 Pedro's Judo Center. |
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BREAKING NEWS |
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Email Jimmy Pedro: jimmypedro@zebramats.com Directions to Pedro's Judo Center |
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Lindenhurst, NY Pedro's Judo Center of Wakefield won 15 medals over the weekend including 9 gold at the 17th annual Starrett Cup. The Starrett Cup is one of the toughest tournaments in New England and is run by 2 time Olympian from Haiti Parnel Legros. The Starred Cup is one of 5 tournament's in the prestigious "Zebra Tour" where competitors competing in the Senior Black Belt divisions can win 250.00 per event for winning the gold medal. Any competitor who wins gold in all 5 "Zebra Tour" event's wins a bonus of 1250.00 making a grand total of 2500.00 over the course of a few months. Pedro's Judo Center now has 3 athletes in contention for the grand prize as Hana Carmichael, Nick Delpopolo and Travis Stevens all won gold medals. Carmichael, The current #1 ranked athlete in the United States in the 57kg (125lb) division, went 3-0 to claim the gold medal. Carmichael squared off against rival and former #1 Hannah Martin (NY) in an exciting match in which neither girl was able to score during regulation time sending the match into sudden death over time. Hana slammed Hannah with a gorgeous standing combination technique 20 seconds into the overtime period. This marks Carmichaels 3rd victory in the past 4 bouts with Martin. Hana led the rivalry in 2009 with a 2-1 record including a semi-final victory at the Rendez-Vous Canada which directly resulted in claiming the #1 position in the country. Nick Delpopolo also picked up a check after winning the 73kg division. Nick looked sharp dominating his early rounds before meeting Canadian #2 Olivier Aubin-Mercier for the gold medal. Delpopolo has recently come to understand the workman like attitude of his coach and idol Jimmy Pedro who was known as the fittest player USA Judo has ever produced. Nick took on his mentors habits and is clearly benefiting as his iron lungs in the final proved too much for the Canadian who settled for silver. 2008 Olympian Travis Stevens (23) took the last gold medal for the Pedro's Elite team as he won the 81kg division. Travis used this event as a tune up for his upcoming journey to Europe where he will compete in the Belgian and French Opens. 2 time Junior World medalist Kayla Harrison drove the 5 hours to New York City with the impression that she would just be working tables and coaching at the event. After setting up the tournament and working tables all day Kayla was told that Catherine Roberge, A top player in the World and Canadian Olympian was at the event and had no one in her division. Kayla literally got up from the table and onto the mat to give Roberge some quality matches. Kayla started strong soundly defeating Roberge. Kayla then went on to win gold in the women's super heavyweight division where she also competed. Coming back to her gold medal match with the Canadian, Kayla found herself weary and went on to lose 2 street fight like matches. Harrison, who is a perfectionist, was devastated by the losses and cried most of the 5 hour drive home where she vowed to train harder and avenge her losses. Daniel McCormick and Aaron Kunihiro had to settle for Silver and Bronze in their respective divisions. After making his way through the 60kg division, Kunihiro met with rival Nick Kossor (NY) in a lack luster final with Kossor receiving 2 early penalties but Aaron ultimately receiving 3 to concede the gold. This is the second year in a row that Kunihiro has had a shaky start but he will look to repeat his dominance on the "big stage" of US tournaments in the spring. Bobby Lee (21) has returned to competition after a 9 month hiatus and has bumped up 2 weight categories to compete in the 90kg (198lb) division. This was the first time in his Senior Career that Lee has competed in anything other than the 73kg (161lb) division. Lee has been struggling with keeping his weight up and was 80.0 kg before the event making him the lightest in the division by over 20lbs. Bobby was hoping to get his hands on the quality American players in the 90kg division but after a few rounds he found himself a victim to the new world Judo rules which state you may no longer grab an opponents pant leg. Lee did just this and although his coaches and all the people in the venue saw that he played within the rules, the referee on the mat disqualified Bobby from the event leaving him waiting for the Pedro's Challenge on February 13Th to get his hands on the top players in the 90kg division. Pedro's Judo Center sent several novice and Junior players to the event as well and Nick Chagall's, AJ Pedro, Casey Pedro and Kaelin O'Sullivan had standout performances all winning gold medals. Chamallas (27) made his Judo tournament debut in the +100kg Novice division where he captured the gold medal. Nick won the gold after scoring on an opponent in overtime. Kaelin won 2 gold medals on the day including her normal 9-10 year old division and also in the 11-13 year old division. 10 year old Kaelin ran from mat to mat on the day and turned in a perfect performance. AJ Pedro (11) earned a gold medal in the boys 11-12 year old division and showed signs of maturing into a top level Junior. Casey Pedro (13) matched the feat of her brother and won gold in the 13-16 year old division, defeating a brown belt opponent while battling a stomach flu. Samuel Mullen (12) captured a silver medal in the boys 11-12 year old division in his first travel tournament. Darcy O'Sullivan, Peter Roy and Emily Abreu each won a bronze medal in their respective divisions to round out the Pedro's medal count. Pedro's Judo Center will now gear up for the Pedro's Challenge on February 13th at Wakefield Highschool. Pedro's Challenge is a USA Judo point tournament which means athletes placing in the event earn a ranking on the USA Judo national rosters. |