The kids fought continuous sparring during the day and the adults ran down their traditional divisions on day four of the 2009 NBL Supergrands. Highlights from the daytime eliminations were some heavy hits in the boys super heavyweight division where Daniel del Valle managed to get disqualified in one round. Cass Sigmon made it to the stage with no losses in the division but afterwards he limped out with a tissue in his bloody nose. He looked rather beat up and will hopefully be back to health for the finals. He will face Leon Jefferson in the finals. Poor Billy Leader has the same luck as Bryan Young (who broke his nose in point sparring). Leader took a shot to the face in boy's team sparring that gave him a bloody nose. Then in continuous sparring, he took a worse shot that knocked him out and sent him to the ER. We hope that he is okay and will update you if we hear more news about his condition.
For the adult traditional divisions during the day, the it was a rematch from 2008 in Men's Japanese as Kenny Lim and Scott Wu will go to stage. The division had a lot of talent who could have made it to the finals as well with Mike Spizzuco, Sergio Calva, Steve Kawamura and Wayne Nguyen all vying for the title. Ashley Artese will face Casey Marks-Nash in the Women's Japanese division. Marks-Nash who has not competed in quite some time, was a wild card in the division. Daniel Marshall will face Guatemalan Edgar Cordova for the Men's Korean form title.
The finals on day four featured the adults in competition for their world titles. The night kicked off with contemporary divisions providing the crowd with excitement and awe. The first division was the 18+ Hard Choreographed Musical Weapons division. Josh Durbin and Jonathan Tale put their flashy bo and kamas to work, combining technique with amazing tricks. It would be Tale with his flying kamas that would take home the belt. It was then time for the “executive” division to take the stage, the 35+ Hard Contemporary Weapons. Wayne Nguyen made his return to the NBL stage after a few year hiatus. Welcoming him to the stage was Ronnie Ferguson, representing Team FX of Virginia. Ferguson would oust Nguyen and become the champ.
Next up was the Choreographed Fight division. Funnyman Darren Cox set up to take on the team of Garcia and Santiago. However, Santiago was forced to bow out due to injury, giving the title to Cox. Josh Durbin and Jonathan Tale appeared on the stage once again, this time to compete for the 18+ Hard Creative Weapons Division. Durbin would take the prize ahead of Tale splitting the rivalry 1-1. As for the women’s 18+ Hard Creative Weapons division, Lauren Ferguson and Casey Nash tried to out-spin one another to the title. Nash made her return known with her first NBL title in years.
Ashlon Smith from Houston and Enrique Rodrigo were on stage for the Flyweight title and fists were swinging to determine the winner. Rodrigo was faster, and that proved to be the difference as he came away with the win. Kyle “Gotum” Richards and Sean Arceo put on an epic show of speed to determine the Featherweight Sparring champion. Gotum used his famous capoeira kicks to fend of Arceo for the title. Speaking of speed, Willie Hicks and Mike Scaperato blitzed across the stage in order to claim the Lightweight title. Hicks showed some power in his right cross, jarring Scaperato. He would never recover, and Hicks took home the gold. Jason "J-Dog" Holmes would have to get through Jose Santiago to capture the Light Middleweight crown. J-Dog showed flashy spins to earn his win and the title.
Ashley Artese and Austin Jorgensen demonstrated grace and beauty in the Soft Contemporary Forms division. Jorgensen demonstrated incredible stances and falls on his way to victory. Darren Cox and Mr. Jorgensen did the same in the Soft Open Weapons Division. Yet again Jorgensen was victorious with a drunken sword form that received a perfect score of fifty.
The 35+ females took the stage next for their fighting bout. Deon Beatty and Kris Pilgrim showed the crowd their wide range of fighting moves in their championship bout. Beatty forced a second fight with an overtime blitz creating a do or die fight for both fighters. Pilgrim ended the fight, with a 9-3 finish. Casey Nash cemented her return to the ring with her bout with Dawn Kabela. Nash forced a “mercy”, ending the bout 10-0. Lauren Ferguson would return to the ring again to face Pamela Osornio for the Feather fighting title. Ferguson dominated the ring in her 10-2 victory. Molly Wade of Team Everage would then have to face Tracy Martinez of Team G.O.P. Martinez would prematurely end her fight 13-3, forcing a mercy.
Another G.O.P member, Regina Thompson, would try to capture a title of her own against Taryn Wade of Everage Sport Karate. Thompson would reach the ten point mark in her victory, marking the third fight in a row to have one fighter in the ten point area. Joe Powell and Paul Mendoza would fight it out for the 35+ Middleweight title. Mendoza ended the fight with a big cartwheel kick, earning the victory 6-2. Bobby Seronio, who coached his son last night, fought for the executive heavyweight title against Elvis Paulino. Paulino said “thank ya, thank ya very much” after getting his gold belt, winning the fight 6-5. David Coppock and Rickey Mullag would finish off the 35+ fighting divisions in their heavyweight bout. Mullag dodged a Coppock spinning hook kick to win the heavyweight title, 6-3.
The crowd was then greeted to a few traditional divisions. Molly Wade beat the living daylights out of her brother Max in an attempt to overcome Jose Rivera of Team Kumite in the adult traditional self-defense finals. Wade’s beating was not in vain, as she took home the world title. Brett Shumway attempted to overtake Brandon Bertsch as the top dog of Traditional Weapons, but to no avail, as Bertsch took the title for the second year in a row.
The night ended with some big name fighters in the remaining weight classes. Chris Gallio and Brett Shumway had a brawl to determine the winner of the Middleweight class. Shumway forced a second fight with Mr. G.O.P, however Gallio won a nail biter 8-5, in his remarkable comeback from injury. Mario Beker and Dan Marshall showed high flying kicks in order to determine the winner of the Light Heavy Weight Class. It was Marshall’s loose legs that allowed him to bring the fight to a 12-2 close. And finally, Brandon Bertsch and Trevor Nash tried to knock one another out in their Super Heavy Weight fight. Nash’s speed overcame Bertsch’s power, as it led to a 14-3 victory.
SportMartialArts.com will be back tomorrow with TWO Supergrands finals in one day!!
