When the Students of Rozzi Self-Defense Center ventured off to the Arnold Classic, we knew it would be exciting. But could someone please tell me why they had to pull at the heart strings? First you had Jeri Wethli! When this little sparkplugs body can catch up with the size of her heart, Then Folks Jeri Wethli will definitley be heard from in the future. This little girl is a voracious, and deliberate fighter.
Instead of celebrating her Gold and thinking it was over Jeri, went to the ring where Dave Caughey was fighting and looked him in the eye ( mind you Jeri as about 4ft 6" tall and Dave is about 6'3") " It's your mat, dont let him take it away from you". Then she smiled at Dave, and in a round about way Dave completed his task.
Then you have the Heart Attack Kid. Ryan Campbell. All he did was give everybody in his corner a heart attack. With less than one minute gone in the Gold Medal Match Ryan was down in points 6-0. And that my friends is why my pal Johnny, Johnny Rozzi is hoarse. With Johnny yelling instructions, and evrybody cheering him on, Ryan overcame the 6-0 deficit to win the the Gold Medal Match, in a very technically sound way, once the jitters wore off.
To complete the win Ryan came back to make his opponent tap out with Americana, after scoring 9 unanswered points. And for excited as Jeri was when Ryan won you would think that she had won another Gold. Both kids had smiles that went from ear to ear.
Now that brings me to the Last Second Kid (even though he's over 21 he's still one of Rozzi's kids) The whole time entering his first tounament , when Dave saw a huge guy he would say " I bet thats who I get in the first round.
In all the matches I have seen this was one that made you want to just scream. With less than a minute to go Dave was up by two points. His opponent pulled a move that put him up by 1 point with time ticking out. Then with less than 10 seconds left and Johnny yelling so loud that people in the next room were trying to obey him. Dave passed his opponent's guard to take the lead with less than 10 seconds. This is what gave him the victory in his first match.
If at anytime during that minute span, Dave had stopped to think about it.... Then he would have run out of time. In the last two minutes of this match the lead changed hands five times! And that is how Dave "The Last Second Kid" Caughey was able to win his first match, before losing a heartbreak in the third round.
And that brings us to Don Wilts. After a two hour delay, Donny watched his competition and wondered what was going to happen. It was if he wasn't sure he belonged! But after his first two matches Donny was the one whom the rest of the field was talking about. Going into his third round match Don had built up a full head of steam. And he would need it. He battled all the way until the match time had expired. Don Wilts does not know the meaning of quit!! In a very tough match this young man never quit the aggresive style that had got him this far. But in the end, and not because of lack of effort, but Donny came up just short of advancing to the medal qualifying rounds.
What these four students showed was that you dont need a big school name to stand up and be counted. What you DO NEED is a great Instructor and Coach. And the position was very professionally, and passionately filled by Johnny, Johnny Rozzi. John is a Saulo Ribeiro Training Assoc. Owner of the Rozzi Self-defense Center and Founder of The Kid Safe Program.
John and Kathleen his wife and partner, both still the have passion to compete as well as teach. But after watching Johnny during the Arnold Classic it was hard to tell who was more exhausted. His student or him. Jeri and Ryan were the first to fight, but after Ryans match, Johnny didnt seem to have much volume to his voice. But after the Last Second Kid started Johnny found another five or six decibels to help Dave win. It seemed as he was on the mat yelling instructions to Dave, that the closer he scooted towards Dave the louder he got ( if thats possible lol) trying to help his student win the match. At times it was more fun to watch John then the match.
If you ever get the chane to see a Rozzi student check out the coach, you will see an unrivaled passion of a coach to help his students succeed. But to Johnny Rozzi, sucess for his students is for them to take the mat and do their best. And that to Johnny is sucess, reguardless of the outcome. I can honestly say that every single student ( except Jeri, because she just beat people up to fast... just kidding), and coach left everything they had on the mat.
Now I may be wrong, but I seldom am. But when an Athlete does the best they can, and leaves everything they have out there, then thats what you call a Real Athlete. And all the training in the world won't help you if you dont have the heart. And folks, The Rozzi SD Center in New Castle, Pennsylvania is full of Heart.
The biggest thing that I saw in the Jiu-Jitsu, or should I say noticed was the passion for the sport that each and every athlete showed. You can't help but become engrossed as much as the fighters. From the crowd you could hear shouts of encouragement, and move suggestions. Unless they had a coach that was louder then they were. Were else can you get into a fight with someone then talk about as friends afterwards? Also my hat goes off to the parents, spouses, and friends who made the journey for support.
It seems that promoter Mike Lorze did an excellant job in promoting the sport, as did Relson Gracie, and for that the Staff of The World Fighter Report, and Athletes thank you. We look forward to next years Classic.
I ask my staff to post the results but as of yet, they have not posted them all, just a few.
The Fans also were treated to a epic match-up that this reporter has never seen, in the Mens Pro Final between Saulo Ribeiro and Garcia, and also Xande Ribeiro as he faced Richardo Migiarise. It seemed that Xande was on top of his game this day. He looked absolutely unstoppable as he tapped out all of his opponents. photos
Our next stop will be the Kumate. You can view information on our events page.
So to all the Organizers, Promoters, and Athletes, on behalf of the fans we salute you.
Levi... Editor WFR
