The IBJJF Austin Winter International took place on the 28th and 29th of January 2023 and the tournament attracted a number of high-profile competitors despite the fact that it was taking place at the same time as the IBJJF European Championship as well. Oliver Taza represented New Wave Jiu-Jitsu in the medium-heavyweight no gi division, winning gold in convincing fashion and defeating Sean Yadimarco in the final. The Mendes brothers had a great weekend too, as Art of Jiu-Jitsu won several medals at the IBJJF European Championship while their competitors who travelled to Austin did equally well.
Pablo Lavaselli won gold in the lightweight gi division and managed to come away with a silver medal in the middleweight no gi division. His teammate at AOJ, Johnatha Alves, took home a pair of silver medals in the gi as he fought in the same weightclass as Lavaselli initially before coming second once again in the absolute division. AOJ also had two athletes competing at light-featherweight in the gi, with Hiryu Niwa and Jordan Vaisman sharing the top two spots. Checkmat black belt Elder Cruz had one of the toughest divisions of the weekend at heavyweight in the gi, but he represented the team well and managed to come away with a gold medal against some stiff competition.
Joao Rocha took home the most gold medals of the weekend as he managed to win his weightclass and the absolute division both in the gi and in no gi. The women’s absolute division was won by Maggie Grindatti in no gi, while Emily Fernandez won gold in the gi absolute division. Both women received default gold medals in their respective weightclasses, although they did put in solid performances to win their openweight medals. Vagner Rocha‘s daughter, Jasmine Rocha, came away with a silver medal in the no gi absolute division after winning gold in the women’s lightweight division.
For the full results from every gi belt and age division at the IBJJF Austin Winter International 2023, click here.
For the full results from every no gi belt and age division at the IBJJF Austin Winter International 2023, click here.
