen by submission
– A. Leve def. P. Borras by 2×0
– N. Evangelista def. Raquel Canuto by submission
– M. Grindatti def. Monique Ricardo by 5×0
Semi-Finals
– Amanda Leve def. E. Clay by submission
– M. Grindatti def. N. Evangelista by 3×0
Final
– Amanda Leve def. M. Grindatti by flying triangle/armbar
3rd Place
– E. Clay def. N. Evangelista by submission
Jon Blank’s( 3rd place 88KG) last match was not a forfeit!!! Roberto Jimenez tapped after a heel hook.
He injured himself in the semi-final, so we assumed he didn’t come in for 3rd place. Amended now.
Stephen Simms vs Enrico Cocco scoring was 2-2. What a disgrace of a match too, the judges totally robbed Simms of his victory (2-0) and decided to give Cocco 2 points after the match was over and declared him the winner.
Hello? Can you please fix the score between my match with Enrico Cocco, thanks. I don’t even know what the proper score is supposed to be? Him being declared the winner by judges bullshit decision?