THE ATENEO Men’s Judo team finished in third place overall at the end of the two-day University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 82 Judo Championships on Saturday, February 29, 2020, at the Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City.

Blue Eagles showed promise in the first day, garnering two podium finishes

The men’s team trotted out five competitors for the first day, with Jophrey Ang and Bernie Margulies competing in the -81 kg division, Allen San Juan and Joerl Abrenica in the -90 kg category, and Jaq Querubin in the -100 kg weight class.

The day began with the -90 kg weight class competition, in which San Juan was the first to the mats for the Blue Eagles as he took on La Salle’s Ezra Malanos. San Juan held his ground but eventually succumbed to Malanos after a decisive throw that was ruled an ippon. San Juan competed once more later in the repechage against University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) Mitchell Salcedo, but he was unable to pick up the win as he lost through ippon by submission. 

In the same weight class as San Juan was Abrenica, who took on Aaron Reyes of UST in the quarterfinals. Abrenica ended up dropping his first match via ippon as he was forced by Reyes to submit late in the match. Despite losing the first match, Abrenica went unopposed in the repechage and played his next match for the bronze medal against UST’s Salcedo, the player that defeated San Juan. Abrenica emerged victorious against Salcedo with a dramatic ippon, clinching the first podium finish of the day for the Blue Eagles.

Meanwhile, in the -81 kg division, Jophrey Ang was the first Blue Eagle to take center stage, facing off against Daniel Amores of UST. Ang struggled in the match, as he was forced to submit after being pinned down for 20 seconds. Like Abrenica, Ang went unopposed in the repechage and was able to proceed directly to the bronze medal match, where he lost to UST’s Chino Sy via a successful throw that was ruled as an ippon.

Also in the same division was Margulies, who played his first match of the day against the University of the Philippines’ (UP) Zildjian Munsayac. A tight combat ensued for a long stretch of the match, but Margulies successfully pulled out a hard-fought win with a successful ippon. In the semifinals, Margulies took on Sy, in which Margulies emerged victorious via an ippon by submission. Margulies went on to face off against Amores in the finals, where Margulies bagged the Blue Eagles’ first gold medal within the first 30 seconds through forcing a quick ippon by submission.

Querubin was the lone Blue Eagle in the -100 kg division. He went unopposed in the quarterfinals and went straight to the semifinals. Querubin first took on Rhyan Garay of UP, which ended with Garay taking the victory by default due to Querubin’s use of a submission that was deemed illegal by the officials. Querubin went on to conclude his day of matches by forfeiting the bronze medal match.

Blue Eagles have a strong second day, clinch podium finish

The Blue Eagles performed well on Day 2 of the tournament, garnering two gold medals, two silver medals, and two bronze medals.

The -55 kg division was an eventful one, with Ateneo’s Migo Gonzalvo and Omar Lopez earning silver and bronze medals, respectively.  After being defeated in his first match, Lopez bounced back despite being plagued with injury, eventually winning his next two matches to clinch the bronze medal.

The rookie Gonzalvo showed promise as he steamrolled through the competition. However, he was ultimately stopped by UST’s Nick Ligero in the Finals. Gonzalvo was the lone rookie for Ateneo to finish with a medal, bagging the silver. 

In the -60 kg division, Blue Eagle IC Tuazon showcased his skill in his first match, scoring an ippon to advance to the semifinal. On the other hand, Ateneo’s Mark Bangui dropped his first match of the day.

Tuazon then fell to UST’s Russel Lorenzo in the semifinal, while Bangui utilized a submission in his second match, thus setting a date with Tuazon in the bronze medal bout.

In the all-Ateneo bronze medal match, Bangui was outclassed by Tuazon, as the veteran scored an ippon on the rookie Bangui.

Medals in the -66 kg division proved to be elusive, as both Joshua Sanota and JM Flores were unable to score wins on their opponents.

Sanota was outclassed by Lee Hyesung of UP in the quarterfinal and failed to dispatch De La Salle University’s (DLSU) Mario Marcelino in the repechage. 

It would be a similar story for JM Flores, as he failed to garner wins in both his matches. Flores was handed his first defeat by UP’s Edward Figueroa. Flores’ repechage was a fruitless one, as he fell to UST’s Thomas Huckstep in a hard-fought battle.

The -73 kg division featured Ateneo’s strongest showing of the tournament, with Eric Uy and Ralph de Leon claiming the gold and silver medals, respectively.

Team Captain Uy dominated DLSU’s Christian Zuniga, while prized sophomore de Leon was quick to handle his La Salle counterpart. The tandem moved on to the semifinal, where de Leon defeated UP’s Gabriel Salazar, while Uy outclassed UST’s Czar Bayas. The Ateneo duo’s strong performances in the semis would result in another Ateneo-Ateneo matchup, this time in the gold medal match.

The Finals was an exciting affair, as neither athlete could decisively gain the upper hand. The four minute regulation time was surpassed, and a golden score event was implemented to decide the winner. The golden score portion of the face-off lasted three minutes and 23 seconds, bringing the entire match to a lengthy seven minutes and 30 seconds. Ultimately, Uy outlasted de Leon and clinched the gold, with the latter being awarded the silver.