Today we had the SUBCON Los Angeles Open in Norwalk. It was a double elimination tournament that split the divisions by belt rank. Beginner = white, intermediate = blue/purple, advanced = brown/black. We had 7 guys competing from Subfighter. Plus Tameem Hamoui since I've been coaching him in matches for the last 10 years.

Tameem was the first one up and since his division — Advanced Welterweight — only had one other person, he went against that guy twice (it was a double elimination tournament). He won his first match on points and submitted the guy with a straight ankle lock the second time to get the gold. Chase Gormley had the EXACT same scenario in his division — Advanced heavyweight. There was only one other person and he went against him twice, winning on points the first time and via heel hook the second time to get the gold.

After that, we had Josh Jones, Albert Lee, Alex Gomez & Troy McCleary in the Intermediate divisions. Troy went 0-2 losing both his matches on points. They were both super competitive though, so the losses weren't too hard to take. Josh, Albert & Alex were all in the same 7-man middleweight division. Albert had a first round bye, while Josh and Alex both won their first matches on points with dominant wrestling and top control. Josh ended up going against Alex in the semifinals and winning on points to get into the finals. Albert ended up winning his semifinal match via guillotine around a minute into the match. In the end, Josh beat Albert on points in a match where our team was guaranteed 1st and 2nd place either way.

Last up was the twin Arriola brothers — Mat and Stephen — in the beginners division for their first nogi tournament. Stephen didn't place, but he still managed to get a win — going 1-2. His brother Mat ended up taking 2nd place in the division — almost breaking one of his opponent's arms in an armbar that the ref had to stop because he wouldn't tap!

In the end, it was a pretty well run tournament and it finish relatively early. Also... as a reminder — since it came up during the tournament and had us cracking up:

DO NOT CALL GRAPPLING MATCHES "FIGHTS"!

(it's embarassing)