NY Catch Wrestler Competes At Cage Fury Fighting Championships XII

For the second time this year NY Catch Wrestler Chris Sydnor competed at Cage Fury Fighting Championships in Atlantic City last Saturday, December 10,2011. Although Chris came up short by losing in the 2nd round via front head and arm choke to a very game opponent, Daniel Holmes, he fought aggressively and represented himself and the club well.

The 1st round was a fast paced back-and-forth battle in which Chis landed some good punches towards the end of the round against his noticeably winded opponent. Chris started off the 2nd round with a lead right hook connecting with his opponent’s face and then going for a double leg takedown. Unfortunately, Chris’ opponent secured a head and arm choke when they hit the ground. Chris could not pass his opponent’s guard and tapped in the first 19 seconds of the 2nd round.

Chris’ cardio definitely was improved due to his consistent training and utilizing his new training aid, the Elevation Mask. Chris is not discouraged by this set-back and will be back in the gym tonight. Chris is now 1-1 for Cage Fury Fighting Championships and looks forward to getting back in the cage soon.

You can vote for Chris’ fight to be the fight of the night at http://www.facebook.com/cage.fury.fighting.championships. Thanks for your support.

NY Catch Wrestler Has Good Showing In NAGA Northeast

One of our most dedicated wrestlers, Andrew Gotay, represented the Club well this weekend by placing 3rd in the Hwt No Gi Division and 2nd Place in the Gi Blue Belt Division. Since Andrew took first place in his previous NAGA tournament in July he had to move up to the Intermediate level this Saturday. Although Andrew has only been training at NY Catch Wrestling for a short time, he has obviously progressed well.

After a tough first match loss to a strong wrestler who later went on to win the weight class, Andrew tapped out his next opponent with an inverted toe-hold from the top double grapevine position. His opponent never saw the move coming and unfortunately, neither did the referee!  While Andrew was in the top position no one suspected that Andrew would flex his right foot drawing his opponents toe towards his hand and crank his opponent's ankle. It was great to see Andrew applying a move that we drill consistently. 

Although we haven’t drilled with Gi’s,  Andrew wanted to try his hand at competing in the Gi Division. He said that if Josh Barnett can compete with a Gi on so can he. He wasn’t allowed to compete in the White Belt Division because of his previous success at NAGA so Andrew had to compete in the Blue Belt Division. Well, Andrew is definitely not Josh Barnett but he showed a lot of heart and courage to even enter this event.

Congratulations to Andrew for his performance this weekend! Keep up the good work!

New York Catch Wrestler Wins NAGA Grappling Tournament

Congratulations to Andrew Gotay for bringing home the Gold in this past weekend’s NAGA Grappling tournament in Hartford, Connecticut! This NAGA tournament was part of an even larger event featuring multiple fitness and athletic events such as bodybuilding, weightlifting, CrossFit, and Karate.

Andrew’s consistent hard work and dedication paid off on Saturday as he took on two larger opponents in the Heavyweight division. He has been training at New York Catch Wrestling for the past year and has been a loyal member of our club.

In his first Submission wrestling tournament, Gotay displayed great takedowns and top control to win both of his matches by points.

We even had the pleasure of meeting Pro Wrestling Legend, Bob Backlund. Mr. Backlund was the WWF Heavyweight Champion from 1978 to 1983.

I spoke with him about Coach Billy Robinson and he could attest to Coach Robinson’s wrestling prowess.

Congratulations again to Andrew and keep up the good work!