Midwest Finishers 20 took place on November 9th, 2024 and the promotion put together a great event, including an entertaining men’s under 155lbs tournament. Almost every match ended with a submission and some of them were pretty rare to see as well. Top New Wave Jiu-Jitsu prospect Reese LaFever hit a Z-lock in his opening round match and Lucas Jones managed to finish two of his opponents with slick buggy chokes. LaFever’s run ended in the semi-finals and Jones made it all the way to the final, but in the end they both fell to the same young contender who ended up winning the whole thing.
Andrew DeGraff continued his superb run with four submission wins in his four matches, including an incredibly quick barataplata in the final against Jones. With this tournament win, DeGraff has now won stacked brackets across three different weight classes for the promotion. He started out by becoming the under 135lbs champion at Midwest Finishers 15 last year and won the under 145lbs belt at Midwest Finishers 18 just a few months ago. DeGraff has dominated the lighter weight classes on the promotion’s mats and he’s been able to continually prove that he’s one to keep an eye on over the next few years.
Midwest Finishers 20 featured just one tournament instead of the two the promotion often books, but there were several superfights taking place in between each round of the tournament instead. There was plenty of action there too, and it all built up to the main event of the evening where the women’s under 125lbs title was on the line. It was at Midwest Finishers 18 that Laylah Watkins won the promotions under 135lbs belt and now she was dropping down in weight to challenge Emily Nicholson. Watkins put on an excellent performance and came away with the win when she caught Nicholson in a tight armbar.
Midwest Finishers 20 Full Results
Laylah Watkins defeats Emily Nicholson via Submission – Armbar
Manny Vazquez defeats Matthew Ray via Submission – D’arce Choke
Travis Henn defeats Greg Goble via Submission – Heel Hook
Timothy Ferguson defeats Scott Lang via Submission – Straight Ankle-lock
RJ Czerwin defeats Kalin Woods via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Aiden McAtee defeats DeLayne Brown via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Jashaun Pearson defeats Nick Bordis via Decision – Ride-time in EBI Overtime
Dylan Burditt defeats Eliot Torres via Submission – Heel Hook
Nash Schmitz defeats Lex Garcia via Submission – Kimura
Men’s Under 155lbs Tournament
Opening Round
Pedro Serrano defeats Giovanni Rubio via Submission – Triangle Kimura
Hashir Azam defeats Jake Holian via Submission – Heel Hook
Lucas Jones defeats Julian Melo via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
David Garcia defeats Keith Cornell via Submission – Straight Ankle-lock
Andrew DeGraff defeats Trent McGuffin via Submission – Triangle Choke
David Barnes defeats Cory Barnes via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Stephen Dana defeats Randy Baker via Submission – Rear-naked Choke in EBI Overtime
Reese LaFever defeats Nick Arnell via Submission – Z-lock
Quarter-Finals
Pedro Serrano defeats Hashir Azam via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Lucas Jones defeats David Garcia via Submission – Buggy Choke
Andrew DeGraff defeats David Barnes via Submission – Rear-naked Choke
Reese LaFever defeats Stephen Dana via Decision – Ride-time in EBI Overtime
Semi-Finals
Lucas Jones defeats Pedro Serrano via Submission – Buggy Choke
Andrew DeGraff defeats Reese LaFever via Submission – Toehold
Final
Andrew DeGraff defeats Lucas Jones via Submission – Barataplata
The full Midwest Finishers 20 event replay, including all of the above results, is available to watch on the promotion’s official YouTube channel:
