After winning their respective weight divisions earlier in the day, Atos teammates Lucas Barbosa and Kaynan Duarte won their semifinal matches and closed out the open weight division at this year’s IBJJF No-Gi Pan American Championships.
Barbosa, who won heavyweight gold after defeating Giancarlo Bodoni via points, went on to defeat Stephen Simms in the semifinals of the open weight division, breaking their 2-2 tie with a flurry of transitions in the literal last minute of the match that resulted in him claiming victory with a nine-point lead.
After Duarte submitted Tex Johnson in the superheavyweight category, he then battled his way to a comfortable 6-0 over his open weight semifinals opponent, Jeferson Guaresi.
Like fellow Atos competitors Jonnatas Gracie and Ronaldo Junior, who made it to the finals of the middleweight division, Duarte and Barbosa opted for a closeout instead of facing each other on the mats to determine who would take home gold and silver.
