Port Washington Jiu-Jitsu Family Wins

Four members of the Port Washington Salas Family traveled to Chicago this month to compete at the FIVE Grappling Championships. FIVE Grappling is a tournament league devoted to growing BJJ and Submission Grappling through a qualified North American Championship.

The Salas family trains at Seamless Progression Academy a downtown Port Washington business owned by Benjamin Salas. This family and it’s fighters proudly represented the Carlson Gracie Team, one of the oldest and most significant Jiu-Jitsu teams in history. The team totaled 100 fighters strong from a half dozen different dojos across the Midwest.

RESULTS:

Sarissa Salas

2nd Place Gi - PreTeen Combined Male&Female - White Belt -67.9

Alex Salas

1st Place Gi - Junior Teen Male - Gray Belt -104.9

1st Place NoGi - Junior Teen Male - Beginner -114.9

Lorenzo Salas

2nd Place Gi - Adult 30-39 Male - White Belt Middleweight

Prof. Benjamin Salas

1st Place Gi - Adult 40+ Male - Black Belt Absolute

2nd Place Gi - Adult 40+ Male - Black Belt Middleweight

Video highlights of the Absolute Black Belt finals may be see on FIVE Grapplings web channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yT8rk-LfOQQ&list=PLa96ITUSiCCkt8-Ju7clj6...

FIVE Grappling Illinois 2 was a wonderful event – before, during, and after. Pre-registration ran very smooth and when some of our brackets were small they emailed us with three options – accept a gold medal with no-contest, get a refund, or move up a weight division and join the fight…we joined.

Almost all divisions started on time (Black Belt divisions started a little late because the event provides a camera crew to film the fights – not so bad), divisions were bracketed fairly, and the awards, mats, and officiating was first class. Of course there are always hiccups but the promoters were easy to work with and they should be very proud of their event. I encourage everyone to attend FIVE Grappling events in our region.

Thanks to Clint, Alex, Dan, Sarissa, Lorenzo, and Benjamin for stepping up and joining the fight. Special thanks to Kolette, Cyrus, Chad, and Patrick for making the journey down to Oak Park Pavilion to cheer on the team. Super-special thanks to all our teammates in Port Washington and West Bend (Dukatz Academy of Martial Arts) for making themselves available these past few weeks to help prepare the team.

Those interested in classes are welcome to stop on by the dojo (226-228 N. Franklin St.) or check out the academies Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SeamlessProgressionAcademy).