2011 Alaska State Judo Championships

youth awards at the 2011 Alaska State Judo Championships The 2011 Alaska State Judo Championships were held Saturday, March 26th at Dimond High School in Anchorage. Well over 100 contestants came from as far north as Fairbanks, as far South as Ketchikan, with a few from Canada to test their grappling skills in Alaska largest Judo tournament. The contestants ranged in age from 5 to over 50 years old, with excellent skill shown throughout.

Grueling matches were fought from 9:30 in the morning, starting with the delightful 5-6 year old divisions, ending in the evening with the senior men’s divisions. As the day progressed, the ages and intensities of the competitors increased. Each match was both a physical test of skill and a mental game where the contests sought to off balance their opponents both physically and mentally. A little bit of miss applied force or a step at the wrong time often resulted in the contestant being forcefully thrown from their feet to their back for a full point, ending the match. When a throw was not considered good enough for a full point (i.e. it was lacking speed, force, control, or the contestant landing mostly on their back) the matches continued in ground work with the contestants trying to show superior control with pins, or for the older contestants, by bring their opponents into submission with joint locks or strangulation techniques.

I have been involved with Judo in Alaska since 1997, and I don’t remember a time, before this year, that a young child has won the best technique award for Boy’s or Girl’s. This year both awards (best technique Boy’s and best technique Girl’s) were taken by eight year olds. Isaiah Dempsey and Claire Rhyneer, both of Anchorage Dojo, won the awards with spectacular displays of skill.

	5-6 Co-ed Light
1^st	Connor Rimando	Anchorage Dojo
2^nd	John Paul Deering	Mountain View Judo
3^rd	Emma Carte	Fenikkusu
	5-6 Boy's Heavy
1^st	Micah Vasquez	Anchorage Dojo
2^nd	Benjamin Gregory	Arctic Knights
3^rd	Devon Williams	Mat-Su Judo
	7-8 Boy's Heavy
1^st	Jeremiah McCoy	Mat-Su Judo
2^nd	Cooper Baines	Anchorage Dojo
3^rd	Joshua Gregory	Arctic knights
	7-8 Boy's Light
1^st	Gavin Mellon	Fireweed Judo
2^nd	Isaiah Dempsey	Anchorage Dojo
3^rd	Garrett Gaydos	Mountain View Judo
	7-8 Girl's Light
1^st	Tommie Poorbaugh	Mat-Su Judo
2^nd	Amy Sutcliffe	Mat-Su Judo
3^rd	Kendra Chase	Arctic Knights
	7-8 Girl's Middle
1^st	Caitlyn Hutchison	Fireweed Judo
2^nd	Saige Groover	Arctic knights
3^rd	Claire Rhyneer	Anchorage Dojo
	9-10 Boy's Light
1^st	Vincent Cramer	Mat-Su Judo
2^nd	Steven Sutcliffe	Mat-Su Judo
3^rd	Caleb Engleken	Anchorage Dojo
	9-10 Boy's Medium
1^st	Will Deering	Mat-Su Judo
2^nd	Brandon LaPierrre	Capital City Judo
3^rd	Mitchell Laudert	Capital City Judo
	9-10 Boy's Heavy
1^st	Silas Rhyneer	Anchorage Dojo
2^nd	Dorian Mellon	Fireweed Judo
3^rd	William Talles	Capital City Judo
	9-10 Girl's Light
1^st	Rebekah Sutcliffe	Mat-Su Judo
2^nd	Abby Harvey	Fireweed Judo
3^rd	Carter Nelson	Anchorage Dojo
	9-10 Girl's Medium
1^st	Kylie Lager	Capital City Judo
2^nd	Claire Boily	Capital City Judo
3^rd	Emma Kiekintveld	Fireweed Judo
	11-12 Boy's Light
1^st	Blake Poorbaugh	Mat-Su Judo
2^nd	Sebastian Rojas	Anchorage Dojo
3^rd	Justus Aiken	Mat-Su Judo
	11-12 Boy's Middle
1^st	Robert Haan	Mat-Su Judo
2^nd	Jared Dempsey	Anchorage Dojo
3^rd	Braeton Purcell	Mountain View Judo
	11-12 Boy's Heavy
1^st	Chris Coulson	Capital City Judo
2^nd	Taylor Harrington	Gracie Barra

	11-12 Girl's Light
1^st	Tiana Valdez	Mountain View Judo
2^nd	Hillary Tschappat-Larson	Anchorage Dojo
3^rd	Rachel LaForest	Mat-Su Judo
	11-12 Girl's Medium
1^st	Maggie McCoy	Mountain View Judo
2^nd	Bianca Cramer	Mat-Su Judo
3^rd	Paige Siegfreid	Mountain View Judo
	12 Girl's Heavy
1^st	Tessa Neeno	Anchorage Dojo
2^nd	Kelly Olson	Capital City Judo

	13-14 Boy's Light
1^st	Jerry Miller	Yukon Judo
2^nd	Dominic Waters	Fireweed Judo
3^rd	Joshua LaForest	Mat-Su Judo
	13-14 Boy's Heavy
1^st	Jonathan Raynovic	Mat-Su Judo
2^nd	Daniel Oh	Capital City Judo

	13-14 Girl's Light
1^st	Sydney Poorbaugh	Mat-Su Judo
2^nd	Marianna Ligon	Fireweed Judo
3^rd	Juliana Siegfried	Mountain View Judo
	13-14 Girl's Medium
1^st	Sarina Soetarjo	Anchorage Dojo
2^nd	Kathleen Edwards	Arctic Knights

	15-16 Girl's Light
1^st	Miranda Aiken	Mat-Su Judo
2^nd	Lauren LaForest	Mat-Su Judo

	15-16 Girl's
1^st	Sami Neeno	Anchorage Dojo
2^nd	Talia Valdez	Mountain View Judo
3^rd	Kathryn DuFresne	Fireweed Judo
	Senior Men's Novice
1^st	Daniel Baird	Mountain View Judo
2^nd	Xavior Brown	Anchorage Dojo
3^rd	Tino Valdez	Mountain View Judo
	Men's Light
1^st	David Shoemaker	Mat-Su Judo
2^nd	Harold Yutuc	Mountain View Judo
3^rd	Luke Rosevear	Mat-Su Judo
	Men's Medium
1^st	Bryan Olson	Capital City Judo
2^nd	Ty Schwinghammer	Capital City Judo
3^rd	Lane LaForest	Mat-Su Judo
	Senior Men's Medium Heavy
1^st	Orion Kraus	Capital City Judo
2^nd	Greg Egland	Mountain View Judo
3^rd	N ickolas Merseld	Black Bear Judo
	Men's Heavy
1^st	Dan Poelman	Yukon Judo
2^nd	Roland Jones	Anchorage Dojo
3^rd	Steve Callaghan	Anchorage Dojo
	Senior Open
1^st	Hector Negron	Anchorage Dojo
2^nd	Richard Zebruck	Yukon Judo
3^rd	Orion Kraus	Capital City Judo