San Jose State University Judo

03/25/07 - National Collegiate Judo Championships

The SJSU Judo team won both the men and women's divisions at the 46th annual National Collegiate Judo Tournament, held in Miami, Florida on March 25th. The team took 15 players to Miami, and returned with 11 medals.

The women's team did particularly well at the tournament, winning every weight-class that they fought in. In the 48kg division, sophomore Tabitha Lum easily won her championship match for the gold. In the 61kg division, Marti Malloy faced off against her teammate Corrine Geier for the gold medal. In the 70kg division, sophomore Tomoyo Yoshinaga defeated long-time rival Katie Sell to win the gold, and was named the Most Outstanding Female Competitor of the tournament. Finally, in the 78kg division, freshman Allison Clifford fought above her usual weight-class, but still managed to win the gold-- her first in a major collegiate tournament.

In the men's division, freshman Isaac Golubchin had a good day, putting his wrestling background to use to win all of his matches by pins in the 60kg division. In the 66kg division, sophomore Jeff Fong lost his first match to the eventual champion, but came back to win a bronze medal. In the 73kg division, senior Takeshi Young won all of his preliminary matches, but ended up losing in the championships, settling for a silver medal. In the 81kg division, team captain Andrew Hung was upset in the semi-finals at the last second, and ended up taking a bronze. Finally, in the 90kg division, junior Atsushi Yoshinaga defeated teammate Davor Vasiljevic for the gold medal.

In addition to the individual and team honors, two of the coaches from the team (Shozo Fukuda & Eitan Gelber) were recognized as Coaches of the Year. It was a great tournament, and the 42nd collegiate tournament that San Jose State has won since the inception of the program.

For full tournament and further coverage, see the USA Judo Website and the Spartan Daily.