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U.S. Judokas Earn Gold in Canada |
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Although Rick Hawn (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE) earned the top finish for an American in the 90kg division, placing second after a final round loss by ippon to Alexandre Emond (CAN), the biggest news of the day looked to be Garry St. Leger’s (Brooklyn, N.Y. / NYAC / Starrett Judo) defeat of former World medalist Brian Olson (Longmont, Colo. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center) in the repechage.
Both St. Leger and Olson, who began his comeback bid for a fourth Olympic Team with a gold medal at the U.S. Open, lost in the preliminary rounds to Wiktor Tworzydlo (POL) and met up in the repechage.
Last week Olson beat St. Leger at the Open, but St. Leger earned the upset this week when he threw Olson with an o soto gari for ippon en route to winning the bronze medal.
Nineteen-year-old Jake Larsen (Santa Rosa, Calif. / Redwood Coast Judo) also fought for bronze, losing to Tworzydlo to place fifth.
Nina Cutro-Kelly (San Antonio, Texas / Universal Judo) earned the day’s most impressive win on the women’s side, defeating six-time Pan Am medalist Amy Cotton (CAN) in the semifinals of the 78kg division.
With the score tied at a yuko a piece, Cutro-Kelly threw Cotton for a yuko in overtime after having lost to Cotton at the U.S. Open last week.
Cutro-Kelly lost in the final, however, by a yuko to 2007 Pan Am medalist Marylise Levesque (CAN) who also beat Cutro-Kelly in the bronze medal match at the Open.
Rhonda Morrell-Pruitt (Centerville, Ohio / Shudokan Judo) also won a medal in the 78kg division. After losing to Levesque in the semifinals, Morrell-Pruitt beat Rebecca Pretious (CAN) by ippon.
Katie Mocco (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) also fought for bronze, but placed fifth after losses to both Levesque and Cotton. Mocco fought both players last week as well, beating Levesque, but getting pinned by Cotton in the final.
Marti Malloy (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Trianing Site at San Jose State University) placed second in the 63kg division, losing in the finals to Jennie Bonsant (CAN) who pinned Malloy with sankaku (triangle hold).
Bonsant also beat Malloy in the second round of the U.S. Open last week, but lost to Kayla Harrison (Wakefield, Mass. / USA Judo National Team FORCE) in the final.
This time, Bonsant armbarred Harrison in the semifinal. Harrison then beat Emilie Claude-Leroux (CAN) by ippon to win bronze.
U.S. Open Champion Heidi Moore (Englewood, Colo. / Denver Judo) lost in the first round of the +78kg division, but won her next three matches to earn the bronze medal.
Lorey Edwards (Lorain, Ohio / Chu To Bu West) fought for bronze in the +78kg division, but lost, placing fifth.
Nick Kossor (Glenville, N.Y. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center) was the highest placing American in the 60kg division, losing to Gonzalo Ibanez (CAN) in the bronze medal final to place fifth.
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