Newly appointed ATT brown belt Ezra Lenon recently participated at the 2010 Arnold Grappling/ Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Challenge, held in Columbus, OH on March 5th and 6th.  Ezra competed in the brown belt gi division, the 190 lb. no-gi division, and the absolute no-gi division.

During the two day tournament Ezra faced a lot of tough competitors and had a total of 8 matches, winning 7 in all.  On the first day of competition he participated in the brown belt gi division.  After battling it out in three matches, Ezra ended up taking 2nd place.  The second day of competition consisted of the no-gi matches.  By the end of the day, after competing in five matches, Ezra came out victorious in both the 190 lb. no-gi division and in the absolute no-gi division.  Along with 2 first place medals he took home a $1000 cash prize for his win in the absolute division.

“This year’s absolute division at the Arnold’s contained some pretty tough competition,” Ezra said.  Along with Lenon, the bracket consisted of an Ohio State wrestler and a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt.  Ezra had not previously faced any of the competitors before, so he and his brothers (who also competed in the tournament) scouted out the participants through out the day.  Of his 4 matches in the absolute bracket, Ezra submitted three opponents and defeated a fourth on points: 10-0.

To prepare for the Arnold Grappling Challenge Ezra trained weekly in both gi and no-gi classes at ATT.  He also focused on his cardio with some cross training.  Ezra said that the biggest factor in preparing for this tournament was competing in a few other tournaments prior to this one.  “Those other tournaments really helped me, because I got to face a lot of different competitors,” he said.

I asked Ezra how he felt about his performance. “I felt really well,”  he said, “I defeated most all of my opponents pretty quickly and never felt like I was in any danger.  Overall I was really happy with how I did.”

Up next for Ezra is a grappling tournament out in Omaha this May.  He participated in the Omaha tournament this past February and won.  After that tournament Ezra plans on taking some time off before getting back into the gym to prepare for the World Championships that will be held in Las Vegas this August.

Congratulations Ezra!

Congratulations to Ezra Lenon and Shawn Woods for their wins on February 20th at the 12th Best of the Best BJJ Tournament in Omaha, NE.

Ezra Lenon won the Adult Male Gi Purple belt division and then went on to win the Brown/Purple belt combined Absolute Division in dominating fashion; winning 16-0.  Shawn Woods won the Adult Male Gi Blue belt absolute division.

As a team, American Top Team-MO placed 3rd out of 16 teams.

Again, congratulations to Ezra and Shawn for their wins and for representing American Top Team-MO proudly.

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