Team Lloyd Irvin Voted “Best Grappling Team of the Decade”

Congratulations to all the competitors from our Baltimore area school and all the competitors that represented Team Lloyd Irvin during the past 10 years.  Its a great accomplishment to win consistently over the course of a decade and we will continue to push to do it again!

The OFFICIAL Top Ten Teams of the Decade (1999-2009) at Grapplers Quest are:

TIE-10. Royler Gracie/Dave Adiv/Lou Vintaloro/Mike Mrkulic/Chris Savarese

TIE-10. Saulo & Alexandre Ribeiro/Rafael Lovato, Jr.

9. Carlson Gracie/Ricardo Calvacanti

8. Yamasaki Jiu Jitsu/Mario and Fernando Yamasaki/Francisco Neto/David Jacobs

7. Alliance/Paragon Jiu Jitsu/Franjinha Miller/Jeff Glover/Bill Cooper

6. Machado/Amilcar “Mica” Cippili and Walter Vital

5. Relson Gracie/Team Balance Studios/Phil and Ricardo Migliarese

4. American Top Team/Ricardo Liborio/Best Way/Andre Almeida “Dedeco”/Luigi Mondelli

3. Cobra Kai/Marc Laimon

2. Gracie Barra/Renzo Gracie/Ricardo Almeida

1. Team Lloyd Irvin/Leo Dalla/Jared Weiner/Brad Court/Mike Moses

You can read the full writeup here…

http://www.grapplersquest.com/blogs/briancimins/best-grappling-team-decade

Grapplers Quest 5-on-5 Team Results – Team Lloyd Irvin Wins It All!

Team Lloyd Irvin wins it all! As the promoter put it:

The Best Grappling Superfight Team in the Northeast will be crowned on Sept. 26th in Lancaster, PA.

5-ON-5 Superfight TEAM Weight Classes:
Men’s Featherweight: 150 lbs. and under
Men’s Welterweight: 150-169.9 lbs.
Men’s Cruiserweight: 170-189.9 lbs.
Men’s Heavyweight: 190 lbs. and Over
Women’s: Under 150 lbs.

Some good matches along the way, facing Jungle Gym in the semi-finals and Team Renzo Gracie in the finals but we managed to take the Gold. Great job!

Ron Stallings, DJ Jackson, Wilson Reis, Willie Leonard, Tracey Goodell Clean Up the Grapplers Quest!

Grapplers Quest Las Vegas Results

It was couples weekend in Vegas as Jon “Devastator” Delbrugge and Tye Ryan Murphy flew out to Las Vegas with significant others in tow.  They had to do some work at the Grapplers Quest before they could relax though.  Devastator started the day off, with 10-0 victory in the Quarterfinals.  He was winning 3-0 in the Semi-finals but lost via Kimura in the final minute of the match, placing him the 3/4 match.  He won dominantly there with another 10-0 annihilation.    A Bronze at the GQ West Advanced as a Blue Belt is a strong accomplishment.

Devastator then had 5 more matches in the Gi division, winning by Brabo, 3-0, 5-0, and 3-2 before coming up 2 points short in the finals.  A long day of competition for our teammate.

Josh Plaschkes Robbed at Copa Atlantica

Mike Atkin only had one other competitor in his weight division. Mike’s opponent was 32-years old and disrespected his elder from the beginning by throwing him to the mat. Annoyed at his insolence, Mike used his half-guard to get back on top and then methodically began to put the points back on the board. Mike defeated the young whipper-snapper 8-4.

Josh Plaschkes came close to a medal in his first Blue Belt division. Josh’s tapped out his first opponent with a rear naked choke. In the semi-finals, he faced the division winner and lost by a single advantage. There was some terrible refereeing in this bout – Josh came up with a single leg and his opponent jumps guard. No points were awarded. In the consolation round, Josh would again lose on advantages, this time two. Again very questionable refereeing. Video will be posted soon.

Fred Ramie used his great passing ability to secure side-mount twice on an experienced competitor from Alliance NYC. Fred followed up the 6-0 victory with a Bread-Cutter choke in the finals to win his first Adult Purple Belt division – Awesome Job!

Kwami participated in the Executive division and ended up taking 3rd. After losing in the semi-finals, he came back strong to take Bronze! Congrats to Kwami who has placed in every tournament he has competed in!

Grapplers Quest No-Gi Submission Grappling Challenge Results

Kwami Mensah has been working a lot on his positioning despite being known as a finisher. If you’ve been to class, you’ll notice that Kwami has been nursing an injured arm. The damage to his elbow has forced Kwami to develop new aspects of his game, specifically a systematic guard-passing plan. He used it to full-effect, winning 10-0 and 3-0 in his victories!

Josh Plaschkes drove all the way to New Jersey to be matched up with James Chiariello in his first match. James is a purple belt from Balance who had defeated Josh in June. The first match was a war with Josh losing on a single advantage.

The rematch picked up right where the last one left off with James attempting a flying armbar. Josh once again showed his impeccable defense and escaped what looked like an airtight submission. The two rivals traded sweeps, ankle locks, takedowns, until the final bell. The final score was 4-4 (4-3) with Josh losing again by a single advantage.

Dissapointed, Josh decided to enter the No-Gi Absolute despite weighing in at 136 lbs. Josh got the opportunity to compete against Bill Cooper, one of America’s BEST grappers – an awesome learning experience for the new Blue belt.

Fred Ramie had a rough start to the day, missing weight by one pound and then losing in the first round on an advantage. He managed to gather his wits about him and submit his 2nd opponent by armbar to win 3rd place.

Amie Returns to Competition – Wins Grapplers Quest

After her dual medals in Brazil, Amie Turton finally returned to the mats this weekend. Amie has been extremely busy with school (she is in her 1st year of undergrad) but pulled herself out of the library for a few hours to to win the Womens’s Advanced division at the Grapplers Quest. She had two matches, winning 6-0 and 7-2.

Look for Amie again at the ADCC trials in 2 weeks.

Grapplers Quest US Nationals Results

All competitors into the Final Four of their divisions.  Not bad…

Roberto is Grapplers Quest North American Champion!

Roberto Torralbas and Amie Turton took the long trip to New Jersey this weekend to compete at the Grapplers Quest tournament. This is a HUGE tournament, probably only 2nd to the international events such as the PanAms, and the competition was tough!

Four Golds Despite Torn Shoulder for Mike Atkin

Mike Atkin wins four medals at the Grapplers Quest Southwest despite having an injured shoulder. Mike was gonna try for a 5th medal to gather more points for the team but was stopped by Lloyd! Talk about team spirit! Team Lloyd Irvin still dominated, with strong performances from Mike Fowler, Mike Easton, Ryan Hall, and many others. Take a trip over to the main academy’s news page for more details.