This weekend was a grappling fan’s dream. More than 1,000 athletes were on the scene in Las Vegas for the ADCC West Coast Trials and there were two days of intense no-gi grappling action. Live on FloGrappling.com, we witnessed some favorites picking up victories, with a slew of upsets along the way.
On day one there was plenty to talk about.
Day 1
Women’s 60+ kg
The favorites were on display and proved that the rankings were correct, with the stars moving on to day two. The standout was Elisabeth Clay.
Women’s -60 kg
Tammi Musumeci, Brianna Ste-Marie and Raquel Canuto were the stars of the show on day one.
99 + Kg
The largest men in the competition were also in the smallest bracket of the division. So the winners on day one narrowed to 16 for day two. Favorite Kyle Boehm had a first-round bye and moved onto day two with a submission in his first match.
99 kg
Devhonte Johnson and Breylor Grout had very exciting matches on day one. Johnson competed twice, hitting an arm triangle in his opening match and a darce choke to move on to day two. Grout turned a kimura into a heel hook to win his first match in under one minute and moved on to day two with a points victory.
88 kg
The most stacked division in the tournament had some massive matches on day one. Dominique Bell won 14-0 in his opening match and moved on to day two on points. The number one seeded Jacob Couch earned a first-round bye and won via triangle to get to day two. British Columbia had three combatants make day two — Harrison Woods, Mike Crisp, Micah Brakefield and Reynaldo Camacho.
77 kg
Many favorites moved on to day two. Some notable victories were Ben Eddy with an opening match hindulotine, William Tackett earned a reverse mounted triangle victory, a false reap heel hook into a nasty inside heel hook by Kieran Kichuk and Magid Hage won his first match by triangle in less than a minute. Two favorites had early exits — JZ Cavalcante and Kody Steele.
66 kg
Lots of excitement in the lightest weight class bracket. A few to name were Keith Krikorian winning his opener by rear-naked choke in two minutes, Robert Diggle with a beautiful heel hook, Damien Anderson picked up a quick kimura victory in his first match and Joshua Cisneros hit a black hole triangle.
Day 2
Women’s 60+ kg
The most notable thing was Kendall Reusing pulling out due to injury. Brittney Johnson took her place, and won her first match against Assilyn O’Connell. Elisabeth Clay earned two victories and then lost in the semi-finals to Amy Campo.
Women’s -60 kg
Brianna Ste-Marie had submission victories all the way through til the finals, but won on points against Jasmine Rocha. Impressive tournament for the Canadian.
99 + Kg
Kyle Boehm does what he does best is dominate, however, in the round of 16 he had a bit of a scare, moving forward with just one minute left in the match, earning points. The biggest upset in the bracket was Joe Dierkhising losing to Brandon Williamson.
99 kg
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This division was one of the only to have the four top-ranked opponents make it to the semi-finals. In the end, Paul Ardilla defeated Mario Gonzalez in just 47-seconds.
88 kg
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What a day for British Columbia in the 88 kg bracket. The most notable victory of the day was On Guard BJJ’s Harrison Woods upsetting the number one ranked Jacob Couch 3-0. The victory was halted by fellow B.C. boy and Dyson BJJ’s Mike Crisp. After all, was said and done, B-Team’s Jay Rodriguez picked up a buggy choke victory over Hunter Colvin. Crisp earned third place by defeating David Garmo.
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77 kg
William Tackett proved to be one of the most dominant competitors of the weekend. Picking up four wins via submission and then two by points in order to capture the 77 kg division.
66 kg
Keith Krikorian is no stranger to the ADCC trials finals and 2022 was no different. His trials record is 22-3 and he managed to capture the 66 kg division and a spot at the ADCC tournament in September by earning a very deep heel hook against Josh Cisneros in the finals.
Here are the seven competitors that will be back in Vegas in September for ADCC 2022.
99+ kg: Kyle Boehm defeated Daniel Manasiou via Points (0 – -1)
99 kg: Paul Ardila def Mario Gonzalez via Heel Hook at 47-seconds
60+ kg: Amy Campo def Paige Ivette via Inside Heel Hook at 2:27
88 kg: Jay Rodriguez def Hunter Colvin via Buggy Choke at 6:53
-60 kg: Brianna Ste-Marie def Jasmine Rocha via Points (3-0)
77 kg: William Tackett def Andy Varela via Points 4-2
66b kg: Keith Krikorian def Joshua Cisneros via Heel Hook at 2:42
You can catch all the matches from the ADCC West Coast Trials on FloGrappling.com.
