Email   Print   Share By Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Sports Editor

Facebook Digg Delicious February 16, 2012 | Sports

Specialist Dariana Chesser, 48th Chemical Brigade (A), defeats Spc. Gary Boyd, 2 STB, during a match on Day 1 of the Fort Hood Combatives Tournament Monday at Abrams Physical Fitness Center. Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Sports Editor

Private 1st Class Yenny Usaga, 48th Chem. Bde. (A), fights on top of Sgt. Stacey Hornburg, 11th Signal Brigade, during Day 1 of the tournament. INSET, Specialist Larry Jackson, 4th Sustainment Brigade, fights Pfc. Jorge Horta, 41st Fires Brigade (A). Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Sports Editor

Sergeant Maj. Christopher Williams, 48th Chem. Bde. (A), fights Pfc. Christopher Geving, 48th Chem. Bde. (B). Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Sports Editor

Private 1st Class Jorge Horta, 41st Fires Bde. (A), wraps up Spc. Larry Jackson, 4th Sust. Bde., in a match on Day 1 of the Fort Hood Combatives Tournament Monday at Abrams Physical Fitness Center. Jackson won by submission. Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Sports Editor

The 335 competing Soldiers stand in formation on Day 1 of the Fort Hood Combatives Tournament Monday at Abrams Physical Fitness Center. Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Sports Editor

Sergeant 1st Class Victoria Wolford, Army Reserve Careers Division, fights underneath Spc. Jill Huffman, 1-44 ADA on Day 1 of the Fort Hood Combatives Tournament. Huffman defeated Wolford by points. Daniel Cernero, Sentinel Sports Editor

The 2012 Fort Hood Combatives Tournament began Monday with a competitors’ pool that nearly doubled that of last year.

Of the 335 fighters filling the bracket, there’s a record amount of female Soldiers participating this year – 25, up from only five the year before.

One such female fighter is Sgt. 1st Class Victoria Wolford, fighting for the Army Reserve Careers Division’s 12th Battalion. Wolford, now 39, works on post as the Operational Fitness Coordinator in III Corps’ Health Promotion Office.

Wolford said she decided to fight in the tournament less than a month ago to prove something to herself.

“I proved that if you just take the first step forward, you can do anything that you set your mind to,” she said. “You just have to take the first step.”

Wolford said she took the first step last summer by completing the Level 1 and Level 2 combatives certifications. The second step was to train in jiu-jitsu, and the final step was to compete here at the tournament.

“The certifications were half in conjunction with my job (in the Health Promotion office), because I really needed to know about combatives,” she said, noting that it helps her better train Soldiers with the firsthand experience.

Sergeant Brad Cannon, a senior combatives instructor at Fort Hood, was complimentary of Wolford’s efforts.

“Her contributions to the Op. Fitness office, as well as to (Kieschnick Physical Fitness Center) are unmatched and unparalleled,” he said, “with her not only training on the outside, but seeing what happens when Soldiers take combatives seriously.”

In her first match of the tournament, Wolford faced Spc. Jill Huffman, 1st Battalion (Air Missile Defense), 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, in a match that went the distance, resulting in a win for Huffman.

Later Monday afternoon, a well-rested Wolford once again hit the mat, this time against Pfc. Shawn Betzenderfer, 64th Military Police Company, 89th Military Police Bde. Betzenderfer landed an arm bar in the latter half of the bout, but for Wolford, she saw the outcome as a win.

“I feel redeemed from my last fight,” she said. “In my first fight, I was tired, I wasn’t warmed up and my head just wasn’t quite there.

“This, there’s no shame in that fight,” she added. “I held my own, I was doing the moves that knew and guarding against the ones that he was doing.”

Another female fighter, Spc. Dariana Chesser, competing on 48th Chemical Brigade’s A team, found herself on opposite ends during her two fights of Day 1.

“In the first match, I wasn’t really prepared,” she said, describing her lack of focus without the presence of the unit’s coach, Sgt. Dwan West. “Usually I’m used to my coach prepping us, but we have so many teammates, and we only have one mat coach.”

About West’s importance, Chesser added, “Four eyes are better than two. And most of the time, I close my eyes.”

Heading into her consolation-bracket bout against Spc. Gary Boyd, 2 Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, Chesser said she was much more mentally prepared and was able to rely on West’s coaching.

In the match, Chesser said she used the strategy of moving the fight to the corner of the mat where West was stationed.

“That way we can hear our coach,” she said. “He’s talking me through the match, step by step, telling me what moves to try.”

Chesser ended the fight with a cross-collar choke.

The finals for this year’s tournament begin at 6 p.m. where Soldiers will engage in fights for first and second place and for third and fourth place. Fights during the finals will take place in a cage with advanced rules.



Standings as of Day 2

1st Place – 342 points

48th Chem. Bde. (A)



2nd Place – 319 points

41st Fires Bde.



3rd Place - 313 points

3rd Cav. Regt.



4th Place - 280 points

36th Eng. Bde.



5th Place - 238 points

4th Sust. Bde.



6th Place - 216 points

4th BCT



7th Place - 166 points

3rd BSTB



8th Place - 158 points

2nd BCT



9th Place - 153 points

1-12 Cav. Regt.



10th Place - 110 points

85th CA Bde.