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From Brian Cimins The Grapplers Quest West was a raving success featuring non-stop divisional action, an incredibly technical superfight, and one of the best Absolute Divisions ever held on US Soil. The tournament hosted 398 competitors plus a packed and intense crowd. We would like to thank everyone for their assistance, especially The Durango High School Wrestling Team and all of my friends and family for their support. We are very pleased to present the following individual results of the divisions: Children - 59 lbs. and below: 1st Place - Matt Williams (Combat Grappling) 2nd Place - Sost Infante (Combat Grappling) Children - 69 lbs. and below 1st Place - Cody Bollinger (Combat Grappling) 2nd Place - Jesse Alvarez (Combat Grappling) 3rd Place - Saxon Gladwell (Deluca) 4th Place - Michael Mindham (Ralph Gracie) Children - 70-89 lbs. 1st Place - Garcia Davin (Rodrigo Medeiros) 2nd Place - Eric Baker (Combat Grappling, Awarded Fastest Submission/Lightning Award by TapOut with a :13 Flying Armbar) 3rd Place - Teddy Williams Jr. (Combat Grappling) 4th Place - Alliaha Barney (Junior Warriors) Children - 90-109 lbs. 1st Place - Eli McWatters (Combat Grappling) 2nd Place - Matthew Johnson (Lewis-Pederneiras) 3rd Place - Jermiah Ramage (Combat Grappling) 4th Place - Sarah Mindham (Ralph Gracie) Children 110-129 lbs. 1st Place - Fred Vasquez (Rodrigo Medeiros) 2nd Place - Shawn Ramage (Combat Grappling) 3rd Place - Sean Watkins (Pedro Sauer) 4th Place - Go Simpson (Lewis-Pederneiras) Children 130-149 lbs. 1st Place - Kyle Williams (Combat Grappling) 2nd Place - Josh Ramage (Combat Grappling) 3rd Place - David Richardson (No Rules-Machado Affiliate) 4th Place - Auston McKeever (Combat Grappling) Children 180 lbs. and over 1st Place - Jon Rodriguez (Combat Grappling) 2nd Place - Jason Meillo (Combat Grappling) 3rd Place - Ronald Hertel (Flores Bros) Executive Lightweight - 169 lbs. and below 1st Place - Gerald Ramage (Combat Grappling) 2nd Place - Roland Sarria (BRAUSA) 3rd Place - Steve Albright (Combat Grappling) Executive Heavyweight - 200 lbs. and over 1st Place - Franklin Aguirre (Combat Grappling) 2nd Place - Kent Phillps (Deluca) 3rd Place - John Solleder (Tamura Judo) Women Lightweight - 119 lbs. and below 1st Place - Leah Shlaer (Santa Fe BJJ-Alberto Crane JJ) 2nd Place - Linda Lakteen (Action 108) Women Middleweight - 120-139 lbs. 1st Place - TIE - Kathy Brothers and Erica Montoya (Machado, Kathy opted to give the first place award to fellow 15 year old teammate, Erica Montoya, a valiant gesture from a true champion) 3rd Place: Lisa Plaski (No Rules - Machado Affiliate) 4th Place: Kim Souza (Claudio Franca) Novice Featherweight - 149 lbs. and below 1st Place - PJ Raagas (Roy Harris) 2nd Place - Frank Sanchez (Junior Warriors) 3rd Place - Joey Saccavino (Lewis-Pederneiras) 4th Place - Erick Buthsombat (Spirit MA) Novice Lightweight - 150 - 159 lbs. 1st Place - Justin Masley (Combat Grappling) 2nd Place - Aneel Nath (No Rules - Machado Affiliate) 3rd Place - Jesse Carpenter Novice Welterweight - 160 - 169 lbs. 1st Place - Ken Tenorio (East-West MA) 2nd Place - David Howard (Lewis-Pederneiras) 3rd Place - Marc Longwith (No Rules - Machado Affiliate) 4th Place - Ben Fund (No Rules - Machado Affiliate) Novice Middleweight - 170 - 179 lbs. 1st Place - Michael Florez (Modern MA- Ricardo Pires) 2nd Place - Gabino Gonzalez (Hyashi MA) Novice Cruiserweight - 180 - 189 lbs. 1st Place - Edwin Dewees (BRAUSA) 2nd Place - Dan Almanza (CFS) 3rd Place - Matthew Quist (BJJ Training Center) 4th Place - Joe Duran (Santa Fe BJJ-Alberto Crane JJ) Novice Heavyweight - 190 - 209 lbs. 1st Place - Chris Atkinson 2nd Place - Todd Banjidy (American JJ) Novice Superweight - 210 lbs. and over 1st Place - Dan Freeman (Combat Grappling) 2nd Place - Jamie Wolfe (Gracie JJ) 3rd Place - Sean McGann (Oregon JJ) 4th Place - Allen Manning (Action 108) Beginner - Featherweight - 149 lbs. and below 1st Place - Dave Buncroft (Pedro Sauer) 2nd Place - Thomas Pless (Santa Fe BJJ-Alberto Crane JJ) 3rd Place - John Tan (Modern MA- Ricardo Pires) 4th Place - Jared Henninsen (BJJ of Reno) Beginner Lightweight - 150-159 lbs. 1st Place - Brent Peterson (Pedro Sauer) 2nd Place - Greg Ramirez (Lewis-Pederneiras) 3rd Place - Hosea Kim (Lewis-Pederneiras) 4th Place - Beginner - Welterweight - 160-169 lbs. 1st Place - Terrance McCarther (Lewis-Pederneiras) 2nd Place - Jamie Alvarez (Combat Grappling) 3rd Place - Dave Robinson (Combat Grappling) 4th Place - Jay Pages (Arizona Combat Sports) Beginner - Middleweight - 170-179 lbs. 1st Place - James Kelly (Pedro Sauer) 2nd Place - Tim Conrad (Combat Grappling) 3rd Place - Paul Zilius (Combat Grappling) 4th Place - Pongsarit Poompan (Spirit MA) Beginner - Cruiserweight - 180-189 lbs. 1st Place - Efrain Sevilla (Academy of Fighting Arts) 2nd Place - Raymond Morrow (Isaho Team Extreme) 3rd Place - Jake Stringham (Pedro Sauer) 4th Place - Doug Sheets Beginner - Heavyweight - 190-209 lbs. 1st Place - Jeff Hubbard (Odie Neto JJ) 2nd Place - Chris DiPasquale (Leninger MA) 3rd Place - Charles Humburger (CFC) 4th Place - Paul Cawood (Lewis-Pederneiras) Beginner Superweight - Superweight - 210 lbs. and over 1st Place - Ryan Robbie (Combat Grappling) 2nd Place - Tait Fletcher (Santa Fe BJJ-Alberto Crane JJ) 3rd Place - Chad Thomas (Lewis-Pederneiras) 4th Place - John Campo Intermediate Featherweight - 149 lbs. and below 1st Place - Shad Olivera (Jackson's Gaido Jutsu) 2nd Place - John Le (Roy Harris) 3rd Place - Eric Ferreira (Ralph Gracie) 4th Place - Gilberto Valenzuela (Santa Fe BJJ-Alberto Crane JJ) Intermediate Lightweight - 150-159 lbs. 1st Place - Thomas Schulte (Jackson's Gaido Jutsu) 2nd Place - Mark Bieri (Lewis-Pederneiras) 3rd Place - Luke Pomerantz (Claudio Franca) 4th Place - John Hoffman (Idaho Team Extreme) Intermediate Welterweight - 160-169 lbs. 1st Place - Randy Walsh (Team Phoenix) 2nd Place - Nick LaCovette (Combat Grappling) 3rd Place - Hank Weiss (Pedro Sauer) 4th Place - Alex Britez (Marcos Santos- Machado BJJ) Intermediate Middleweight - 170-179 lbs. 1st Place - Roy Dean (Roy Harris) 2nd Place - Jason Cook (Megaton) 3rd Place - Luke Stewart (Ralph Gracie) 4th Place - Abel Moreno (Hyaski MA) Intermediate Cruiserweight - 180-189 lbs. 1st Place - Robert Drysdale (Lewis-Pederneiras) 2nd Place - Brook Robertson (Modern MA - Ricardo Pires) 3rd Place - Jason Colland (Ralph Gracie) 4th Place - Rob Ciz (Lewis-Pederneiras) Intermediate Heavyweight - 190-209 lbs. 1st Place - Alexander Oxendine (Lewis-Pederneiras) 2nd Place - Jacen Flynn (Primal Tribe Fighting) 3rd Place - TC Collins (Ralph Gracie) 4th Place - Bob Gladwell (Deluca) Intermediate Superweight - 210 lbs. and over 1st Place - Keith Jardine (Jackson's Gaido Jutsu) 2nd Place - Roy Nelson (Lewis-Pederneiras) 3rd Place - Matt Fremmbling (HB Fightclub) Advanced Featherweight - 149 lbs. and below 1st Place - Eddie Bravo (Machado) 2nd Place - Trevor Lally (Arizona Combat Sports) 3rd Place - Todd Lally (Lewis-Pederneiras) 4th Place - Thomas Scott (Garage) Advanced Lightweight - 150-159 lbs. 1st Place - Henry Coll (Lewis-Pederneiras) 2nd Place - Tony Desouza (Lewis-Pederneiras) 3rd Place - Todd White (Machado) 4th Place - Aaron Imai (Lewis-Pederneiras) Advanced Welterweight - 160-169 lbs. 1st Place - Alberto Crane (Santa Fe JJ - Alberto Crane JJ, Runner Up for Most Technical Fighter Award) 2nd Place - Jake Sheilds (Lewis-Pederneiras-SLO Kickboxing) 3rd Place - Mickyo Riggs (Ralph Gracie) 4th Place - Travis Skelton (Henrietta Submission Advanced Middleweight - 170-179 lbs. 1st Place - Joe Stevenson (Combat Grappling) 2nd Place - Raven Seymore (BJJ) 3rd Place - Sergio Silva (Ralph Gracie) 4th Place - Bob Ostovich (Jesus Is Lord) Advanced Cruiserweight - 180-189 lbs. 1st Place - Jay Penn (Lewis-Pederneiras, *Awarded Most Techincal Fighter Award by TapOut) 2nd Place - Sean Spangler (Lewis-Pederneiras) 3rd Place - Chad Michel (Oregon JJ) 4th Place - Gary Grate (BJJ of Reno) Advanced Heavyweight - 190-209 lbs. 1st Place - Homer Moore (Team Phoenix) 2nd Place - Josh Watson (BJJ of Reno) 3rd Place - Damie Lasaster (Idaho Team Extreme) 4th Place - Scott Carson (Lewis-Pederneiras-SLO Kickboxing) Advanced Superweight - 210 lbs. and over 1st Place - TIE - Tedd Williams (Combat Grappling) and Jeff Monson (AMCPankration) 3rd Place - Jed Jobe (Arizon Combat Sports) 4th Place - David Gill (BJJ of Reno) Absolute Division - Advanced Winners and Invites ONLY 1st Place - Marc Laimon (Lewis-Pederneiras) 2nd Place - Dean Lister (Fabio Santos) 3rd Place - Jay Penn (Lewis-Pederneiras) 4th Place: Tony Desouza (Lewis-Pederneiras) Marc Laimon is Crowned The Grapplers Quest Absolute Division Champ! The Absolute Division of The Grapplers Quest was clearly the most exciting division of the day, and many in attendance commented by saying it was the best division ever held on US Soil. Eleven of the best grapplers on the West Coast dueled it out on the mat at The Grapplers Quest. Some of the fighters secured their position in the Absolute by winning their GQ West Advanced Division. Here is a detailed description of each fight from the preliminary matches through to the final. Garth "The Mountain" Taylor (245 lbs., 2000 Mundial Masters Champion) vs Jeff "Snowman" Monson (225 lbs., 1999 Abu Dhabi Champion: This match was highly anticipated. The two competitors both have incredible stand up skills and started showcasing them right off the bat, including several sprawls and takedown attempts by both fighters. Monson scored with a 2 Point takedown a few minutes into the round. Garth Taylor worked the guard for a few minutes, but could not reverse the position. Monson's base was incredible as he attempted to pass Taylor's guard. In the end, the takedown was all Monson needed to secure the victory. Winner - Monson (2-0 Points) Chris "The Westside Strangler" Brennan vs Marc Laimon (Team Lewis/Pederneiras, Abu Dhabi Hook N Shoot Trials Champion) The matchup proved to be a grudge match between two old friends. Chris Brennan, who had just fought the night before, flew back from the event and drove right to Vegas upon landing. I thought it was quite valiant for him to show up and fight after fighting the night before. Laimon quickly swept Brennan from the butterfly guard and after a brief positional scramble, Laimon secured an armbar at the 1:35 mark. Winner - Laimon (Straight Arm Lock - 1:35) Alberto Crane (Santa Fe Jiu Jitsu Instructor, Advanced Welterweight Champion) vs Alexandre "Cafè" Dantas: On paper this match looked to be one of the most evenly matched fights of the night between Jiu Jitsu fighters. Crane just came off of a tremendous display of technique and skill by blazing through his Advanced Welterweight Division to earn a spot in the Absolute. Crane quickly jumped to guard and Cafè got an advantage for an almost pass. Crane began to aggressively attack Cafè, who seemed content with riding out the victory with the advantage point. Unfortunately, the match ended with little occurring except Crane working from his back and Cafè playing it safe by stalling in the guard. Winner - Cafè (0-0, 1 Advantage) Jeff Monson (AMC Pankration) vs Marc Laimon (Lewis-Pederneiras) The second biggest shocker of this division (second only to Desouza/Homer Moore match), Laimon proved that he can hang with the big boys too. 1999 Abu Dhabi Champion, Jeff Monson attempted several takedowns, but Laimon's sprawls were just too fast. One of Laimon's sprawls lead to an awesome submission attempt, which seemed to endanger Monson. Monson powered out of the technique and attempted to pass Laimon's guard, to no avail. Laimon gained the advantage point he needed to advance. Winner - Laimon (0-0 Points, 1 Advantage) Dean Lister (Fabio Santos) vs Sean Spangler (Lewis-Pederneiras, shared Advanced Cruiserweight Chanpionship with teammate, Jay Penn): Dean was invited to fight in the Absolute Division. When he arrived at the tournament, he decided to fight Advanced as well. In the division, in his first match he faced off against Division winner, Sean Spangler. He lost the match. In the Absolute, Lister got his chance for redemption and showed us why he is considered one of the best Jiu Jitsu fighters on the West Coast. Lister shoots in and Spangler goes for a HUGE hip throw. He doesn't quite get it and Lister falls to the mount position. Lister worked towards Spangler's back and secured a Face Crank/Mata Leao Choke at the 2:05 mark. inner -Lister (Face/Neck Crank - 2:05) Homer "The Rock" Moore (Olympic Trials Wrestler, Advanced Heavyweight Champion) vs Tony Desouza (Lewis-Pederneiras, Advanced Cruiserweight Champion): Homer Moore showed tremendous (almost earthquake-like) takedowns and skill on the mat to secure his Advanced Heavyweight Divisional Championship. Desouza, one of Lewis/Pederneiris's top students, fought in one of the most intense divisions and showcased his skills on his way to victory. There was a 24 lb. Weight difference between these two competitors and most people in the audience thought that this going to be a blowout by Homer. The two men landed on the mat after a very exciting exchange of standup skills. Upon landing on the mat, Desouza's ground game began to shine. He quickly took Homer's back and sank in the Mata Leao (rear naked strangle) at the 3:15 mark. The crowd exploded upon Desouza's victory and John Lewis and his Team raised him up on their shoulders. Winner - Desouza (Rear Naked Strangle - 3:15) JD Penn (Lewis-Pederneiras, Awarded Most Technical Fighter Award sponsored by TapOut) vs Alexandre "Cafè" Dantas: This was definitely one for the record. BJJ Black Belt "Cafè" had just beaten Alberto Crane in a very slow paced guard stall match, after an advantage point was scored. In this match, JD Penn (BJ's brother) jumped to guard and aggressively worked choke attempts and eventually scored an advantage point for one of his submission attempts with about 1 minute remaining. "Cafè" must not have realized that the advantage point had been scored and continued to stall from within the guard. As soon as his coaches, Gustavo Dantas and Ricardo Pires, let "Cafè" know about the advantage, he began to aggressively attempt to pass the guard. The match ended with "Cafè" driving Penn towards the outside of the ring trying everything he could to pass the guard. Regulation ended with "Cafè" still in JD Penn's guard. Winner - JD Penn (0-0, 1 Advantage) Dean Lister (Fabio Santos) vs Tony Desouza (Lewis/Pederneiras) This fight was action packed from beginning to end. Lister really showed incredible technique and sportsmanship (*Note- Dean asked the referee if he could perform a choking technique before applying it. The referee allowed the choke, and Desouza struggled to apply to same choke and in the processed, open palmed Lister two or three times.) Lister stayed calm and in control for the remainder of the fight and cruised to victory by points. Winner - Lister (4-2 Points) Marc Laimon (Lewis-Pederneiras) vs JD Penn (Lewis-Pederneiras) This match was between two competitors from the same team (Nova Uniao/Lewis). Although, the technique displayed was great, the hardcore competitive spirit was not evident. It is always difficult to fight someone from the same school and I thought it was pretty cool that they fought. Winner - Laimon (0-0, 1 Advantage) Tony Desouza (Lewis-Pederneiras) vs JD Penn (Lewis-Pederneiras) This match did not take place. It was for third and fourth place and again matched up two competitors from the same school. Tony bowed out to JD Penn. Winner - JD Penn (No Contest, Bow Out) Dean Lister (Fabio Santos) vs Marc Laimon Definitely the most intense fight of the division. We were in Vegas, but all bets were off. It was any man's fight and $1,000 was on the line. A fast paced flurry of attacks from both competitors resulted in Lister in Laimon's guard. Laimon successfully swept from guard and earned the points. Lister looked incredible, reversing position several times and even securing what looked like was a match ending ankle lock. Laimon had 2 points taken away from him when he escaped the ankle lock and fled out of bounds from a pursuing Lister. Laimon earned two more points with a last minute reversal. Lister continued to fight brilliantly until the end of regulation, but could not submit or earn any more points against Laimon. Winner- Laimon (4-2 Points) Marc Laimon has been crowned the Grapplers Quest West Absolute Divisional Champion. He received his $1,000 check and the four foot trophy. Congratulations to Marc Laimon and Team Lewis-Pederneiras for this victory! Marc Laimon has been invited to compete in the Frank Mullis's December 9th and 10th International Pro-Am Grappling Tournament for $5,000 first place prize! Dean Lister, our second place Absolute Division winner, deserves some great recognition for his incredible performance in this division. He defeated his Advanced Divisional Nemesis, Sean Spangler and won a technical chess match against Desouza. His fight with Laimon could have gone either way, but Laimon was just the better man that day. Look for Lister in the future to revenge his loss against Laimon...for some reason I think it will happen in 2001!!! Marc Laimon is also fighting in the 2001 Abu Dhabi Championships. His name will definately be talked about for years to come...he is a rising star in submission grappling and we are proud of him to be our champion!!! BJ Penn defeats Mike Cardoso... The highly anticipated Superfight between Mundial Champion, BJ "The West Coast Phenom" Penn and Abu Dhabi Trials Champion, Mike Cardoso at The Grapplers Quest lived up to the hype!! Here is the play by play - At the start of regulation, Penn went for a single leg. Cardoso based off a little, trying to hold his balance then Penn hooked the other leg and quickly took him down. Cardoso worked the guard then Penn (tightly) passed the guard and went to side mount for about 2 minutes. Penn went to full mount and showed total control, as Cardoso attempted several times to reverse the position. Penn tried to arm bar/triangle choke him and that's when Cardoso reversed the position. It looked as if Cardoso was going to drop back for a leg lock, but Penn defended well. Cardoso couldn't pass BJ's guard so they ended up in the standing back up. Penn then took Cardoso down again scored more points passing his guard. Penn then took side control again then went to the mount. Cardoso tried to escape but BJ got his back. Penn then tried to go for the choke and several neck cranks but he couldn't finish Cardoso, who was defending well until the end of regulation. Both fighters fought hard and we would like to congratulate both of them for a great showing. BJ Penn has truly proved himself worthy of competing in Abu Dhabi, in my opinion. I hope that they use this fight to determine that his skills are top notch and that his no-gi game is on the level. He would be an excellent opponent for Royler Gracie in the Abu Dhabi brackets. In my opinion, if BJ Penn doesn't get invited to Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi will not be featuring the best fighters in the world. Click here to return to the news page |
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