Saturday was our mini in-house tournament, raising funds for the guys going to the Pan American Championships in a couple of weeks. We had a decent turn out for a Saturday. 4 in the lightweight blue division, 6 in the heavyweight blue, 4 in the purple belt mixed, and a few randoms who just wanted to attend open mat.

In my division, there was Long, Mongoose, Brandon and I. My first match was with Mongoose. And it was quick and disappointing. I planned on being aggressive, and was, attacking with a double leg takedown right off the bat. The flaw in my plan is that I suck at takedowns, and Mongoose put me in a guillotine. I recall attempting to escape, but I suddenly started day dreaming about something, and Mike asking me if I was okay. Apparently I took a little nap in our match.

Brandon beat Long, and then latter beat Mongoose to come out the winner. Long and I did a consolation match for third place. Long’s a wrestler, so I decided NOT to try to wrestle him. Smart, eh? I attempted the tomo nage sacrificial throw. I didn’t have quite enough momentum to complete it, so I pulled him down into my guard.

I attacked with an over wrap, going for the cross choke/armlock/kimura/omaplata combination I’ve been focusing on lately. He pulled his arm out right away, and started to stand up. I got the double ankle sweep, and ended up on top. He reversed, and in the transition I got a triangle choke on him. Adjusted my angle, shifted his arm, and tapped him out.

JP made the comment that I do much better when I stay conscious!

Jason beat JP to win the heavyweight division, but Brandon beat him to win the over blue belt absolute. Over all it was a pretty good time for everyone involved. Apparently we’re going to be doing something similar for the World Championships too.