New Blood Fuels Gracie NEPA Judo at Keystone Games

There is an old saying that “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, well, on Sunday at the annual Keystone games event in York PA, three members of Gracie NEPA Judo not only stepped, but LEAPED into their journey into a big way

Competing in their first tournament, white belts Dave Leslie, Kevin Roginski, and Joe Alogna toed the line and showed the results of months of hardwork that they have put in at WARPATH Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness Center.

Leslie, who went 3-1 and Roginski, who went 2-2 controlled the Men’s Novice 220 and above division claiming 2nd and third place respectively while Alogna battled his way to a 1-1 record and a second place finish in the Senior Men’s 178 and over division. Although, their division may have been labeled “novice”, assistant coach Matt Marcinek says that the three fought as anything but:

“ I’m extremely impressed with the way that Dave, Kevin, and Joe fought today. Usually when someone fights in their first tournament, they are stiff, nervous, and overly cautious, I know I was, but not these guys they were calm, relaxed, and just followed the game plan that myself and Sensei Eddie went over with them. I think that’s a testament to all the hard work they put in leading into this tournament, I fyou put in the work in practice tournament day is easy, these guys proved that today”
Also bringing home a medal for Gracie NEPA Judo was Black belt Jen Williams, who brought home the gold medal in the women’s division ,displaying an excellent blend of both stand up and ground fighting skill

Also competing for Gracie NEPA Judo was Brown belt Vito Piccozo, who went 0-2 and Junior Matt Leslie, who also went 0-2 had his impressive medals earned streak snapped but regardless of the outcome, Sensei Eddie Adams believes there are always positives that can be taken away
“ I thought everyone fought great today. The most important thing to me was that everyone went there and battled, which has sort of become the hallmark or the standard we’ve set at Gracie NEPA Judo which is, that we will fight until the very last bell sounds and everyone certainly did that today and I could not be more proud of their effort”