White Dragon Judo Club

The 29th North/South Judo Tournament took place at the Family Sportplex in Belleville, Illinois. Master’s judokas Dan Raney and Demonn Smith were selected to the South judo squad in the team competition. The North squad pulled out a close match against the South to keep the coveted trophy on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River. Derick Wellman coached a very talented group as all members of his team medaled. Issac Valdez De Soto looked exceptional in his matches and continues to get better. He took silver in his division. Connor Ross made his tournament debut with a promising third place finish. Junior Nationals bound Anthony Darevsky took silver for the second consecutive year. Koreyon Harris fought hard to a silver medal finish. Julia Greene made her long awaited return to the mat worth the wait. Julia displayed a relentless attack against a talented competition pool. The talented judoka did not waver as she took gold in her pool. A much improved Devin Busch scored gold when he won his gold medal match by yuko score.
In the seniors division, Jay Baker displayed vast improvement in his judo game. He showed off some good ashiwaza on his way to a second place finish. Dan Raney executed ura nage and scored gold at 100-KG. Demonn Smith anchored Team White Dragon with a bronze medal showing in the Master’s division and a silver medal at 90KG.