Miami, FL- Nine US Judo National Team FORCE members competed against athletes from over 20 other states in the US Middle School, High School and Collegiate National Judo Championships held this past weekend at Florida International University in Miami, Florida.

USA Judo National Team FORCE members train in Boulder, Colorado and Wakefield, Massachusetts. The team has been designated as a national training program by USA Judo and the US Olympic Committee. The team is currently coached by Mr. Jimmy Pedro Jr., the most decorated American in US Olympic Judo history, and Mr. Buck Wessell, 2004 Olympic Judo Team Leader.

Team FORCE members had an impressive showing bringing home two gold medals, two bronze medals, two 4th place finishes and one 5th place finish.

“The performance of our team, both on and off the mat, showed that we have all of the ingredients it takes to make champions. I look forward to working hard with the team as we continue to improve and reach our goals” commented Team FORCE West Coach Buck Wessell.

In the Middle School Nationals, seasoned player, Sofia Mani (Team FORCE) easily captured the Female 53 kg division with decisive Ippon (the equivalent of a knock out in boxing) victories over all of her opponents. 

Max Wessell (Team FORCE), Shining Mountain, also had an impressive day capturing the bronze medal in the male 70kg division losing only one match all day to eventual gold medalist Rolando Ruiz (Miami, FL). Wessell went 3-1 and threw all three of his other opponents for Ippon en route to the bronze.

Newcomer 58kg female, Kasia Rasker (Team FORCE), Southern Hills Middle School also had a strong showing for her first national event. Rasker easily defeated her first opponent, but later lost for the bronze medal to Caminero (Tampa, FL).

Team FORCE continued with victories in the High School divisions. Chris Round (Team Force) , North Andover High School, captured the bronze medal among a strong pool of competitors in the male 81kg division. Round started the day off with a first round loss to Ajax Tadehara (ID), but came back and won four straight matches including a win over Tadehara to finish third in the event.  In the Bronze medal match Chris beat Jeremy Mathis from GA throwing Mathis for two waza-aris with sumi gaeshi.

Marcus Hale (Team FORCE) , Woodland Park High School, suffered only one defeat to gold medalist Carlos Moran (Clifton, NJ) and finished the tournament with a 3 – 1 record and a bronze medal of his own.  Despite a first round loss, Hale looked solid in the rest of his matches, including a spectacular harai goshi for ippon in the bronze medal match.

Joseph Hashimoto (Team FORCE) had the largest division in the tournament in the male 66 kg division and had to settle for 5th place after losing in the final seconds of his last match that prohibited him from proceeding to the medal rounds.

Nicole Laurel (Team Force), Woodland Park High School, had a very tough division and yet was still able to finish 1-2 on the day. Nikki defeats came late in matches she was dominating and her victory was over a long standing rival.

Zach Maes 55 kg (Team FORCE), Mullin High School, went 2-1 on the day while Ian Stahlujak 90 kg (Team Force) , Woodland Park High School, went 0 – 2. Both lost close matches that prevented them from progressing into the medal rounds.

In the Collegiate divisions, Diba Mani (Team FORCE), Colorado University, captured the gold medal going 2 – 0 in the women’s 52 kg division including an Ippon win over seasoned competitor Tara Clark.

”I am extremely proud of the way our team competed at this event. For many it was their first major national level event. Team FORCE is a new program with many young competitors who have Olympic aspirations. As long as they continue to train hard and work to improve their game, we are going to be a ‘force’ to deal with,” commented Head Coach Jimmy Pedro.

Team FORCE athletes can be seen next month at the US Senior National Championships in Miami, Florida.

Sofia Mani (center) - 1st Place

Max Wessell (right) - 3rd Place

Chris Round (right) - 3rd Place

Marcus Hale (right) - 3rd Place