06/14/2026
This was a great weekend for the Club at the final tournament of the Judo season, The NUMA Cup! Over two days, we had 6 fighters competing in 8 categories.
On Day 1, the club was represented by Benjamin, Daniel, and Adam.
Benjamin fought in the stacked U14 -55kg division. While he didn't manage to make the podium, he fought extremely well, going 2-2 in his pool, winning both his fights by Ippon (including a beautiful ippon against a blue belt). His two losses were very hard fought matches against green belts, one by a late ippon and the other by decision. As this tournament officially marked one year since Benjamin started competing, this was a great performance!
Next up we had Daniel fighting in the u14 -46kg division. Daniel was a man on a mission, and won all three of his fights, including a hard fought final match against a blue/green belt, claiming the Gold!
Finishing Day 1 we had Adam fighting in the U18 -55kg division. Adam came out the gates very strong, winning his first three fights all by Ippon, making the finals. Unfortunately, after a dominate start to the match he zigged when he should have zagged against a very skilled opponent, finishing his day with a well earned Silver Medal.
On Day 2, we had and even bigger group competing, including Élise, Remi, Daniel, Ellie, and Adam.
The day started off strong with Élise fighting in the U10 -32kg division, in her first tournament ever. Élise showed a great combination of technique and aggression, winning both of her matches and earing herself the Gold!
Next up we had Remi fighting in the U12 -55kg division. Remi came out strong, winning his first match with a quick Ippon. His opponent then regathered themselves and came back to beat Remi in a closely contested second match, forcing the third and final match. Remi returned to form in the tiebreaker, winning with another quick Ippon, claiming the Gold.
Ellie fought in the U16 -63kg division in her second ever tournament, competing against two green belts and a blue belt (and national bronze medalist). Ellie fought amazingly well, winning her first match by ippon, and coming very close in her second match (threw for a waza-ari that could have been Ippon) before getting caught in the final 9 seconds. She then lasted almost two and a half minutes against the National bronze medalist, finishing her day with a hard fought 1-2 record and the Bronze medal! This was a great performance in itself, but truly exceptional when considering the level of her competition and that it was only her second tournament ever.
Daniel continued the mission he started on Day 1, fighting in the U16 -50kg yellow and orange belt division. Daniel again won all three of his matches, earning his second Gold of the tournament.
Finishing up the second day of competition we again had Adam, fighting in the U16 -55kg category. His day started off with some adversity, with a very hard fought, closely contested match against a tough competitor, where he unfortunately couldn't quite prevail. Adam bounced back with two strong showings, winning both matches by Ippon with slick tachiwaza and newaza technique, making the finals. In the finals, he met the same opponent he fought in his first match. It was another very closely contested match, but unfortunately Adam could not manage to get the win this time around, ending his day with his second hard fought Silver medal.
This concluded the weekend, with club fighters earing 4 Gold, 2 Silver, and 1 Bronze, with a combined record of 18 wins and 8 losses. Again, congratulations to all the athletes! You all make us very proud!
Results:
Day 1
Daniel U14 -46kg Gold (3-0)
Benjamin U14 -55kg (2-2)
Adam U18 -55kg Silver (3-1)
Day 2
Elise U10 -32kg Gold (2-0)
Remi U12 -55kg Gold (2-1)
Daniel U16 -50kg (y-o) Gold (3-0)
Ellie U16 -63kg Bronze (1-2)
Adam U16 -55kg Silver (2-2)
