Jujitsu Promotion

Logan Ballanger was promoted this past Sunday, November 10th, 2024, at an open mat, receiving his first stripe on his white belt. Logan currently holds the rank of “gokyu” or orange belt in Judo and frequently represents the Des Moines Judo & Sambo Academy at competitions through out the midwest. Logan’s recent use of ground fighting techniques at the 2024 Iowa State Championship the day before his promotion, no doubt contributed to the decision to award his first stripe.

Jujitsu, unlike judo, does not , typically issue a new belt with each rank, instead adding stripes to a black area on the practitioner’s belt until they accumulate their 4th stripe, after which their next promotion results in them being awarded a stripeless belt of a new color.

Great Performance at 2024 Iowa State Championship

Des Moines Judo & Sambo Academy had seven Judoka compete at the 2024 Iowa State Championship, hosted at Teikiatsu Judo in Ames, Iowa, on November 9th, with several wounded members making an appearance to coach and support.

Junior competitors Brayden and Jayce Hanssen each earned silver in their respective divisions after obtaining a win each. Senior women’s medium competitor Olivia McBee also took silver in her division. Josh Pohl, the regular instructor for Thursday evenings, took to mat to claim gold in his division, winning both matches by throw for Ippon. Upon winning his first match via his well honed drop seoi-nage, some crowd member was heard to exclaim “it’s funny when it happens to someone else!” between burst of riotous laughter. Recently joined white belt, but long time wrestler, Christian Wilson was able to claim gold after stepping onto the tatami for the first time and looks to have a strong future in his new found passion.

Lastly, the long standing rivalry between training partners and close friends (some say too close) Logan Ballanger and Jacob van Cleaf had an unexpected upset, with Jacob claiming his first two victories on the competition mat, and the Masters Heavy weight gold medal over Logan. Ballanger found some measure of revenge in the Senior 220+lbs division, claiming victory by pin with Kesa Gatame.

Upcoming Tournament in Ames

The Iowa State Championship will be held in Ames, Iowa on Saturday, November 9th, 2024. Check in and on site enteries 8:30 to 9:30am Nov.9th. Referees meeting will be held at 10am. Tournament competition will begin at 10:30am. All competitors should register via SmoothComp at the link below.

https://usajudo.smoothcomp.com/en/event/19661