It is that time of year. The Saint Louis Open Judo Championships got under way at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Missouri. Nine judokas from White Dragon Judo Club competed in what is to be a U.S. Judo Senior Nationals qualifying tournament.
Tracy Hangley coached a junior team that had there work cut out for them in this tournament. Julia Greene and Anthony Darevsky moved up in age and weight divisions. Julia Greene showed no intimidation on her way to silver medal finish. Anthony Darevsky proved to be a tough opponent in a tough division. He was able to collect a bronze medal for his efforts.
The senior team, coached by Tom Kuhne, saw the debut of Alonzo Bussello. The Peruvian standout displayed an aggresive style of Judo with an exceptional ground game. Bussello took silver in an exciting division. Adnan Gutic made a spectacular return from the
Olympic Training Center in Colorado. He fought a grueling gold medal match but was able to pull out the victory. Larry Lewis added a gold medal to his resume. Gene Hamilton continues to improve with a silver medal finish. Anna Feygina punches her ticket to senior judo nationals with dominant gold medal finish. The Russian judoka went undefeated on the day winning all of her match by ippon.
The Masters division featured Dan Rainey, who also was a referee in the junior division. Rainey executed a beautiful ura nage which was the deciding factor in him earning a silver medal on the day. Demonn Smith qualified for the senior nationals with a gold medal performance. The savvy veteran continues show that he can get better with age.
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