With 2020 coming to an end, the Atos Jiu-Jitsu team cleaned up at one of the last big IBJJF tournaments of the year: IBJJF Pans No-Gi.
After a chaotic year – in which many of the major tournaments were cancelled or postponed – the Atos team pushed ahead as much as they could with their training and and secured the Male Team trophy, with 87 points over second place’s 50 points, and just missed the Female Team trophy, ending in second with 40 points, behind Checkmat.
Professor Andre Galvao was thrilled with the results: “We did amazing. You know, it feels amazing to be coaching such a great team. The team did really well, from blue belt all the way to black belt. I’m really proud of all my students.”
Highlights
While not all of Atos HQ’s competitors were able to make the event, some of the team’s big names were there and put on a show. These included Kaynan Duarte and Lucas Barbosa, who each won their divisions and closed out in the open class, as well as Rafaela Guedes, who also won double gold.
“Kaynan makes things look so easy, you know? He’s on a different level. He looked really sharp, really technical. He’s strong physically, mentally, and even stronger technically,” Said Professor Galvao. “And Lucas Barbosa, was fighting really easy. The first two matches of his division he dominated the fight. It was complete domination. In the finals he played safe and he won by points. He swept his opponent and passed the guard, and he tried to set up some submissions, but the guy did a really good job defending.”
“And of course Rafaela Guedes won double gold as well. Rafaela is a machine. She did such an amazing job. She submitted her opponent in the finals of the open class by Rear-Naked Choke. Rafaela is in such a great position right now. Just the first couple of months as a black belt and she has already won two major events.”
“It felt pretty good, you know, to close out the year with such a great event. I can’t wait for it to be back to normal. Hopefully they release a vaccine and we settle this problem in the world and we’ll be back to our regular schedule. But I’m very honored to be there coaching my students. It’s a blessing.”
Closing Out the Year
With Pans No-Gi as one of the last major IBJJF events of the year, the team is looking forward to some serious rest and recovery. Most of them anyway… Besides Master Worlds later in December, some of the Atos Jiu-Jitsu HQ athletes have upcoming professional events and super fights. This includes: Kade Ruotolo at the Combat Jiu-Jitsu Worlds in Cancun, Mexico on November 29, Rafaela at F2W 158 on December 4, and Kaynan Duarte and Tye Ruotolo at Who’s Number One on December 11.
After that, everyone is looking forward to a break from competition training until the new year.
“We’ll have regular classes, but no comp class for the rest of December. Everybody needs to recover. I want to make sure they recover their body and come back stronger than ever next year. We’re just going to make sure everyone keeps sharpening their techniques, but also have time with their family, which is important for life. I want to make sure they get stronger physically, but also spiritually, and that they get stronger in their mind as well.”
Congratulations to everyone who medaled!!
Atos Jiu-Jitsu Results:
Gold:
Kaynan Duarte – Adult Black, Super-Heavy AND Open (close-out)
Lucas Barbosa – Adult Black, Heavy AND Open (close-out)
Rafaela Guedes – Adult Black, Heavy AND Open
Jonnatas Gracie – Adult Black, Middle
Lucas dos Santos Pinheiro – Adult Black, Light-Feather
Alexandria L. Enriquez – Adult Brown, Light AND OPEN
Joshua Carl Wilson – Master 3 Brown, Heavy
Matheus de Menezes – Adult Purple, Ultra-Heavy
Eric Perlman – Master 6 Purple, Middle
Chase Namba – Adult Blue, Middle
Roger Rivera – Master 2 Blue, Feather
Silver:
Nicole Sullivan – Adult Black, Light
Ronaldo Junior – Adult Black, Middle
Rachel Claire Ranschau – Adult Brown, Light
Jhenifer Aquino Gonzaga – Adult Brown, Light-Feather
Javier Zaruski Saul – Adult Brown, Super-Heavy
Adam Bradley – Adult Brown, Heavy
Demian Balderrama – Adult Brown, Light-Feather
Osamah Ali Almarwai – Adult Brown, Rooster
Matheus de Menezes – Adult Purple, Open
Matthew Ryan Malone – Master 4 Purple, Medium-Heavy
Clarissa Leiva – Adult Blue, Middle
Bronze:
Nicole Sullivan – Adult Black, Open
Juan Cleber Pio de Souza – Adult Black, Medium-Heavy
Dennis A. Pressey Jr. – Adult Black, Light-Feather
Geoffrey Villarreal – Master 1 Black, Feather
Luis Fernando Loor Vera – Master 2 Black, Feather
Marlond Ricauter Loor Vera – Master 3 Black, Light
Marcos Bispo de Lima Santos – Master 2 Brown, Medium-Heavy
Arthur Dorneles Mariath – Adult Purple, Heavy
Anthony Francis Munoz – Master 4 Purple, Middle