Cottonwood martial artists Dakota Jeffords and Isaac McKean can boast more summer bling heading into the fall school year.
The two local jiujitsu yellow belts, along with Stefan Dixon, all took home the top medal June 26 from the Arizona State Jiujitsu Championships.
“Everybody who competed made the podium,” said their head coach, Ted Osburn.
While Durkalec’s son, Brasen, lost 2-0 in his finals match to get a silver medal, his other son, Stone, 7, one of Osburn’s bigger new yellow belts, did not allow his finals opponent to score a point.
But, regrettably, Durkalec couldn’t score any points on him either.
“Stone lost on an advantage point,” said father and assistant coach Stan Durkalec. “He had to go up a weight class, but the kid was noticeably bigger than him. He had some of the funniest matches.”
Jeffords, on a mission to tap out his next finals opponent, won his gold medal, 18-2, in even more of a laugher.
While 8-year-old Elias McKean fell in the finals, his older brother Isaac, 11, was simply dominant in his 8-0 shutout.
“I tapped him out in three minutes,” said McKean, who gained submission with a move that bent his opponent’s wrist back. “My first match was 20-0.”
While their next belt, purple, is still at least a year away, the McKeans’ father, Klint, their head coach on the Mingus Mountain Wrestling Club isn’t bothered by the fact they are juggling both sports as well as football.
“I like that all of our guys are in here because it gives them a different look with different angles at a very similar sport,” he said. “I think it makes them more creative wrestlers.”
While his older wrestlers can be rusty when transitioning from sport to sport, McKean doesn’t think jiujitsu is any detriment to his elementary- and middle-school level wrestlers.
“They catch on,” he said. “It just takes them a little longer.”
Osburn, for his part, isn’t about to cut corners with his students — no matter the age, commitment or attention span.
“When they take breaks, I kind of have to start back over,” he said. “In the beginning, that was really frustrating for me.
“Some kids I’ll see have this talent where I really get excited, like, ‘This kid could be a world champion.’
“Then, I’ll lose them for a year. I’ve just kind of come to expect it.”
Even with his own nieces and nephews, many of whom started in Osburn’s school six years ago but can’t find the time to join his eight new students in his new studio at 415 S. Main St. in Cottonwood.
“Their parents, the way their job happened, they couldn’t get them to class,” Osburn said. “So I lost months with them.
“They’re young. I just hope that I get them back in, and that it becomes a lifelong thing for them.”
Sharing his new studio with a tae kwon do program has given Osburn some perspective. Niece Persais, 11, has been one of Osburn’s most consistent students but has backed away for the next couple of weeks after just attaining her orange belt.
“She’s done two competitions, and she doesn’t want to compete right now,” he said. “So long as she keeps training, I think kids learn a lot from competitions. But I’m not going to traumatize her over it.”
The next competition for Osburn’s team will be at the North American Grappling Association state tournament Saturday, Aug. 27, at Phoenix College.
For all medalists from the State Jiujitsu championships, please see the Wednesday, Aug. 3, issues of the Camp Verde Journal and Cottonwood Journal Extra.
