This article is part of our Craig Jones Invitational 2024 coverage. To get live results, play by play, and commentary, we’ll have a live updates article running all weekend.
Three-time NCAA All-American Daniel Greg Kerkvliet has joined the over 80kg division at the Craig Jones Invitational, completing the lineup as the final man in the bracket. He will be bringing an interesting approach to the tournament thanks to his incredible wrestling background and he has even been training Jiu-Jitsu in the past already. Although it will undoubtedly be tough to adapt his grappling style to a completely new ruleset, he also has the advantage of being almost impossible to prepare for given how far ahead of almost all of his potential opponents he will be on the feet.
Although the lineup for the over 80kg division at the Craig Jones Invitational is filled primarily with elite Jiu-Jitsu competitors, Daniel Greg Kerkvliet won’t actually be the only one with wrestling experience. Pat Downey is another big name in the wrestling world who will be in the same division and although he hasn’t had as much success on the mats as Kerkvliet, he has made the transition to BJJ competition much longer ago. Where Downey may not be able to beat Kerkvliet to the takedown, he may actually have an advantage when it comes to submissions on the ground.
Nicky Rodriguez will also be competing in the same bracket and although his time spent in wrestling was less than both Kerkvliet and Downey, he’s also been the most successful wrestler to transition to BJJ in recent years with a pair of ADCC silver medals. Jason Nolf is another high-level wrestler at the event as well, but he will be competing in the under 80kg division instead. It’s unusual to see so many high-level wrestlers like Kerkvliet in a professional Jiu-Jitsu tournament, but with a million dollars on the line for the winner it’s no surprise that they’ve been tempted to make the jump.
The Craig Jones Invitational announced the news that Daniel Greg Kervliet would be completing the over 80kg division in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
