The Saratogian
By MATTHEW DONATO
Nick Kossor, a Burnt Hills graduate, and Brad Bolen, both based out of Glenville’s Jason Morris Judo Center were knocked out of the early rounds of the Oberwart World Cup, held in Austria.
Bolen, the World’s 36th-ranked judoku in the -66-kilogram division, dispatched Nate Burns of Great Britain, ranked No. 152, before facing Jasper de Jong of the Netherlands.
The pair finished regulation even, calling for a 3 minute sudden death overtime period. During this time, the head referee appointed a yuko (a small score) to Bolen for performing a leg sweep that knocked the 41st-ranked de Jong to the ground, but his call was overturned by the pair of side judges.
In the waning moments of overtime, Bolen attacked again but was countered and thrown for an ippon (point which immediately ends the match).
Later it was revealed that had Bolen not been thrown in the final attack, the judges would have awarded him the fight and he would have advanced. Instead, de Jong went on to defeat two more opponents on his way to a fifth-place finish in the tournament.
Kossor, ranked No. 53 in the -60-kilogram division and fighting for the first time in the Oberwart World Cup, opened the tournament against No. 67 Yann Siccardi of Monaco.
Following an early lead, Siccardi utilized his gripping skills to score a yuko and held on for the win. Siccardi went on to defeat Brandon Dodge of Great Britain before being bested by 18th-ranked Won-Jin Kim of South Korea in the Pool B semifinals.
Kyle Vaskulat, a Burnt Hills graduate, will compete in the
-100-kilogram division Sunday. He is the No. 8 seed and will open the tournament facing the winner of the fight between Viktor Demyanenko of Kazakhstan and Mohamed Aouidate of Morocco.
Hannah Martin, a Burnt Hills native, will face Rizelin Zouka of Morocco in the opening round of the -63-kilogram tournament of the Budapest World Cup in Hungary Sunday morning. If she dispels her opponent she will face Yaritza Abel of Cuba.
