White Dragon Judo Club

Team White Dragon got the year started off with a BOOM! BANG! On January 10, 2015, the judo team was at the Hollis Park Recreation Center in Mapleton, Illinois for the 2015 Hollis Park Judo Invitational. Derick Wellman, Randy Pierce and Jay Baker assisted in the officiating of this event. Eugene Hamilton grabbed the coaches chair and brought in a squad ready to start the year off right. In the junior category, Issac Valdez De Soto returned to the mat after Christmas break and showed no signs of mat rust. The young lion highlighted his division with an awesome koshi guruma in his second match. He finished the day with a silver medal. Devin Busch also placed second in a highly talented division. The seniors divisions were led by White Dragon Judo’s superstar judokas Marissa Ardnt and Adnan Gutic. Ardnt dominated her division on her way to a 1st place finish. Adnan Gutic had his work cut out for him as he faced a division stacked with skilled judo players. Gutic showed the heart of a champion fighting his way to the final and taking the silver medal. Demonn Smith rounded out the team with two gold medals in the senior and masters categories. No doubt about it, Team White Dragon looks to have a solid 2015 year.