As part of the San Jose State Judo team, we were fortunate to win the team title for the males, and runner up for the females. We took the tournament by storm taking gold in six out of the seven male weight classes, and four of the women’s divisions. Among those who took gold were Brent Yasukochi (60 kg), Willie Inserra (73 kg), Matthew Ogata (81 kg), Colton Brown (90 kg), LA Smith (100kg), and Sid Raj (100+kg), Elaine Tandjung (52kg), Lee Galles (57kg), Sophia Swain (70kg), and Ronnie Elor (70+kg). Brenton Hsu (66 kg), Taylor Kaufman (63kg), Lenny Guerrero-Baez (81 kg) also gave impressive performances. Lets just say that “Gold was in the air” that day for SJSU Judo. Freshman Willie Inserra was awarded with the “Most Valuable Player” award despite sacrificing his own weight class and fighting a division up for the benefit of the team. This tournament meant a lot to our athletes, because the winners of their respective divisions landed a spot on the 2015 World University Games, which will be hosted in South Korea. These Qualifiers do not happen every year, from our knowledge this happens every four years. These games are not to be taken lightly. For example Japan will send their athletes from top universities such as Tokai, Nichidai, and Tsukuba to mention a few. With this in mind, our athletes trained tirelessly, and vigorously to make sure we took care of business in College Station, Texas. Attending this tournament, and competing with the best in the world is what we live and train for everyday. Matthew Ogata was especially excited, stating “I am so proud of my teammates and their performances today, I am so ecstatic to join nine of my teammates at the 2015 World University Games next year! This was my last Collegiates, and I am glad that I could end it on a good note!” Brent Yasukochi also commented after the tournament stating “ This was a great day for us, I am so proud of my teammates, we worked very hard for this, and cannot wait to join them on the World stage at the Games next summer! Words cannot express what this means for us, and our coaches!”
