Congratulations to all the RONIN ATHLETICS Competition Team Members who participated in The Good Fight: New York Open on Saturday Feb. 13th in Nyack, NY!
Our 12 Competitors took 17 Overall Medals Overall: 8 GOLD, 4 Silver, 5 Bronze!

Results:
- Manny Villafane
- 1st place No-Gi division
- 3rd Place No-Gi Advanced Absolute
- Chris Froelich
- 1st in his division
- 1st place Absolute No-Gi Advanced
- Adrian Cziemelewski
- 1st place No-Gi Intermediate
- Jon-Jon Maresco
- 2nd Place No-Gi Intermediate
- Eli Elias
- 1st Place No-Gi Intermediate
- Sasha Strenger
- 1st Place No-Gi Intermediate
- Roger Dardis
- 2nd place No-Gi Advanced
- 1st Place Blue Belt
- 3rd Place Blue Belt Gi Absolute
- Justin DeGrazia
- 1st place No-Gi Beginner
- 2nd Place White Belt Gi division
- Dan Peterson
- 3rd Place No-Gi Beginner
- James Han
- 3rd Place Blue Belt
- Christian Montes
- 2nd in No-Gi Advanced
- 3rd in Purple Belt Gi
Great job, everyone!
Check out this highlight video from the event put together by Matt Kaplan!
Congrats to the Team RONIN ATHLETICS competitors who made the trek up to Rhode Island this past weekend to battle it out at the NAGA New England Championships!
Results:
- Christian Montes wins First Place – Master’s No-Gi Advanced Welterweight.
- Vinh Hua wins 3rd Place in Mens Intermediate No-Gi Flyweight
- Eric Gaspar goes 1-1, Teens Beginner No-Gi Lightweight
Great job, guys!
Congratulations to our New Blue Belts: Eli Elias, Sasha Strenger, Adrian Cziemelewski, John Woie, and Steven Nunez! Great job guys!
it’s my plan to compete as much as possible in the next few years, as i feel it will serve the purpose of not only helping me improve as an athlete/coach but also help me guide my higher level students through the ranks of world class competitions (www.ibjjf.org) through first hand experience – it’s always been instilled in me that one should lead by example, and i will do my very best, win or lose, to live up to that. – Christian Montes
Read more
Congrats to Team RONIN ATHLETICS competitors: Christian Montes, Emalee Heim, and Liz Milizio for their performances at the Gracie US Nationals this past weekend in Los Angeles!
Christian has been hitting a number of tournaments recently and decided to jump into the US Nationals before jetting off to Portugal next weekend for the IBJJF European Open, and our women’s team competitors Liz, Emalee, and Lola (who unfortunately couldn’t compete due to injury) were in town for the competition to kick off the week-long, Women’s Grappling Camp.
We’re happy to report that all three of our competitors placed on the podium!
Results:
- Christian Montes
- First Place — Master’s Advanced No-Gi 170 lbs division
- Second Place — Master’s Purple Belt 170 lbs division.
-
- Emalee Heim
- Second Place — Women’s White Belt < 135 lbs division.
-
- Liz Milizio
- First Place — Women’s Blue Belt < 135 lbs division.
Pics (more soon!):
Many thanks to our friends and supporters including: Danny Suarez, Jen Flannery (who also placed 1st in her division!!!), and Ryan Hall (who also placed 1st in his division and the absolute!!!). Also an enormous thanks to Lola for cornering/coaching/keeping time and keeping it real! :)
Great job everyone! Have a great time at the Women’s Camp, Emalee, Lola, and Liz!