An Island Top Team athlete reached the top at a high-level grappling tournament in Seattle this past weekend.
Shane Malone earned two gold medals at Revolution XXV, the largest grappling tourney in the Pacific Northwest.
The purple-belt competitor choked out his black-belt opponent in a minute and a half in the no gi advanced heavyweight division.
“It’s not unheard of for purple belts to defeat legitimate black belts in no gi competition, but it is quite rare, extremely rare when done by submission, practically without precedent when done in such overwhelming fashion, and exclusively done by up-and-coming grappling prodigies,” said Robert Biernacki, Island Top Team instructor, in a press release.
Malone also won gold in his gi purple belt division. His teammate Cal Mcdonald won gold in the gi white belt heavyweight class.