At the UAAP Season 79 Judo Tournament held last November 19 and 20 at the De La Salle Zobel Sports Pavilion, the DLSU Green Judokas and DLSU Lady Judokas garnered a combined total of three gold, two silver, and four bronze medals.
The Green Judokas replicated last year’s third place finish after bagging 29 points. On the other hand, the Lady Judokas improved their standing from last year’s 5th place finish by moving up one spot. They managed to accumulate a total of 19 points and fell short behind UP by a single point.
Green Judokas persist in third
Keith Reyes of DLSU showed a stellar performance all throughout the tournament as he clinched a gold medal after defeating ADMU’s Jose Querubin in the finals of the half heavyweight class. In the lightweight contest, Michael Borja brought home another gold for the Green-and-White as he snatched a win against ADMU’s Ralph Sapi.
Meanwhile, featherweight Joshua Oleta and half middleweight Vince David bagged bronze medals that further brought La Salle up the standings. Adrian Perillo clinched the Green Judokas’ only silver medal against Al Rolan Llamas of UST in the extra lightweight class.
It was a tightly contested race for the men’s championship as the UST Growling Tigers and ADMU were almost head-to-head in the points tally. In the end, the Growling Tigers reclaimed the throne as they earned a total of 49 points, while ADMU settled for second with 36 points. UST’s Daryl John Mercado, who also took home the featherweight gold medal, was given the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in the men’s division. UP’s Yiu Man Noah Lee was awarded as Rookie of the Year (ROY).
Other gold medalists in the men’s division were UST’s Al Rolan Llamas (extra lightweight), Luis San Diego (half middleweight), and Diether Joshua Tablan (heavyweight), ADMU’s Christian Clemente (half lightweight), and UP’s Carl Dave Aseneta (middleweight).
Lady Judokas improve to fourth
Returning team captain Marjorjie Santiago of the Lady Judokas garnered a gold medal for the team as she defeated Lorelei Tolentino of UST in the finals of the lightweight contest. Another medalist was Charmea Quelino of the half lightweight class, who added a silver medal to La Salle’s tally as she failed to bring down UST’s Sueko Kinjho in the finals. Freesia Heradez also took home a bronze medal in the same division, while half middleweight Andreana Santos managed to do the same.
The UST Growling Tigresses dominated the mats as they bagged the championship with a whopping 74 points. Meanwhile, the UE Lady Warriors, who came in second in the competition, were 51 points behind the champions. UP finished with a total of 20 points and ended the tournament in third place. It was no surprise that the MVP in the women’s division came from the Espana-based squad, as Kinjho, who started her collegiate career in the UAAP as the ROY, was named MVP. This season’s ROY award was then given to Blanca Louise Garcia of the UP Lady Maroons.
Other gold medalists in the women’s division were UST’s Miam Salvador (featherweight), Khrizzie Pabulayan (extra lightweight), and Eunice Lucero (half middleweight), UE’s Bianca Estrella (middle weight), UP’s Dylwynn Keith Gimena (half heavyweight), and ADMU’s Seanne Cheung (heavyweight).
La Salle managed to bag 10 General Championship (GC) points as a result of its third place finish in the men’s division. On the other hand, the fifth place finish of the women’s division earned the Green-and-White 8 GC points. As a result from taking home a championship double, GC rivals UST managed to take home a combined total of 30 GC points.
