First off, I took a trip out to New York the Friday before Grapplers Quest and did a 2 hour seminar at my good friend Sam Sterns school...It was awesome, there were over 30 people who attended, I was very happy with it..Thanks to Sammy and his students!!
Ok Grapplers quest...I was a little frustrated that I got slated with a huge muscle bound wrestler named Tom Manelski in my first match. He had great wrestling skills and was a pro at staying away the rest of the time. After a minute or so of us on our feet, he did a sweet armdrag to the double leg take down. It was so fast! Then he stood up and tried to run around my guard for the rest of the match never really engaging. Any time I grabbed him to do "Jiu Jitsu" he would stand up and back away..I butt scooted because I didnt want to stand up again and have him score more points with another take down. He was like a brick wall and very hard to move or pull in. He stayed standing up the rest of the match and I never really came close to submitting him, but i was NEVER in any danger either...It was a very boring match, and I never got to test my skills or see how I matched up with some of the best in the country like I wanted to. A match between me and Bill the Grill Cooper, or Efrain Ruiz, or Pablo Papovitch would have been way more exciting and I would have tested my abilities. But its all good!! Tom manelski did the same thing he did to me to Efrain Ruiz, And Bill Cooper earning him a spot in the Finals against Pablo Papovitch..It turned out Pablo had better wrestling than Tom and was able to rack up points on a few takedowns winning the tournament. I'll get em next one... Below is a video link of the first three minutes of the match...My boy Tom was filming it and if you listen carefully you hear Grapplers Quest owner Brian Cimins tell him he cant film the match, then it cuts off, lol...Stayed tuned for next blog...Goin to UFC 100 and will have some great footage from there (Fighter after parties, etc. lol)
