SATURDAY 06, 2020 – last night we saw another edition of FloGrappling’s Who’s Number One event, this time featured in Texas, an American state that has quickly become jiu-jitsu’s Mecca over the past few weeks given its more flexible sporting regulations amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA.
Aside from the exciting match-ups laid forth by Flo’s matchmakers, one of the underlying battles at WNO was that of Atos versus the Danaher Death Squad (Renzo Gracie Academy). Even though Atos is traditionally more embedded in the gi jiu-jitsu circuit, it has had plenty of success without the cotton armor, and the team’s main figures have exchanged words on social media with the New York team for the past couple of years.
But there was plenty more than a team battle at stake last night and it seems as though the athletes were well aware of this in their actions, this way delivering some of the most entertaining matches of the year. Below is a full commentary and match results for WNO’s Ryan V Boehm event.
– Emily Fernandez def. Hannah Stemblitz via decision
A very dominant performance by the young and promising Bastos BJJ prospect.
– Jessica Crane def. Jesse Stemple via RNC
Excellent performance from Crane who conquered guard passes, back takes the mount, always on the hunt for the submission. That relentlessness eventually paid off near the end of the match.
– Nathalia Santoro def. April Thompson via triangle
Smooth performance by Santoro from her back. Extremely aggressive hunting for the finish and with excellent guard recovery awareness. Her multiple submission attempts paid off midway through the match with a slick triangle choke for the tap.
– Andrew Tackett def. Anthony Robinson via decision
This was Andy Tackett’s first match of the day, as the teenage blue belt took on two matches on the same night. Brilliant display here from both athletes who made the most of the submission only ruleset by constantly going for subs at a frenetic pace – Robinson with lower limb attacks and Tackett with the more traditional approach of upper body from a dominant position. A great show of what both approaches can deliver.
In the end, it was 17YO Andrew who took the win via unanimous decision, likely due to his relentless pace and stronger positional dominance.
– Andrew Tackett def. Diego Pichilingue via decision
Tackett’s second match of the night was set only 5 minutes after his first, going up against the crafty purple belt Pichlingue. The match started with a visibly tired Tacket and a massive double leg by Diego. Andrew managed to move his way back to the top and sequentially back control.
Much as Robinson had done in the previous Tackett match, Diego’s willingness to chase the feet of the Brazilian Fight Factory standout led Andrew to find his way to the back control on more than one occasion, this positional dominance swayed the judges in his favor. Rightfully so.
– Austin Morris def. Wally Thompson via guillotine
A quick submission by Morris from top half guard. An unusual submission at the professional level, but looked tremendously tight.
– Stefanie Kopacz def. Jordan Patrick via decision
Traditional match between guard player versus passer. Very even for most of the action though Stefanie did have an active guard, which was enough to get the judges nod.
– Kevin McCormick def. Kyle Short via decision
Not an eventful match, mostly spent standing with not many takedown attempts.
– Diego Santana def. Chris Orozco via kimura
A very fun bout to follow with plenty of action from both parties, though Santana did make stronger positional advances. In the end, with 20 seconds to go, Santana pulled off the kimura finish from north-south, after a failed attempt earlier on.
– Camron Couch def. Isiah Wright via decision
A slow burner match, but near the end, it got to boiling point. Isiah was behind all the submission controls, with a higher work rate from the bottom as well. Couch looked superior when standing and did try a few flashy cartwheel passes, but overall, given the ruleset, we saw the match going yo Wright.
– Hunter Colvin def. Andre Reis via decision
One thing to take out of this match, (if you didn’t know this already,) Hunter Colvin is one heck of a grappler.
Keeping true to his name, Colvin hunted for victory right off the gate. Reis tried to gain space and play a more “elusive” game, but Colvin did not make his life easy, constantly pushing the pace and chasing him up and down the mat. A dominant performance by Colvin.
150lbs No-Gi
– Elisabeth Clay def. Chelsah Lyons via outside heel-hook
An efficient display of BJJ by the young brown belt who quickly defeated the veteran black belt after a short 50-50 guard exchange.
180lbs Black Belt No-Gi
– Kody Steele def. Alec Baulding via split decision
What a match, arguably the MOTN. Kody and Alec went at it in a style Flograppling’s commentator, Chase Smith adequately categorized as wrestle-jitsu.
Takedowns, sweeps, back attacks, leg attacks, and scramble after scramble, this was a fiery one. Unfortunately, they cannot both be winners, therefore Steele took the victory but the match could have gone either way.
160lbs No-Gi
– Kade Ruotolo def. Ethan Crelinsten via split decision
Set for 15 minutes, this match was beautifully chaotic for the majority of that time. Many positional exchanges, though Ethan looked like the most dangerous, positionally. The Canadian did establish a pass and mount positions on the young Atos standout, though Ruotolo’s uncanny ability to scramble out was on point.
Kade did not stop working for 1 minute. Always moving towards something, with many distance passing and a couple of solid Estima locks as well as a violin armlock attempts. We saw Crelinsten as the more efficient and dangerous throughout the match, but in the end, it was Ruotolo who got the win via split decision, likely for getting the more “snappy/flashy” sub attempts.
Co-Main Event: 170lbs No-Gi
– Tye Ruotolo def. Nicky Ryan via decision
A dominant performance by Tye who outworked Ryan from the top stance. With an outstanding mix of distance, pressure, and angle guard passing, Ruotolo was able to secure side control on 4 occasions, while attempting a few Estima locks and guillotines in the process. Solid win by Tye.
Main Event: Heavy Weight Black Belt No-Gi
– Gordon Ryan def, Kyle Boehm via triangle
A very interesting match between two athletes who had not yet met, despite being among the very best competitors in their weight class. Gordon came in with the stronger resume and was regarded as a heavy favorite from the get-go. That was also very clear when assessing the mat dynamics. Ryan was on the offense from the get-go, with Boehm efficiently playing defense for most of the action.
After the 11 minute mark, Kyle finally attempted an offensive move of his own, pulling Ryan to 50-50, likely to hunt for a heel-hook. One minute later he would try the same move, a set-up that this time propelled a series of exchanges which ended with Boehm on the wrong end of a triangle choke/armlock. Not the most eventful match on the card but brilliant killer instinct by Gordon.
