A long offseason didn’t seem to be much of a problem for the Moose Jaw Koseikan Judo Club. In fact, the nine athletes that went to the provincial tournament over the weekend in Watrous all came home with medals, including some multiple winners.
“It was a very successful weekend,” said instructor Jim Wiens. “For being the first major tournament of the season, it is nice to see everyone shake that rust off and actually have some very good performances.”
In the Under 9 years old and 42 kg category, Tyson Blatchford won a silver medal; in the Under 11 years old and 30 kg category, Justin Wiens also won a silver medal and in the Under 11 years old and 33 kg division, Adam Blatchford won a gold medal. In the Under 11 years old and 36 kg category, Dominick Mall won a silver medal; in the Under 13 years old and 34 kg category, Damien Wiens brought home a gold medal and in the Under 13/15 and 38 kg category, Zac Ferguson won a bronze medal. In the Under 18 and female 52/57 kg combined division, Taryn Montgomery won a silver medal. She also won silver in the female under 52/57 kg senior division. In the Under 20 years old/60 kg division, Adam Langdon won a gold medal, as well as a gold medal in the senior male under 60 kg category. Trent Hanson won gold in the senior novice under 81 kg category.
“They have really improved a lot through the offseason. It has been a pretty long offseason for us, probably a lot longer than it has been previous years,” he stated. “You always worry that people will lose that competition side of things when you are just doing in-club activities, so it is nice to see that it didn’t happen even with the longer period between competitions.”
For more on this story, read an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
