COMPETITORS from the Mount Gambier Grappling Club enjoyed a successful campaign at the annual 10th Planet jiu jitsu intra-club competition in Melbourne on Sunday.
Despite relatively small numbers compared to some opponents, Mount Gambier produced a fighting effort to finish runner-up in the teams competition, just behind South Melbourne, which claimed back-to-back titles.
Around 60 competitors from submission grappling clubs across Australia were matched against each other in the round robin submission-only event.
The competition is known as the Graystar Cup, in honour of Adam Gray who passed away two years ago, with funds raised supporting his family.
A five-minute time limit was allocated per match, but if competitors could not win in regulation, an overtime situation was used and saw competitors placed in an offence/defence position with submit or escape rules.
A win in regulation time saw three points rewarded for victory, while wins in overtime only earned one point, which ensured action-packed matches throughout the event.
Mount Gambier was represented by five individuals who fought in four weight and rank divisions.
Andy England produced the standout performance to dominate the 70-79kg division.
His hard work paid off to win all four of his matches in regulation for a combined fight time of 10 minutes, receiving the gold medal.
Shem Balshaw and Leighton Hancock both contested the white belt 80-89kg division, which was won by Balshaw.
It was an impressive performance from Balshaw with only one year of training under his belt, winning three of his matches by submission in regulation to claim the gold medal in just his second competition.
Leighton impressed on debut after only five months of training, with a win in overtime and solid performances in his other three contests.
Tom Hair took home a silver medal in the white belt 60-69kg division.
He won three of his matches in regulation, before he lost his final contest in escape time by just half of a second.
Mount Gambier coach Matt Grubb scored a silver medal in the under 80kg purple belt division after he won two of his matches by submission in regulation.
Grubb said he was proud of his team’s achievements.
“I was really proud of how all the competitors performed on the day,” he said.
“After travelling to Melbourne at 4am in the morning, weighing in and basically jumping straight onto the mat to compete, all the guys had to fight their own fight.”
Grubb said the club’s strong result was the by-product of plenty of hard work in training.
“It showed the things we are working on in training are paying off,” he said.
“They all knew their game plans and followed them through with great success.
“It’s a great tribute to their dedication and consistency at training.
“We may have been a small club from the country, but we made some noise and opened some eyes on the day.”
