Summit Grappling Academy’s junior competition squad competed at the Elite Junior World Championship in Wolverhampton recently.  

The event is one of the main tournaments in the annual competition calendar. 

A group of seven Isle of Man competitors and their coaching team travelled to the event, which was well attended with stacked divisions, and brought home three silver and two bronze medals after some solid performances from these young athletes. 

Alan Greenhalgh had been honing his game in the lead up to the competition and delivered a solid performance, with a submission win via Americana in the quarter-finals and a points victory in the semi-final, coming away from the final with a silver medal in the gi. 

Hana Henson also took silver in the gi with a strong win on points in the first round where she demonstrated her technical knowledge and precision. 

Iona Meban, reigning British champion, also claimed silver in gi, winning the semi-final with a superb collar choke submission in under a minute of match time. 

Stanlagh Mayers found himself in a division of 15 competitors in the gi and the work he has been putting into his competition plan shone as he took a strong win in his first round. 

Luca Christian faced an even larger division of 19 competitors in the gi. Luca has really found his feet in his grey belt competition division this year and took a convincing win on points in the first round. 

Eryn Fitzpatrick in the gi was unable to find a match in her own weight category and was pitched against a much larger competitor. 

The improvements in her technical knowledge and competition experience showed and she successfully fended off attacks, putting on a solid performance and taking home a default bronze medal. 

After an impressive display of jiu-jitsu, the squad have returned spurred on to get straight back into training, gearing up towards the IBJJF Kids European Championships which will be held in Lisbon in October.