SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 Nat Holman Gym (CCNY), New York held one of the biggest tournaments in no-gi jiu jitsu, the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) Pan No-Gi Championship.
Although the event does not have a tradition of bringing out the upper echelon of the grappling world, it has been a great platform for some of our sport’s rising stars in recent history, as well as a way of breaking out the no-gi cobwebs before the closely approaching IBJJF World No-Gi Championship.
One of the biggest names to come out to the Pans this year was Danaher Death Squad star, Gordon Ryan, who had a field day in the ultra-heavyweight division. Ryan’s last showing at the event was back in 2014, when he was a relatively unknown purple belt. Today he is one of the best competitors in the game, and an ADCC gold medalist, credentials that certainly proved their worth today as he smashed through the “pesadíssimo” weight class. First, in the semi-final versus Charles McGuire – one of the oddest warm-up matches we have ever seen where Ryan “toyed” with his opponent like a cat plays with a mouse before killing it. Ryan Offered his limbs for the taking and effortlessly and slowly escaped all the attacks attempted by McGuire before pulling the plug, and submitting his opponent. In the final, against GF Team’s Max Gimenis, Gordon went back to his usual rhythm, imposing his game with ease against the larger Gimenis (who had impressively outworked Atos prodigy Kaynan Duarte in his previous match).
In the absolute division, Gordon took a lucky draw, reaching the final with just one match (semi final again against Max Gimenis) as his opponents for the 1st round (Fred Alves) and 1/4 finals (Diogo Sampaio) were a no-show. In the final match for Panamerican open weight gold, Gordon faced the rising Atos star Kaynan Duarte, who came in hot after 3 very, very hard-fought matches. Duarte battled against Dustin Akbari (won by 2 advantages), Dante Leon (won by 1 advantage), and Jackson Sousa (won by referee decision), in which he advanced without scoring one single point. The São Paulo native proved to be a tougher test to Gordon than those he had faced up until then, today, taking the fight to Gordon and adding the first points on the score-board. Duarte was ahead throughout the match, though Ryan never slowed his pace, eventually finding the kink he needed in Kaynan’s guard. A little slip that allowed the DDS athlete to take the back and sink his trademark RNC.
Other eye pleasing performances from the Pans were Alliance – Marcelo Garcia competitor Marcos Tinoco, who showed tremendous promisse for the upcoming No-Gi Worlds, advancing with ease over very steep oposition. Dante Leon, Jessica Santos and Maria Malyjsiak were also very impressive today.
MALE ROOSTER
1. Kristian Woodmansee
2. Chris Noonan
– Champion run:
Kristian Woodmansee def. Chris Noonan by short choke
MALE LIGHT FEATHER
1. João Miyao
2. Alexis Alduncin
3. Perez Figueiroa
3. Alex Ecklin
– Champion run:
SF: João Miyao def. Alex Ecklin by 18×0
F: João Miyao def. Alexis Alduncin by armbar
MALE FEATHER
1. Ian Sanders
2. Pablo Mantovani
3. Adam Benayoun
3. Silvio Duran
– Champion run:
SF: Ian Sanders def. Silvio Duran by 1 advantage
F: Ian Sanders def. Pablo Mantovani by 1 advantage
MALE LIGHT
1. Gianni Grippo
2. AJ Agazarm
3. Herbert Burns
3. Matheus Gonzaga
– Champion run:
R1: Gianni Grippo def. Steven Barrere by 22×0
4F: Gianni Grippo def. Jeff Cummings by referee decision (0x0 pts)
SF: Gianni Grippo def. Matheus Gonzaga by 1 advantage (0x0 pts)
F: Gianni Grippo def. AJ Agazarm by 9×0
MALE MIDDLE
1. Dante Leon
2. Michael Trasso
3. Enrique Galarza
3. Oliver Kee-Seng
– Champion run:
R1: Dante Leon def. Scott Jutras by (N/A)
4F: Dante Leon def. Athos Ribeiro by RNC
SF: Dante Leon def. Enrique Galarza by 6×0
F: Dante Leon def. Michael Trasso by 2×0
MALE MEDIUM HEAVY
1. Marcos Tinoco
2. Nick Calvanese
3. Michael Perez
3. Isiah Wright
– Champion run:
4F: Marcos Tinoco def. Piotr Marcin by RNC
SF: Marcos Tinoco def. Isiah Wright by “dogbar style” armlock
F: Marcos Tinoco def. Nick Calvanese by 2×0
MALE HEAVY
1. Rômulo “Caju” Azevedo
2. Thiago Sá
3. Benjamin Lenyard
3. Diogo Sampaio Araújo
– Champion run:
SF: Rômulo “Caju” def. Benjamin Lenyard by 2 advantages (0x0 pts)
F: Rômulo “Caju” def. Thiago Sá by 1 advantage (0x0 pts)
MALE SUPER HEAVY
1. Aaron “Tex” Johnson
2. Jackson Sousa
3. Roberto Torralbas
3. Alexandre Oliveira
– Champion run:
SF: Aaron Johnson def. Roberto Torralbas by 2×0
F: Aaron Johnson def. Jackson Sousa by footlock
MALE ULTRA-HEAVY
1. Gordon Ryan
2. Max Gimenis
3. Kaynan Duarte
4. Charles McGuire
– Champion run:
SF: Gordon Ryan def. Charles McGuire by baratoplata
F: Gordon Ryan def. Max Gimenis by RNC
MALE OPEN
1. Gordon Ryan
2. Kaynan Duarte
3. Max Gimenis
3. Jackson Sousa
– Champion run:
SF: Gordon Ryan def. Max Gimenis by RNC
F. Gordon Ryan def. Kaynan Duarte by RNC
FEMALE LIGHT FEATHER
1. Mayssa Bastos
2. Patricia Fontes
3. Sofia Amarante
4. Fiona Watson
FEMALE FEATHER
1. Jessica Santos (Elite BJJ)
2. Talita Alencar
3. Gabriella Romero
FEMALE LIGHT
1. Catherine Fuhro Perret
2. Aarae Alexander
3. Heather Raftery
FEMALE MIDDLE
1. Gabi McComb
2. Vanessa Wexler
FEMALE MEDIUM HEAVY
1. Monique Ricardo
FEMALE HEAVY
1. Maria Malyjsiak
2. Samantha Cook
FEMALE SUPER-HEAVY
1. Alison Tremblay
FEMALE OPEN
1. Maria Malyjsiak
2. Jessica Santos
3. Samantha Cook
3. Gabrielle McComb
