Jacob Gardhouse goes into every jiu jitsu tournament with the mentality to win.
That attitude helped Gardhouse, a member and coach with Pacific Top Team (PTT) Penticton, walk away with a gold medal from the Western Canadian Championship at the South Okanagan Events Centre on June 10. Gardhouse picked up two straight wins in the brown belt medium heavy division. In both matches he used leg lock submissions.
“They were really tough guys. It was a hard match, it was good,” he said. “Going into it I didn’t have a lot of expectation. I just tried to clear my mind and go about it the way I could.”
His results are just one of many solid performances by PTT Penticton members on the mat. In total they won six gold, 13 silver and eight bronze in the Canadian Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation event.
“The team did great,” said Gardhouse. “I’m super proud of everyone for getting out there and challenging themselves. I got to watch a lot of really exciting matches and help coach a lot of people through their first tournament. As well as help coach a few more seasoned competitors.”
The PTT Penticton winners were: Ivan Lipsack, bronze in peewee bantam weight, Madison Fowler, bronze in peewee rooster, Jeddah Wood, gold in peewee 2 rooster, Cullan Bray, silver in peewee 2 advanced rooster, Leroi Bent, gold in pee wee 2 light feather, Avery Benn, silver in peewee 2 yellow and orange, Daylan Wakeling, bronze in peewee 2 yellow and orange, Jacob Scheiber, silver in juniors light feather, Devon Beyer, gold in teen white cruiser, Ryan Bonanno, silver in white light feather, Marcone Lima, silver in white medium heavy, while Paul Millington earned bronze in the same division.
Michael Seman, silver in white super heavy and nogi super heavy, Lane Racicot, gold in bluebelt light and bronze in bluebelt absolute and gold in nogi light, while Kevin Harrison picked up silver in bluebelt light. Katrina Cullum, silver in female white light, Letitia Best won gold in female white middle, Shyla Lee-Doyle earned bronze in blue belt heavy. Ethan Finlayson earned silver in nogi juvenile medium heavy.
Gardhouse said he watched several talented jiu jitsu athletes competing, making for exciting matches.
“I love when this tournament comes to town and gives Penticton and other locals the chances to see the what real Brazilian jiu jitsu looks like while still be able to be family friendly and fun,” he said. “I was happy to see lots of top guys from Alberta and such make the trip, even with the bad road conditions leading into the weekend.”
A total of 356 athletes registered for the championship.
Full results can be view at https://cbjjf.org/events/2017/6/10/western-canadian-championship.
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