Rick Hawn (Team FORCE) moved up from 81kg , the division he fought in at the Athens Olympic Games, to 90kg for the first time at a major event, the 2007 New York Open. Hawn reaped the rewards of his decision when he won his first round bout against two-time European medalist Ricardo Echarte (ESP) in Golden Score. Hawn then defeated a Canadian player by Ippon throwing him ippon seionage.

In the quarter-finals, Hawn earned another major victory by defeating Nyamchu Damdinsuren (MGL), the 2006 Asian Games Champion at 81kg and a silver medalist at the Hamburg Super World Cup in February.  Up by two penalties committed by Damdinsuren, Hawn threw him for a yuko late in the match with ouchi gare.  Hawn was given a penalty toward the end of the five minutes, but still produced the win.

In the semi-finals, Hawn beat Wiktor Tworzydlo (POL) catching him with two waza-aris with kata garuma, setting up the final match against David Zahirovic (FRA), a 2004 Belgian Open Champion at 81kg.  Hawn's gold medal run was ended when Zahirovic caught Hawn with a right side uchimata for Ippon.  Hawn had to settle for the silver.

In the men's Heavyweight division (+100kg), Team FORCE member Dan McCormick started the day off with a bye and then got off to a good start beating a tough Mongolian opponent in the first round by a score of waza-ari to two yukos.  In his semi-final match Dan squared off against eventual gold medalist Joao Schlittler (BRA) who caught McCormick with an ouchi gare for Ippon about two minutes into the bout.  McCormick then faced Yuri Polovynkin (UKR) for the Bronze. 

Polovynkin took the early lead by countering McCormick harai goshi attack for a yuko.   The Ukranian then scored another yuko with an ouchi gare, but left his arm exposed and McCormick was quick to transition into a juji gatame armlock that made Polovynkin submit for the ippon and Bronze medal.

New Team FORCE member, Gerhard Zeitler (60kg) of Germany, started the day off strong beating both an Ecuadorian opponent and #1 ranked American Nick Kossor by Ippon with te-garuma. In the quarterfinal Bastien Dressy (FRA) proved to be too strong for Zeitler as he caught the young German with Ogoshi for yuko and waza-ari druing the bought.  Zeitler could not seem to figure out the left-sided Frenchman the entire match and lost.  Zeitler then won two more matches by Ippon putting himself in the bronze medal match against Marek Krecielewski (POL).   Once again Zeitler struggles with the left handed style of the Polish player and ended up getting throw with kouchi gare for Ippon after just 1 minute and a half of the match.  Zeitler finished in 5th place and a final record or 4-2.

Other members of Pedro's Judo Center who competed in the event were George Pissimmissis (90kg) who lost a first round match to Nyamchu Damdinsuren (MGL) by Ippon.  Teammate Rick Hawn defeated the Mongolian in the quarterfinals eliminating Pissimmissis from the event.

At 81kg, Woody Tondreau lost to fifth place finisher Georg Schels (GER) getting caught with Osoto gare for ippon.  The German made it to the semi-finals which gave Tondreau a second chance in the repecharge, but Tondreau could not capitalize and got beat by Ross McBaisey (USA). Tondreau finished 0-2.

Complete results are as follows:

Men’s 60kg

1. Taraje Williams-Murray (Bronx, N.Y. / NYAC / Spartak Sports Club)

2. Ronnie Talledo (PER / Coral Springs, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai)

3. Sergio Pessoa Jr. (CAN)

3. Marek Krecielewski (POL)

5. Bastien Dressy (FRA)

5. Gerhard Zeitler (GER / Wakefield, Mass. / Pedro’s Judo Center)

Men’s 66kg

1. Hashbaatar Tsagaanbaatar (MGL)

2. Kenny Hashimoto (Thornton, Colo. / Northglenn Judo)

3. Jeremy Liggett (Glenville, N.Y. / NYAC / USA Judo National Training Site at the Jason Morris Judo Center)

3. Taylor Takata (Harlingen, Texas / USA Judo National Training Site at Harlingen)

5. Nate Torra (El Cerrito, Calif. / NYAC / East Bay Judo Institute)

5. Sasha Mehmedovic (CAN)

Men’s 73kg

1. Toni Lettner (GER)

2. Leonardo Alan (BRA / Coral Springs, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai)

3. Ryan Reser (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)

3. Tomasz Krecielewski (POL)

5. Edwin Vallejo (COL)

5. Chuck Jefferson (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University)

Men’s 81kg

1. Aaron Cohen (Buffalo Grove, Ill. / NYAC / Cohen’s Judo)

2. Harry St. Leger (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Starrett Judo)

3. Tariel Minasashvili (GEO)

3. Srdjan Mrvaljevic (SRB)

5. Georg Schels (GER)

5. Nicolas Bernard (FRA)

Men’s 90kg

1. David Zahirovic (FRA)

2. Rick Hawn (Wakefield, Mass. / Team FORCE)

3. Robert Edward (CAN)

3. Ricardo Echarte (ESP)

5. Wiktor Tworzydlo (POL)

5. Frederick Jaskiewicz (CAN)

Men’s 100kg

1. Scott Edward (CAN)

2. Adler Volmar (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami)

3. Guillaume Cavalli (CAN)

3. Alex Aguiar (BRA)

5. Artur Gasparyan (ARM)

5. Micah Bellamy (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)

Men’s +100kg

1. Joao Schlittler (BRA)

2. Kirk Hoffmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site)

3. Daniel McCormick (Wakefield, Mass. / Team FORCE)

3. Anthony Turner (Miami, Fla. / IntoCombat)

5. Yuri Polovynkin (UKR)

5. Joel Brutus (Matawan, N.J. / NYAC)