Four members of Arashi-Do in Sylvan Lake attended the Submission Ace Championship Feb. 17 in Blackfalds Alberta.
Up first was Jadon Hewitt. He just turned 13 and competed in the 13-15 year old white belt over 110 division. There was one other competitor so they had a best of 3 matches division. Jadon competed strongly but was outmatched by his opponent, taking second. The referee said Hewitt did an excellent job representing Arashi-Do Sylvan Lake both on and off the mat showing composure and excellent sportsmanship.
Up next was Stephanie Schmale. After only 3 months of training, she was back for her second tournament. She ended up submitting all 3 competitors she was matched against and took gold in the women’s white belt in the under 140 pound division.
In the absolute division Schmale finished second. The absolute division is a match between all competitors that win in their weight division. Stephanie fought for 15 minutes straight while competing against the absolute champion before being submitted, a feat head instructor Ken Sumner reported as “an absolute marathon and amazing job.”
Ryan Green was up next competing in the adult white belt 160 pound division. Sumner reported Green is widely expected to get his blue belt in an April, so he wanted to compete one last time as a white belt. He submitted two of his opponents, drawing with one, and losing to one. Green ended up taking third place in an extremely competitive division.
Lucas Green was up next. Competing to show his brother he could do it, and to give some emotional support to Ryan, Lucas held his own, but came up short finishing fourth in this white belt over 215 pound division.
“Everyone did amazing. Every event brings something new and lots of things to learn. I’m super proud of the team and a fantastic event,” said Sumner.
The team continues to train at Arashi-Do Sylvan Lake. New students are always welcome.