WITH HEART and determination, the Ateneo Men’s and Women’s Judo teams concluded another season on the mats in the second and final day of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 80 Judo tournament on Sunday, November 12 at the De La Salle Santiago Zobel School in Muntinlupa City.
The Lady Eagles called it a day as they brought in one bronze medal, missing out on a podium finish this season. On the other hand, the Blue Eagles topped the tables with two gold, one silver, and one bronze medal, taking the crown as co-champions alongside University of Santo Tomas (UST).
For the men’s division, the two schools were named co-champions for the first time in history. The Blue Eagles and the Growling Tigers shared the same number of medals as well as ippons. With no written rule on how to properly break the tie, the officials named both teams co-champions.
Lady Eagles
First on the mats for the Lady Eagles was team captain Rhea Chong. Despite dropping her first two matches against UST’s Jamaika Ponciano and the University of the Philippines-Diliman’s (UPD) Justine Main, Chong overcame a rocky start by snagging a bronze medal after overcoming UST’s Ann Bernardino in the -78kg division at the tournament’s end.
“The first two matches made me really sad because I was afraid of disappointing everyone—my coaches, my alumni, and even myself because I had been working really hard. So, in the last match, I told myself, ‘I need to win this,’” said Chong.
Jasmine Cafe represented the Blue and White in the -63kg division. She stood across University of the East’s (UE) Sharlene Guyo, who was awarded the ippon late in the match. Cafe redeemed herself by taking the next match against De La Salle University’s (DLSU) Mary Brillo at a 1-0 score, which allowed her to advance and fight for the bronze. The Lady Eagle, however, fell to UP’s Kayla Amado, who was awarded the ippon and came out on top.
Regine Sy was next up as she took on UST’s Khrisha Rotairo in the -70kg division. Unfortunately for Sy, her ippon was contested and retracted, leading to her defeat at a 2-4 score. Still, Sy was eligible to face UP’s Isabella Fojas for the bronze, but the Lady Eagle fell after Fojas was awarded the ippon.
Blu Garcia stepped up to the mats against UP’s Amado in the -63kg division, but Garcia lost the match after Amado took the ippon. Her next bout pitted her against UST’s Lei Tolentino, where Garcia fell at a 0-2 score to end her season run.
Blue Eagles
The Blue and White had a rocky start as Sam Nuyles fell to DLSU’s Adrian Perillo at a 0-1 score in the -60kg division.
Blue Eagle Ralph Sapi overcame UST’s Glenn Bordonada in the -73kg division and then moved on to face UP’s Almer Suga, who handed Sapi a loss. Despite this, Sapi managed to secure a spot in the bronze medal match after he was awarded the ippon against DLSU’s Angelo Custodio. His final match of the season had him toe-to-toe with UST’s Jeunesse Ong, who picked up the victory at a 0-1 score and claimed the bronze medal.
Jab De Jesus’ first match of the day seeded him against DLSU’s Benjamin Bolongaita in the -60kg division. He was defeated by Bolongaita and moved on to face UP’s Hyesung Lee, who put a stop to the Blue Eagles’ run.
Next up for the Blue Eagles was Nico Clemente in the -66kg division where he fell to UP’s Gabriel Salazar, ending his run for gold. Clemente, however, managed to claim a bronze medal after emerging victorious against UE’s Marvin Acac in the semifinals, where he was awarded the ippon. He then advanced to the finals against UST’s Czar Bayas, winning yet another ippon with a mere three seconds left on the clock to claim the bronze medal.
Mike Isidro started the day against UE’s Nathaniel Morales in the -66kg division where he picked up a 2-0 win. His next bout ended in a 1-0 win against UST’s Bayas, granting Isidro a spot in the finals. He stood across UP’s Salazar in the gold medal match of the division, but fell short of the gold at a heartbreaking 0-2 score.
“I’m very proud because I know that I did my best. Of course, I wish I won, but either way, it was a great experience,” shared Isidro.
Isaiah Tuazon first stood across DLSU’s David Gordon in the -55kg division. He emerged victorious and moved on to the semifinal match of the division, picking up an explosive 3-0 score against UST’s Russel Lorenzo to move on to the finals and go head-to-head with DLSU’s Joshua Oleta. Tuazon went back-and-forth, and with a couple close calls, he came out on top to win the gold at a 1-0 score.
“Siya [Oleta] ‘yung nakatalo sa akin last year sa finals ko, [so] sobrang pressure talaga, especially since we needed all the golds (Oleta was the one who eliminated me from the finals last year, so there was a lot of pressure, especially since we needed all the golds),” shared Tuazon.
Sophomore Eric Uy put on a dominating display throughout the day in the -73kg division. He represented the Blue and White in three matches, where he was awarded an ippon in all three of his duels against DLSU’s Custodio, UP’s Suga, and DLSU’s Michael Borja to sweep the round for the gold medal.
“Winning gold means a lot to me because [of] all the hours I spent working everyday for the past five months,” shared Uy. “There were some days where I had more hours of training than I had sleep, so it had to happen.”
Losing a large graduating batch by the season’s end, Coach Gilbert Ramirez shared what he told his team before the final day opened—he advised his players to leave a lasting legacy.
“Magandang exit niyo ‘to (This is a good exit for you),” he shared. “Exit kayo ng school niyo na [may] magandang pinakita (Leave the school having shown great things).”
