Crazy 88 Mixed Martial Arts took a team of 7 competitors to the No Gi Pan Championships this year and came home with 4 Gold Medals, a winning record once again. Highlights: Crazy 88 Wins All Age Groups at IBJJF No Gi Pan Championships 2017 – across Adult, Masters, and Juvenile divisions.
Crazy 88 fearless No Gi head coach Tye Ryan Murphy was the last to compete for the day in the Master 1 Black Belt Medium-Heavy Division and still came out ahead, literally. Coach Murphy won his first match 2-0 with a bunch of advantages for good measure. He won his Finals match with a crafty takedown to secure the Gold Medal. Murphy was unable to continue on to the Open Class Division after reopening a gash in his Finals match, a cut above his right eye that sent him to the emergency room a few weeks prior.
Tye Ryan Murphy wins Gold in Master 1 Black Belt Medium-Heavy Division
Vannessa Griffin entered the adult Brown Belt Female Middle Division. Multiple world champions were entered to compete across all the brown belt weight classes. She won one match to secure the Gold Medal on points 2-2 with 1-0 on advantages. Her opponent was also a Purple Belt Light Weight World Champion the year before Griffin won the division.
Vannessa Griffin wins Gold in Brown Belt Middle Division
Tafon Nchukwi, a beast of an athlete, entered the adult Blue Belt Ultra-Heavy Division. He won his first and second matches both on a 12-0 lead. Nchukwi was able to secure the final win and bring home the Gold Medal by referee’s decision in the Finals. He entered the Open Division later in the day and won two out of three matches. Nchukwi won his first open class match 9-0 and the second by referee’s decision. He brought home another Bronze Medal.
Tafon Nchukwi wins Gold in Blue Belt Ultra-Heavy Division
Meghan Sirico entered the Blue Belt Juvenile 2 Female Light Division. She also brought home a Gold Medal in her division after beating two opponents. She won her first match by points, coming back from being down on the scoreboard to pull into the lead. Sirico won her second match 6-0 and avenged a previous loss from earlier in the year to win her division.
Meghan Sirico wins Gold in Juvenile 2 Blue Belt Light Division
Jon DelBrugge, Byung Ju Lee, and Navarro Chamberlain also competed at the tournament. Our competitors will look to improve on their performances in the coming months before the IBJJF No Gi World Championships in December 2017.