Three Summit Grappling Stars Become British Jiu-Jitsu Champs

While we were all sunning ourselves in the glorious 2 day’s worth of Manx summer sunshine, Summit Grappling athletes were literally kicking ass in Manchester at the British Jiu-Jitsu Championships.

The club came away with not one, nor two, but THREE of their athletes being crowned British Champions. Not only that. Along with the 3 golds, the team also bagged themselves 9 silver and 7 bronze medals.

There were some hard fought wins and superb performances over the two-day tournament which saw the mixed Junior and Senior Squads compete for the British title accolade.

Despite an injury prior to the tournament, Iona Meban quickly won her final with a collar choke submission, making her the youngest British Jiu-Jitsu Champion from the Isle of Man.

Gianni Fabrizio’s semi-final saw him scoring 16-0, successfully spurring him into the final, where he racked up the points 20-4. It secured him the gold along with the British Champion title.

Teammates Hayley Curtis and Shirley Tung lost their finals in their respective divisions but qualified for the Open weight class where they then met in the final. It’s inevitable that members of the same team will come up against each other on occasion and this one resulted in Hayley scoring 6-0 points and winning by submission to win gold.

Laurie Eve came to this tournament with the will to win and put on superb performances in all his matches. In his division’s semi-final he scored 3-0 points before submitting his opponent with a choke earning him the silver medal. He then qualified for the Open weight class where he won the first round match early by submission after again scoring 3-0. In his quarterfinal he scored 3-2 by the end of the match which meant he brought home the bronze.

Joe Kane dominantly won his quarter final racking up 6-0 points before submitting his opponent with a choke. A great performance in his semi-final with another submission victory meant he won silver.

Newcomer Eliza Patterson put on a confident and impressive performance in her semi-final with a fantastic 9-0 point victory, leading her to bring home a well deserved silver.

Daisy Moore, who has seen big improvements during the lead up to the tournament, won her semi final by referees decision securing her a silver.

Alan Greenhalgh had yet another dominant victory in his Quarterfinal match winning 9-0 on points at full time which included a superb single leg takedown.

Cedric Brigino, who is the Isle of Man’s highest Junior belt, won his Quarterfinal convincingly with 6-0 points at full time which gave him a bronze.

Meanwhile, this was Eryn Fitzpatrick’s second ever tournament with her first being in March this year. She took home bronze after a 19-2 point win in her Quarter final.

Head Coach Conrad Roberts said:

‘We really pushed the squads in the lead up to this tournament and they’ve all been working hard and should be proud of the results as we are as coaches. Three further British Champions along with numerous medallists is a fantastic achievement! Summit would like to say a big thank you to Conister Bank for their support with this tournament and their involvement this year. DotPerformance were also documenting the camp and tournament and we can’t wait to see the final outcome.’