Nanaimo’s Island Top Team was unstoppable at a state championship-level event this past weekend.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu team had five athletes combine for seven gold medals Saturday at the North American Grappling Association’s Oregon championships.
Cal McDonald was a double winner, placing first both in his weight class and in the absolute division for the no gi expert category. He pulled off a heel hook in overtime in his absolute final.
Umesh Thillaivasan also took double gold as he won his no gi expert weight class and his gi purple belt weight class. Thillaivasan came from behind in his no gi final, catching his opponent with a heel hook with eight seconds left.
Other winners were Robert Biernacki, who won the no gi expert division with an armbar; Matt Kwan, who finished his opponent with a kneebar in no gi expert; and Monica Bonczak, who used a triangle choke to win in gi blue belt.
Biernacki, Top Team instructor, called it a “pretty spectacular day” for his team with wins in four of the event’s nine expert no gi weight divisions.
“This puts us far ahead of any other team in the tournament and adds to our reputation as one of the top no gi BJJ academies in the Pacific Northwest,” he said in a press release.