October 28 and 29, 2007

Cherry Hill, NJ

Day 1
The New Jersey Grappling Championships, run by Brad Daddis, are known for putting together top-level professional competition for the fans, and this tournament was no exception. In a talent-heavy series of pro divisions and superfights, Team Lloyd Irvin came out on top, as Wilson Reis, Bruno Frazatto, Brad Court, and Ryan Hall all faced off against top competition and fought well.

In the “Lightweights from Hell” 4-man pro division, which featured some of the top up-and-coming lightweight fighters on the East Coast, Wilson faced off against Jonathan Torres of Performance BJJ. After a fast and furious match, Wilson came out on top with a score of 6-0. He would move on to the finals where he would face a tough Justin Rader from Lovato Jiu-Jitsu. In one of the most exciting matches that any of the spectators had seen in a while, Wilson showed impressive wrestling skills, taking his opponent down repeatedly and winning to the tune of an 8-2 score to take the title!

The lone superfight of the first day of competition featured Ryan Hall as he faced off against reigning Pan American champion and Performance BJJ brown belt, Jay Hayes. In the ten minute match, neither fighter was able to gain a significant advantage over the other, resulting in a 5-minute overtime period. It was here that Ryan turned up the heat, though, as he was able to sweep his opponent and follow by taking the back. This war ended with a score of 10-2, but it was as close as they come until the closing moments. Congrats, Ryan!

In regular divisional action, fresh off her 3rd place finish at the Mundial, Jen Flannery would pass her lone opponent and take knee-on-belly before finishing with an armbar from the closed guard to win the blue belt featherweight division.

Day 2

In the second day of competition, the first superfight featured a gi match between Team Lloyd Irvin black belt, Brad Court, and Andre Maracaba of Team Maxercise/Saulo Ribiero. Fresh off of a 6-month layoff, Brad is making his return to competition, and jumped full-on into the deep end of the pool with a tough opponent in Maracaba. It was an exciting match with a lot of back and forth until Andre was able to pass momentarily. Brad escaped and worked back into his sweep game, but the pass would be the margin of victory in this one. We’re looking forward to some big things from Brad, so stay tuned to the news page for more results from Brad as he breaks back into the competition scene.
An impromptu and unorthodox match materialized when no opponent could be found for Ken Primola (2006 Masters world champion) of Balance Studios. Though different belt levels rarely compete against one another, Ryan Hall was offered the opportunity for a match against Ken. This one was another barnburner, as things went to overtime after an 8-minute regulation period. In overtime, Ryan utilized his inverted guard to set up an armdrag to sweep that netted him the winning 2 points. As the time ran down, Ryan snatched Ken into his signature triangle choke, which is where the match ended.

In the final superfight of the day, Bruno Frazatto squared off with Tim Sylvester of Maxercise. Tim is always a tough opponent, but Bruno’s experience would prove to be the deciding factor, as he swept his opponent to mount late in the match. Things ended with a final score of 13-6, and Team Lloyd Irvin’s professional competitors went an undefeated 5-0 for the weekend!

Tweet This Post