Point Sparring Divisions

9 & Under Point Sparring (N-63)
The Northcutt dynasty was alive and doing well as every three years a Northcutt sibling has managed to win this division with a debuting family member. In 2003 Colbey Northcutt won, 2006 Sage Northcutt and now in 2009 the youngest of the Northcutt’s, Shaun, eked by with a win. His eliminations record would not predict the outcome with a one point loss to third place Andrea Tyrrell and great seeding sliding him by with numerous byes to edge him by into the Grand Finale. But he excelled exactly where he needed to topping Carson Adams of Marty Knight fame 4 to 2 and keeping him on par with his brother and sister as a winner of the 9 & under division. He hails from Katy, Texas and represents Team Schumann. Adams is from Anderson, South Carolina. Andrea Tyrrell of Canada took third but has the distinction of having beaten both of the champions in the eliminations.

10 to 11 Point Sparring (N-64)
What are the odds of a fourth place regionally seeded player in the highly competitive 10 to 11 year old divisions making it to the Finale specially after losing their second fight? It took Rachel Young ten additional back to back wins to accomplish just that. After losing to the eventual eighth place winner Landon Dickerson she won 10 matches to give her Finale stage rights against last year’s 9 & under world champion Bobby Seronio. With bragging rights himself as one of the youngest in the division heading into Finale 1 he also had a loss, his to Young previously 6 to 3. So the Finale would be a one match showdown. In an exciting bout of Bay Area California vs Canada, Seronio won his second title in a row, 6 to 4. He represents Team Proper under Junior Salientes while Young is a Team United member under Trevor Nash. Emma Levy of Family Karate in London, Ontario was third.

12 to 13 Point Sparring (N-65)
How close is close? For Sage Northcutt close is winning or losing everyone of his eliminations matches by a single point. He started of in the hole taking a loss to the under-rated Ryan Young of Team United in Canada. Bouncing back he scored three hair splitting wins which along with his great seeding earned a Grand Finale berth alongside California’s finest, Keyon Allen. Also with a great year earning top seeds, Allen breezed through several wins before his one point loss to Northcutt. With both having a loss the first Finale match would determine the world champion. In a wild let loose match Northcutt topped Allen 8 to 5 in the highly competitive and highly attended division. He lives in Katy, Texas and represents Team Schumann. Allen is a student of Rick Kingi and Bryan Young from Inglewood, California. Third place was Jordan Ortiz-Pallen of San Leandro, California.

14 to 15 Point Sparring (N-66)
Like most all the junior NBL sparring world title divisions this was highly competitive packed to the guills with players from all over North America. Nigel Henry tried a move typical of his instructor, Trevor Nash, entering unseeded and thought maybe he could upset everyone. but with eight back to back wins he wound up in only 13th place. In the top of the heap was another Nash player, Nathan Skoufis with and unblemished record who headed to the Finale against Juan Pablo Santiago of Guatemala. Santiago has a record of several world title wins in continuous, but hasn’t realized his goal to win point fighting yet. With one loss to fourth place Gabe Gruse (yes Corky’s people fight too) he entered the Finale as the underdog to Skoufis. By a three point edge Skoufis took his first world title back to Canada. He trains at United Karate in Hamilton, and Santiago with Salvador Schumann in Guatemala. Patrick Salientes of Team Proper was third.

16 to 17 Point Sparring (N-67)
It was a California thing. Northern Cali vs Southern Cali as Leon Jefferson and Alex Arceo had eliminated everyone else and were now preying on each other. Jefferson was undefeated and Arceo had a single loss to Jefferson as the pair donned the stage to vie for the eldest of the junior sparring titles. Arceo only lost to Jefferson 5 to 4 in the eliminations so you knew the Finale was going to be exciting. Again 5 to 4 was the final score with the same result of Jefferson the victor earning himself his first world title. He hails from Kingi’s Karate under Rick Kingi and Bryan Young in Inglewood and Arceo is a member of Team Proper from the San Francisco Bay area. Cass Sigmon of Team Full Circle took third.

Girls’ 11 to 12 Point Sparring (N-68)
Both Sarah Johnson of North Carolina and Meghan Hamilton of Ohio entered as first place national conference seeds but nevertheless had to fight several rounds to make it to Finale play. Johnson won six including beating Hamilton in the last match and keeping Hamilton’s wins to five. The first match of the Finale was a do or die for Hamilton were death was anything but happening in the first match as she pelted Johnson 12 to 6 forcing a final match. And if that highest of all the junior Finale scoring matches wasn’t enough, the next match was 11 to 4, but this time Johnson turned the table getting Hamilton back and winning the world title. She trains at Sears Martial Arts in Canton, North Carolina and Hamilton with Mike Scaperato at New World Karate in Ohio. Third place was won by Anna Eden of All Star Karate in Utah.

Girls’ 13 to 14 Point Sparring (N-69)
This division was very competitive this year with players from a wide variety of countries and teams. Team Straight-up fielded Shannel Trappier who won an incredible eight straight matches as a wild card before succumbing to the final two champions, Ashlee Grant of California and Ximena Cuellar of Guatemala. Grant took her only loss to Cuellar by a single point and sought revenge in the Finale winning the initial match 5 to 2 to stay alive for a final run-off. The final match was again in Grant’s favor topping Cuellar 5 to 1 to win the title back that she first earned in 2007. She trains with Thomas Bowman in Van Nuys, California and Cuellar trains with Salvador Schumann in Guatemala. Cecilia Calva of Zen Martial Arts in Mexico was third.

Girls’ 15 to 17 Point Sparring (N-70)
While Shaun Northcutt won 9 & under point sparring this year, brother Sage has previously won 9 & under, 10-11 and 12-13, but the eldest of the clan has a record of 9 & under, 11-12 female, 13-14 female and a win this year would give her a clean sweep with 15-17 female. With phenomenal 3 national and 3 regional conference seeds, the Blackbelt Hall of Famer gave up nothing in the eliminations and topped Joslynn Espinoza of California 5 to 3 to win her fifth point fighting title in a row. She lives in Katy, Texas representing Team Schumann. Espinoza of from Paul Mendoza’s Dynamic Karate in Modesto, California. Stephanie Rosales of Alchemy in El Paso, Texas was third.

Men’s Fly Point Sparring (N-71)
Mexico’s participation in the NBL has grown significantly the last four years and was very evident in this year’s Games. In the flyweight division rookie Enrique Rodrigo won all his eliminations matches only to take on Ashlon Smith a second time in the Grand Finale. He only topped him by a single point in the eliminations but for the title he decisively beat him again 9 to 5 for his first world title. He is a member of Team LSK under coach Juan Andrade and Smith is part of the Kickstart Team from Houston, Texas. Michael Holstein of Oregon was third.

Men’s Feather Point Sparring (N-72)
Kyle Richards took the dare and entered as a wild card knowing he’d pretty much have to beat everyone in the division to have a shot at the title. He won six faltering once with a loss to Sergio Calva. His Finale opponent was Sean Arceo who also had a loss, his to third place victor, Richard Steckham. The title was one Grand Finale match where it was anyone’s guess as to a winner. These fighters know each others fighting styles so well that attacks were rather reserved throughout the match. Nevertheless it was wild and exciting when the two came to blows with Richards becoming a narrow 5 to 4 champion when the buzzer rang. He represented Team Straight-up under Joe Greenhalgh, while Arceo is a proud member of Team Proper. Both players are from California’s Bay Area.

Men’s Light Point Sparring (N-73)
With back to back titles Willie Hicks was poised to once again be a force to be reckoned with for the lightweight title. His big challenge this year came with Mike Scaperato. Hicks bet him handily 6 to 2 in the eliminations but Scaperato refused to let the Finale go without a fight. With only seconds remaining Scaperato nearly unset the reigning champion but fell to a 5 to 4 loss as the buzzer rang out. Hicks represented Mike Dobashi’s Bay Area’s Best in California and Scaperato a product of Jerry Roberts Five Knuckle Bullet Team in Berea, Ohio. Richard Mendoza of Paul Mendoza Dynamic Martial Arts in California took third.

Men’s Light Middle Point Sparring (N-74)
As a four time champion of this division and coach for the Kickstart Team, Jason Holmes was hoping for another title. As first place national conference seeds, both he and Jose Santiago each fell once in the eliminations. Holmes to fourth place Victor Medina of Mexico and Santiago to Holmes. So it was a victor take all in one Grand Finale match up. While Santiago is a formidable fighter a score of 7 to 2 left Holmes with one more NBL title. Holmes is a product of Cecil Peoples and now resides in Houston, Texas. Santiago is a student of Schumann’s Martial Arts in Guatemala. Ali Al-Raisi of Team Everage in Rochester, New York was third.

Men’s Middle Point Sparring (N-75)
Gallio, GOP and Texas NBL seem to be synonymous with each other. The NBL wouldn’t be the NBL without a Gallio to liven things up. While mom was off coordinating, Chris was trying to prove to the world that he was still a competitor. Creative weapons, musical weapons, junior sparring, team sparring... Chris Galllio has found different niches along the way, but that was all when he was a junior. Now that he’s down to a middleweight from his past super duper heavyweight status, Gallio proved he really could fight blitzing his way as a wild card through nine matches of wins to be the favored player on the Finale stage. His opponent a lesser known, however not less opinionated, just ask him, was Brett Shumway, the Pennsylvania version of a Chris Gallio if ever there could be one. His eliminations record was average at best, one “bye” win, one loss and one win that because of his great seeding sent him to the Finale. But Shumway being the Gallio twin he is, will come through when you least expect it just to prove something to the world. The first “do or die” match for Schumway was a Gallio wake up “from the dream” call as Shumway pressed Gallio the entire match winning 7 to 6. A second and final match was anything but a run-away as well, as both players shared the lead but in the end Gallio won 8 to 5 for his first adult victory. Gallio hails from Houston when he isn’t clubbing balls in the Carolinas and Shumway is from Philadelphia as a member of Team Everage. Third place was won by Pablo Moreno of Zen Martial Arts in Mexico.

Men’s Light Heavy Point Sparring (N-76)
Since the days of Raymond Daniels this division has been pretty much owned by Daniel Marshall and Wade Taylor. However without Taylor this year, the division virtually belonged to the reserved Marshall. Without someone to withstand and counter the kicking legs of Marshall there’s a no contest. Marshall blitzed through the eliminations giving up a total of one... yes, one point. The Finale wasn’t much different winning the first match 12 to 2 against Mario Becker of the Kickstart Team to win this title for the fourth time. He is from the Trevor Nash UFMA schools and represents Ron Cain’s Team SMAC. Becker hails from Jason Holmes PKKA school in Texas. Pedro Sanchez of Shikara in Mexico was third.

Men’s Heavy Point Sparring (N-77)
It’s been a few years since the Super Grands have seen the likes of Rene Perreault of Quebec, Canada. He never did win the title in the past and this year appeared hopeless as well losing to Jonathan Garcia of Mexico in the eliminations but winning enough to fight him again in the Finale. Garcia only needed one win for the title to two needed by Perreault, but Perreault was determined and by narrow margins did win both matches to give him his first NBL victory. Perreault represented Team Full Circle under Mike Conroy. Garcia is from Luis Jimenez’ Zen Martial Arts in Mexico City. James Decore of Ohio was third.

Men’s Super Heavy Point Sparring (N-78)
Trevor Nash is rather an icon in NBL competing off and on, mostly on, at the Super Grands since the very first one in 1990. Unlike his younger years, as an adult he loves to try his best as a wild card player. While his first attempt at this as a seventeen year old in the adult division almost killed him after twenty some matches only to face Jason Bourelly for the title, it seems to be his trademark row. He faced a packed division this year with Brandon Bertsch at the end of the road waiting for him. Bertsch may not have the reputation that Nash has as a fighter, nor traveling as much as Nash in the past, but those that know and have fought him know you don’t take him for granted. In their only eliminations match Nash did get the best of him 9 to 7 but that’s a close match against Nash. In the Finale it first appeared thatBert sch may get revenge jumping out ahead of Nash in the beginning of the match but then as if the sun sank behind the landscape, Bertsch appeared to have disappeared leaving Nash with 10 unanswered points. This was Nash’s seventh sparring world title as an adult advancing through the weight classes light heavyweight to super heavy over the years. He operates the United Karate Schools from Hamilton, Ontario. Bertsch is from Albany, Oregon. Last year’s champion Charlie Davidson of Texas was third.

Women’s Fly Point Sparring (N-79)
Not unlike her husband Trevor, Casey Nash entered as a wild card but par for the course women flyweight is a small category and little play was necessary for Nash to come out victorious in the eliminations. Dawn Kabela of Texas gave her a short run for the money being defeated 6 to 4 before the pair were scheduled again for the title on the Grand Finale stage. The Finale was all Nash however. While Kabela seemed to be competition for Nash she failed to score a single point losing 10 to 0 and leaving Nash for an attempt at the women’s overall Grandchampionship. Nash hails from Team United in Canada and Kabela from Team GOP in Texas. Kristen McCord of Martial Arts Canada was third.

Women’s Feather Point Sparring (N-80)
Lauren Ferguson won all her eliminations matches, but by the skin of her teeth topping third place Kimberly Harrison by a mere one point victories twice. She would find Pamela Osornio of Mexico City her challenger for the title in Grand Finale 2. Ferguson, with a long history as one of NBL’s grandest female players, found her third title of the 2009 Super Grands as she convincingly defeated Osornio 12 to 2. Ferguson attends college while teaching for Xtreme Martial Arts in Martinsville, Virginia. Osornio is a member of Zen Martial Arts under Jonathan Garcia in Mexico.

Women’s Light Point Sparring (N-81)
Noemie Tremblay of Quebec was zooming along nicely as a wild card until she got stopped twice with single point victories by Tracey Martinez leaving her in third place. Long time coming Martinez has earned respect in NBL as victorious in both continuous and point sparring the last few years. For Finale play she was pitted against Molly Wade who already had a loss from Tremblay. The Finale again belonged to Martinez as she topped Wade 13 to 3 for her second year victory in this division. Martinez is taught by Bryan Young and is a member of Team GOP. Wade’s instructor is Rich Everage and she is a member of Team Everage of Rochester, New York.

Women’s Middle Point Sparring (N-82)
Taryn Wade lost her first match, but that didn’t stop her from three ensuing victories to land her in the Grand Finale for a chance at the title. However her opponent was one of the most iconic women’s fighters and she had to have known her chances were slim. Regena Thompson with her legendary 22 world titles is practically a household name amongst karate enthusiasts and she gave no mercy to the fledging Wade topping her 10 to 3 leaving each of the adult women’s titles with ten or more point scores. Thompson is trained by Ishmael Robles in Galveston, Texas and was pretended to be coached by Chris Gallio of Team GOP. Wade is a member of Team Everage and coached by John Gunn. Third place was won by Kris Pilgrim of Colorado.

Senior Light Point Sparring (N-83)
Mario Martin del Campo was the shoe-in victor as the only player in the senior men’s lightweight division. Seems the seniors must have been overeating lately and moved up in weight categories. Martin del Campo was the Mexican National Conference number one seed. He is part of Okinawa Karate Do and trains with David Marquez in Mexico City.

Senior Middle Point Sparring (N-84)
Whatever the lightweights didn’t have for attendance, the middle weights did. PanAm conference number one seed, Paul Mendoza of California showed he could be king in New York as he took six stright victories to win the right for the Finale stage lights. His opponent was Joe Powell of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who took his only loss to fourth place Gaffar Adam of New York. The pair hadn’t met in the eliminations so it was anyone’s guess if Powell could pull of the upset. With a score of 6 to 2 Mendoza came through to win his first world title. He is from Dynamic Martial Arts in Modesto, California. Hugo Mendoza of Team ProK in Mexico City was third.

Senior Heavy Point Sparring (N-85)
This would be Elvis Paulino’s third experience on the Finale stage having been topped twice in both 2006 and 2007. And what he didn’t want was the same results of those years falling to Van Frazier one year and Jose Pacheco the other. This year his opponent would be Bobby Seronio. Seronio already had an eliminations loss to Paulino but it was only by a single point. In the Finale the single point again made a difference as Paulino won his first world title 6 to 5 over Seronio. Paulino is from Dynamic Martial Arts in Toronto, Canada. Seronio is from Vallejo, California and coached by Junior Salientes. Third place was won by Hernando Hidalgo of Shikara in Mexico City.

Senior Super Heavy Point Sparring (N-86)
Rickey Murray seamed to be a steam roller as he flattened all but two players in his division to win nine matches in a row leaving great players like 2007 winner, Sylvester Youngblood in a mere eight place. David Coppock, who’s gone to the stage the last two years in this division did not want to be a stat for a third attempted loss, but got rolled over as well in the eliminations. But it was harder to flatten Coppock as he only fell with a score of 8 to 6. In the Finale Coppock couldn’t prevent his third time loss as Murray ran over him again 7 to 3 to win his first world title victory. He is a member of Team ATL of Atlanta, Georgia. Coppock hails from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Marty Cacavas of Buffalo took third place.

Senior Women’s All Weights Point Sparring (N-87)
Kris Pilgrim retires every year at the end of the Super Grands only to come back to the next Super Grands and retire again. We may not take her seriously on her retirement but you have to take her seriously as a competitor. With six titles, including this year, she is the senior woman’s fighter to beat. However she also came through to win an 18 years and older division last year. This year’s stage action would pit Pilgrim vs Deon Beatty from her next door state, Utah. Beatty had one loss from Sandra Farnsworth already from the eliminations and made the division competitive as she shocked Pilgrim 6 to 5 in the first Finale match. Pilgrim, who has won this division 3 times in the past was not ready to give up her crown however, topping Beatty in the final match 9 to 3. She lives an Arvada, Colorado. Beatty is from All Star Karate in Sandy, Utah. Judith Grimm of Air Gadfly in New York was third.

Senior Men’s 45+ Light Point Sparring (N-88)
Last time Eugene Floyd was on stage at the Super Grands in 2003 his percolator didn’t work as well as he expected as he fell to Larry Tankson in this same division. This time his brew must have had the right mixture as he percolated through the eliminations unscathed to meet Juan Andrade of Mexico for a second time for the title bout on the Finale stage. Andrade was crushed the first time in the eliminations 12 to 1 by Floyd and appeared that his Finale appearance was more luck than skill as he also had several byes due to great seeding. However Andrade was alive in the Finale and challenged Floyd throughout the match. But in the end percolator man won his first 45 and over NBL title 7 to 5 to take with him back to New Jersey. Andrade hails from Liceo Shudokan in Coacalco, Mexico. Randy Freeman of North Carolina was third.

Senior Men’s 45+ Heavy Point Sparring (N-89)
After several years trying, David Coppock got a taste of victory last year with two world titles, one in this division. This time Coppock wanted it just as bad and headed into the Finale undefeated. His opponent was a new challenger, Dennis Cocco of London, Ontario, Canada. Cocco is from John Marshall’s Family Karate, a school that has a history of providing challenging fighters. But this day belonged to Coppock once again as he toppled Cocco 12 to 5 for the title of this division for the second year in a row. Coppock hails from the AKKS School in Colorado. Third place went to Kenny Morrison of Laurinburg, North Carolina.