Team Third Law sent three competitors to the Phoenix International Open this past weekend, and the team left the dry Arizona desert with four medals for Team Lloyd Irvin: two gold and two silver.
Brown belt Roberto Torralbas, Third Law head instructor, and blue belts Joseph Formica and Katy Torralbas arrived in Phoenix on Friday night, meeting up with three Lloyd Irvin teammates from Crazy 88 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Third Law BJJ of Naples, Florida sends competitors to the Phoenix International Open
First up for the day was middleweight blue belt Joseph Formica, but his bid for gold was stopped by a tough wrestler who ended up winning the division.
Coach Joe Formica waits for his first match at the Phoenix Open
Next to fight from Third Law was female blue belt Katy Torralbas, fighting in her second blue belt tournament in the lightweight division and representing the school’s women’s program.
With four women in the bracket, Katy had two matches for gold and she won both, landing her on the top of the podium at blue leve.
Katy celebrates her first medal at blue belt... gold!
Next up of the Naples competitors was Third Law Head Instructor Roberto Torralbas, taking on two Nova Uniao brown belts in the middle-heavy division.
In his first match, Master Roberto was up 8-0 when he finished his opponent from side control with a Jacare choke.
Master Roberto feeds his lapel to set up the Jacare choke and finish his first match by submission
Master Roberto came out on top again in his second match, winning the finals 6-2 with two guard passes, taking the gold medal at Brown Belt Middle Heavy.
Master Roberto is Brown Belt Middle-Heavy Phoenix International Open Champion!
Then, after a few hours break, Master Roberto and Katy got ready for their open divisions – men’s brown and women’s blue.
Master Roberto went on to win silver in the Men’s Brown Belt Absolute, winning 15-0 in his first match against a much larger opponent.
Master Roberto hits an over-the-top sweep on a much larger opponent in his first match of the brown belt open, landing in mount. He defeated his opponent 15-0.
Meanwhile, Katy was fighting in the women’s blue belt open on a mat nearby, defeating her first two opponents 6-0 and 2-0 to take silver in the female blue belt absolute.
Lloyd Irvin teammates from Crazy 88 also took home medals, with blue belt Keith Cebula winning three matches by submission to win the gold at pena, and also taking silver in the men’s blue belt open weight class. While white belt Monica Barlow, who went up a weight class for the event to pena, won two matches to take home gold.
Event over, the Third Law competitors headed to the airport to catch their flights back to Naples to study their match videos, drill techniques and continue improving their games. The Worlds is right around the corner!
