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Published in the Interest of the Personnel at Fort Hood, Texas
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2010 08:04:15 AM |
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Combatives Tournament: McCracken wins title bout
July 8, 2010 | Sports
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Bloody and battered, Staff Sgt. Shane Lees reversed Spc. Timothy Boyd in the final moments of their middleweight championship bout July 1 at Abrams gym. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Sergeant Trent Olson throws Sgt. Ryan McCracken to the mat July 1 during their championship heavyweight match at Abrams gym. McCracken won the fight. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Staff Sgt. Neal Lang receives his welterweight championship buckle from Lt. Gen. Will Grimsley after defeating Spc. Jason Figgemeier during the Fort Hood Army Combatives Tournament at Abrams gym July 1. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
In the third-place middleweight match July 1 at Abrams Physical Fitness Center, Capt. Peter Zappola (left) defeated Pfc. Jose Castro. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Private 1st Class Tyson Johnson defeated Sgt. Marcus Crosby in the third-place heavyweight class July 1 at Abrams Physical Fitness Center. Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
Michael Heckman, Sentinel Sports Editor
After being pummeled for several minutes and nearly pinned, Ryan McCracken set his opponent up by throwing a roundhouse kick.
When, as expected, Staff Sgt. Trent Olson, an excellent wrestler, attempted to grab his leg and throw him to the mat, McCracken followed up with a right-handed blow to Olson’s jaw that ended the final championship bout of the night July 1 during the Fort Hood Army Combatives Tournament at Abrams Physical Fitness Center.
A near-capacity crowd watched seven third-place matches before the seven championship matches, including McCracken’s.
“It was a lot tougher; every year it gets tougher. He was a really good wrestler. When I brought him down,” McCracken said, “I threw a leg kick because I knew he was a wrestler and he’d reach to take me down so I followed it up with a right and caught him. He’s a very strong guy.”
McCracken, who won last year’s heavyweight championship bout, will join 20 other Soldiers from Fort Hood that will advance to the All-Army Combatives Tournament to be held Oct. 1-3 at Fort Benning, Ga.
Post officials expect its fighters to perform better at Fort Benning than last year, when McCracken’s fourth-place finish in the heavyweight division was the best by Fort Hood combatives fighters.
Before the matches began, Lt. Gen. Will Grimsley, acting III Corps and Fort Hood commander, said, of the post’s combatives finalists, “They’re going to do great.
“We have the talent. With the fighters and coaches here there’s no reason we can’t win; these kids got heart, they got skill and drive. Combatives,” he added, “is a basic warrior task; this is what we do for a living. If we can do this right we can do anything right. I fight myself and this is just big; this is important. I’m a huge supporter.”
In one of the hardest-fought matches on the fight card, III Corps fighter Staff Sgt. Shane Lees, bloody and battered, reversed his middleweight opponent, Spc. Timothy Boyd, a supply Soldier assigned to the 154th Transportation Company, in the final seconds of the third round.
After the come-from-behind victory, which drew some boos from the heavily pro-Boyd crowd, Lees said, “I’m the defending champion at this weight. I had to come in, got some stitches yesterday. But this is a very tough guy. The takedown at the end definitely helped.
“He was aggressive, a lot stronger than I thought he would be. He was very flexible, had great hips so he was hard to hold down. All around, he surprised me.”
Boyd was supported by a large contingent of 154th Trans. Co. troops wearing green Wrangler’s T-shirts.
One of them, 1st Lt. Christopher Moore, predicted Boyd would win.
“He’s doing great in the fighting; He’s a quiet guy but he wakes up in the ring.
“He’s strong, dedicated and when he sets out to do something, he accomplishes it,” Moore said before the bout.
First- through third-place finishers from the post tournament, which included 295 entrants, will train with fighters from the Grappler’s Lair in Belton.
“The whole objective here is to get the best of the best combatants out of III Corps and Fort Hood, to train them up and then go to Fort Benning and win the All-Army Combatives Tournament. We have never won the All-Army tournament but we will this year,” Grimsley said.
In other championship matches: Johnathan Jagatnarain defeated Robert Combs in the light heavy-weight class; Capt. Jason Norwood defeated Spc. Bronsen Hansen in the cruiser-weight division; Staff Sgt. Shane Lees defeated Spc. Timothy Boyd in the middle-weight class; Staff Sgt. Neil Lang defeated Spc. Jason Figgemeier, welter-weight division, and was named tournament MVP; Sgt. 1st Class Jesse Thornton defeated Spc. Darrean Barnett, light-weight division; and, in the flyweight class, Cpl. Robert Texidor defeated Sgt. Rico Bradley in 3 minutes, 28 seconds, to win a trophy for the tournament’s fastest submission.
In the third-place matches: Spc. Eugene Roberts defeated Joshua Brown in the flyweight class; Sgt. Kevin Jones defeated Silverio Perez in the lightweight class, Pfc. Johnny Roberts defeated 2nd Lt. Daniel Sloan in the welterweight class; Capt. Peter Zappola defeated Spc. Jose Castro in the middleweight bout; Sgt. Dwan West defeated Spc. Wayne Bogard in the cruiserweight class; Pfc. Justin Vargas knocked out Sgt. Mathew Martin in a fastest-knockout winning time of a minute in the light heavyweight class; and Pfc. Tyson Johnson defeated Sgt. Marcus Crosby in the in the heavyweight class.
The top three finishers in each class will advance to the All-Army tournament. In team competition, the 1st Brigade Combat Team won the overall title with 115 points and the 4th Sust. Bde. finished in second place with 95 points.
According to Lt. Col. Reynold Arredondo, the tournament’s officer-in-charge and a member of its host unit, the 163rd Military Intelligence Battalion, 504th BfSB, the post tournament was the largest combatives tournament in the Army’s history.
“Our objective is to train up the best of the best fighters and win at Fort Benning,” Arredondo said.
When, as expected, Staff Sgt. Trent Olson, an excellent wrestler, attempted to grab his leg and throw him to the mat, McCracken followed up with a right-handed blow to Olson’s jaw that ended the final championship bout of the night July 1 during the Fort Hood Army Combatives Tournament at Abrams Physical Fitness Center.
A near-capacity crowd watched seven third-place matches before the seven championship matches, including McCracken’s.
“It was a lot tougher; every year it gets tougher. He was a really good wrestler. When I brought him down,” McCracken said, “I threw a leg kick because I knew he was a wrestler and he’d reach to take me down so I followed it up with a right and caught him. He’s a very strong guy.”
McCracken, who won last year’s heavyweight championship bout, will join 20 other Soldiers from Fort Hood that will advance to the All-Army Combatives Tournament to be held Oct. 1-3 at Fort Benning, Ga.
Post officials expect its fighters to perform better at Fort Benning than last year, when McCracken’s fourth-place finish in the heavyweight division was the best by Fort Hood combatives fighters.
Before the matches began, Lt. Gen. Will Grimsley, acting III Corps and Fort Hood commander, said, of the post’s combatives finalists, “They’re going to do great.
“We have the talent. With the fighters and coaches here there’s no reason we can’t win; these kids got heart, they got skill and drive. Combatives,” he added, “is a basic warrior task; this is what we do for a living. If we can do this right we can do anything right. I fight myself and this is just big; this is important. I’m a huge supporter.”
In one of the hardest-fought matches on the fight card, III Corps fighter Staff Sgt. Shane Lees, bloody and battered, reversed his middleweight opponent, Spc. Timothy Boyd, a supply Soldier assigned to the 154th Transportation Company, in the final seconds of the third round.
After the come-from-behind victory, which drew some boos from the heavily pro-Boyd crowd, Lees said, “I’m the defending champion at this weight. I had to come in, got some stitches yesterday. But this is a very tough guy. The takedown at the end definitely helped.
“He was aggressive, a lot stronger than I thought he would be. He was very flexible, had great hips so he was hard to hold down. All around, he surprised me.”
Boyd was supported by a large contingent of 154th Trans. Co. troops wearing green Wrangler’s T-shirts.
One of them, 1st Lt. Christopher Moore, predicted Boyd would win.
“He’s doing great in the fighting; He’s a quiet guy but he wakes up in the ring.
“He’s strong, dedicated and when he sets out to do something, he accomplishes it,” Moore said before the bout.
First- through third-place finishers from the post tournament, which included 295 entrants, will train with fighters from the Grappler’s Lair in Belton.
“The whole objective here is to get the best of the best combatants out of III Corps and Fort Hood, to train them up and then go to Fort Benning and win the All-Army Combatives Tournament. We have never won the All-Army tournament but we will this year,” Grimsley said.
In other championship matches: Johnathan Jagatnarain defeated Robert Combs in the light heavy-weight class; Capt. Jason Norwood defeated Spc. Bronsen Hansen in the cruiser-weight division; Staff Sgt. Shane Lees defeated Spc. Timothy Boyd in the middle-weight class; Staff Sgt. Neil Lang defeated Spc. Jason Figgemeier, welter-weight division, and was named tournament MVP; Sgt. 1st Class Jesse Thornton defeated Spc. Darrean Barnett, light-weight division; and, in the flyweight class, Cpl. Robert Texidor defeated Sgt. Rico Bradley in 3 minutes, 28 seconds, to win a trophy for the tournament’s fastest submission.
In the third-place matches: Spc. Eugene Roberts defeated Joshua Brown in the flyweight class; Sgt. Kevin Jones defeated Silverio Perez in the lightweight class, Pfc. Johnny Roberts defeated 2nd Lt. Daniel Sloan in the welterweight class; Capt. Peter Zappola defeated Spc. Jose Castro in the middleweight bout; Sgt. Dwan West defeated Spc. Wayne Bogard in the cruiserweight class; Pfc. Justin Vargas knocked out Sgt. Mathew Martin in a fastest-knockout winning time of a minute in the light heavyweight class; and Pfc. Tyson Johnson defeated Sgt. Marcus Crosby in the in the heavyweight class.
The top three finishers in each class will advance to the All-Army tournament. In team competition, the 1st Brigade Combat Team won the overall title with 115 points and the 4th Sust. Bde. finished in second place with 95 points.
According to Lt. Col. Reynold Arredondo, the tournament’s officer-in-charge and a member of its host unit, the 163rd Military Intelligence Battalion, 504th BfSB, the post tournament was the largest combatives tournament in the Army’s history.
“Our objective is to train up the best of the best fighters and win at Fort Benning,” Arredondo said.
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