Members of the Gracie Barra Vernon-Shuswap club hit the podium at the second annual Grapplers Inc. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tournament last weekend in Langley.
Under the watchful eye of Mario Deveault, Hayden Francis, an 18-year-old Seaton grad, claimed silver in an intense blue-belt battle.
In white belt action, Meighan Faulkner claimed gold in both the women’s heavyweight and open divisions, while Christine Ahola collected bronze in both her class, and in the open.
Enderby’s Conor Ahola managed silver in the juvenile men’s division, Grindrod’s Donavin Scott struck bronze in both the masters heavyweight class and no gi open division, and Keith Ahola earned bronze in the masters heavyweight open.
Ed Stein earned bronze in the men’s super-heavyweight open class.
Meanwhile, some of Western Canada’s top up-and-coming mixed martial arts talent will be on tap as Battlefield Fight League 13 returns to Wesbild Centre Saturday night.
In the main event, Kamloops’ Matt (The Riotmaker) Baker will battle Andrew Buckland for the vacant BFL middleweight pro title. The co-main event will feature a featherweight title scrap between Graham Spencer and Shawn Albrecht.
Canoe’s Ryan (Grizz) Allen, a jiu-jitsu ace who trains with Gracie Barra Vernon-Shuswap, will try to take the amateur BFL middleweight strap from North Burnaby’s Micah Brakefield. In his last appearance in Vernon, Allen ignited the crowd with his verbal submission win over stand-in Bret Deacon at BFL 10 last August.
Other scheduled bouts include: Matt Dwyer vs. Mark Dobie, welterweight; Corey Tossof vs. Jordon Beecroft, middleweight; Gary Mangat vs. Dan Lin, bantamweight; Marucs Aurelio vs. Jose Cornejo, 175-pound catchweight; Daniel Swain vs. Russel Davis, featherweight.
Doors open at 5 p.m., with the first tilt slated for 5:30. Tickets start at $35. Visit www.ticketseller.ca, or contact the Ticket Seller Box Office at 250-549-7469.
