Midwestern Championships Results

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) - Athletes from throughout the United States and at least five nations competed in the Midwestern Championships, a USA Judo Senior E-Level Point Tournament, in Waukegan, Ill. on Saturday.

Former Junior World and Senior Pan Am Team member Angelica Delgado (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida) is a veteran of the national tournament circuit, so the 19-year-old winning a gold medal wasn't a surprise to those watching the event.  What caused many double-takes was that Delgado, a two-time Senior Nationals medalist in the 57kg division, had dropped down to 52kg.

Although Delgado has never competed in the lighter division, she had little difficulty winning the division by ippons (instant wins) against Mirielle Graves (Edwardsville, Ill. / USA Stars) and Hannah Wright (Fond du Lac, Wis. / Club Olympia Judo). 

Delgado's South Florida teammate Jeanette Rodriguez (Davie, Fla.) fought up from 52kg for the weekend where she won four straight matches to take the 57kg title.

Rodriguez will return to the 52kg division in April when she competes at the Pan American Championships in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Two of Rodriguez's Pan Am Teammates also won their divisions on Saturday.

Ann Shiraishi (San Francisco, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute) won both matches in her round-robin 48kg division by ippon.

Katie Sell (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center), the reigning National Champion at 70kg, went 3-0 to win the division after a first-round bye.  Among her wins, Sell defeated her OTC teammate Samantha Bleier (Colorado Springs, Colo.) twice in the finals.

On the men's side, five-time Pan Am medalist Aaron Cohen (Buffalo Grove, Ill. / NYAC / Cohen's Judo) continued his streak of having not lost at his home tournament in more than 10 years when he earned his gold medal in the 90kg division.

Complete results are as follows: 

Men's 55kg
1. Robby Schultheis (Gurnee, Ill. / Gurnee Judo)

Men's 60kg
1. Juan Miguel Postigos (PER)
2. Josh Prado (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida)
3. David Kaufman (Vernon Hills, Ill. / Cohen's Judo)

Men's 66kg
1. Zaur Jalilzalde (AZE)
2. Timothy Eschtruth (Saginaw, Mich. / Tri Valley Judo Club)
3. Chris Kurakazusampson (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Michigan Extreme)

Men's 73kg
1. Alisher Mantobetov (KGZ)
2. Andrew Porras (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida)
3. Yuji Sadamitsu (JPN)

Men's 81kg
1. German Velazco (PER)
2. Davor Vasiljevic (San Jose, Calif. / USA Judo National Training Site at San Jose State University)
3. Max Kafka (St. Paul, Minn. / Midway Judo)

Men's 90kg
1. Aaron Cohen (Buffalo Grove, Ill. / NYAC / Cohen's Judo)
2. Tim Hildebrant (Indianapolis, Ind. / Mudokwan Judo)
3. Justin Winn (Clarksville, Tenn. / Clarksville Judo Club)

Men's 100kg
1. Vasile Malutan (Huntertown, Ind. / Fort Wayne Judo)
2. Michael Sanders (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Michigan Extreme)
3. Andre Coleman (Kansas City, Mo. / WMJC)

Men's +100kg
1. Michael Prieditis (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)
2. Brandon Holmberg (Minneapolis, Minn. / Doc's Gym)
3. Mick Kaminsky (Marquette, Mich. / Superior Judo)

Women's 44kg
1. Veronica Prado (Coral Springs, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida)

Women's 48kg
1. Ann Shiraishi (San Francisco, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute)
2. Ashley Hejlik (Welcome Mat Judo) 

Women's 52kg
1. Angelica Delgado (Miami, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida
2. Mirielle Graves (Edwardsville, Ill. / USA Stars)
3. Hannah Wright (Fond du Lac, Wis. / Club Olympia Judo)

Women's 57kg
1. Jeanette Rodriguez (Davie, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida)
2. Lauren Baez (Coral Gables, Fla. / USA Judo National Training Site at South Florida)
3. Veronica Graves (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)

Women's 63kg
1. Christal Ransom (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)
2. Kayla Martin (Evansville, Ind. / ACS Martial Arts Center)
3. Ruth Thompson (Poway, Calif. / Kokusai Budokan)

Women's 70kg
1. Katie Sell (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)
2. Samantha Bleier (Colorado Springs, Colo. / USA Judo National Training Site at the Olympic Training Center)
3. Kelsi Bostic (Anderson, Ind. / Judan Judo)

Women's 78kg
1. Suzie Rizek (Naperville, Ill. / Fox Valley Judo)
2. Stephanie Spears (San Diego, Calif. / Kokusai Budokan)

Women's +78kg
1. Molly O'Rourke (El Cerrito, Calif. / East Bay Judo Institute)

Tags: Kathleen Sell, Aaron Cohen, Andre Coleman, Andrew Porras, Angelica Delgado, Ann Shiraishi, Ashley Hejlik, Brandon Holmberg, Chris Kurakazusampson, Christal Ransom, Christal Ransom, David Kaufman , Davor Vasiljevic, Hannah Wright, Jeanette Rodriguez, Joshua Prado, Justin Winn, Kathleen Sell , Katie Sell, Lauren Baez, Max Kafka, Michael Prieditis, Michael Sanders, Mick Kaminsky , Mirielle Graves, Samantha Bleier, Tim Hildebrant, Timothy Eschtruth, Vasile Malutan, Veronica Prado