My strange experience at the US Open

[Ybot]

Be prepared for a long read.

Well, anyway, I competed for the second year at the US Open, and have come to the realization I am a crappy competitor. I just don't get the chance to compete often enough, and I'm too anxious going into my first match. I hadn't competed since the US Open last year where I lost my first match. This year, though, I still lost my first match, but was lucky enough to continue competing. Here's what happened:

First of all, there were only three guys (including me) in my division. So, I guess the way it was suppose to work was the loser of the first match fights the guy on the other side of the bracket, then the winner of that match fights the winner of the first match. So an example of that would be like Nick Diaz today. He lost his first match, beat the guy in his second, then went on to fight in the finals against the guy who beat him in the first round (Nick lost again BTW, and the guy who beat him was promoted to Black on the podium after recieving his metal).

So, my first match was against a real tough guy named Tyler Bosard. I'm real bad about recalling what happen in my matches, but I know I felt anxious and kinda over reacting to everything. They tell me I was up on points, but Tyler managed to work into a armbar on me, tapping me out. It felt like crap, cause I knew it wouldn't have happened like that if this was not at a compition. Not saying he couldn't beat me, the dude was tough and strong, but only that I wouldn't have fought in the mannor I did. It wasn't me.

So what was suppose to happen next was I was suppose to fight Alfredo Prado (Paragon) in the next round, but it didn't happen that way. They had Tyler fight Alfredo, and Alfredo beat him. Then they had me fight Alfredo.

Well, I had a chance to relax a bit and talk to Cassio about my first fight, and I realized I needed to calm down a bit, and play more the game I usually play. So, now I go in and fight Alfredo, and I ended up beating him 10-0.

Well, now they realize their mistake, and really by winning the second match I screwed everything up. If I would have lost, it would have been a simple first, second, and me third. But I won. So now Tyler beat me, Alfredo beat Tyler, and I beat Alfredo. Three matches with a win for each of us.

Now they call us up and explain that they screwed up, and apologized. They said the only fair way to do it would be to start the division over from the beginning. We all agreed, and so it starts over.

I fight Tyler again. This was a tough match (the dude is no joke), but I pull off the win on an advantage.

Next Tyler was suppose to fight Alfredo again, but he was a bit mad about the whole situation, and a bit about the calls in our match (I will post the videos later), and so bowed out of his match with Alfredo.

So in the finals for first and second it's me and Alfredo again. I can't say enough about Alfredo, I'll tell you more about him later when I have more time, but lets just say for now that this guy fought harder than anyone else on Saturday, and was still a tough competitor. His match with me for the finals was his last of the day, and he pulled off the win this time with a wrist lock while attacking the armbar. Tough guy.

So, in the end I won one and lost one to both competitors in my division, and took second place.

 

[zDom]

Congrats!

 

[Makalakumu]

Yeah, congrats! Neat story too! Tournaments can be fun and stressful...

 

[matt.m]

You did a fabulous job. I congratulate you.

 

[Carol]

That is a strange story. But congratulations to you for doing so well! :highfive:

 

[Lisa]

Good story! Congrats on your second!

 

[Eternal Beginner]

Congrats! I have a friend who regularly competes in the US Open and it surprises me somewhat to hear of this mistake.

Speaking as someone who runs a small grappling tournament, I have sympathy for both the organizers and atheletes when these things occur. I know as an organizer, when we screw up, we feel horrible and do everything we can to make the division as fair as possible. Sounds like they tried to do the right thing.

As a grappling competitor, I have also been on the end of some weird and wacky happenings in tournaments. I have had to fight in male divisions (I'm female), fight against considerably heavier opponents (one time a female almost 70 pounds heavier than myself) and bizarre calls by referees. It is something all competitors have to cope with and as the sport expands and referees more highly trained, these things will happen less.

Sounds like you didn't let the happenings get too far into your head and managed to pull out some decent matches. Hope the fun and experience outweighed the "weirdness".

And don't ever think that you are a crappy competitor! At least you get out there and try. I'm not saying everyone needs to compete, but at least you put it out there and really tested what you know. Anyone who does that is a real competitor in my books.

 

[Kacey]

Sounds like you learned about how you can improve your performance at competition - and improved each round you were in. Many people who go in nervous and do poorly can't come back and do well in the next round. Congratulations!

 

[Ybot]

Congrats! I have a friend who regularly competes in the US Open and it surprises me somewhat to hear of this mistake.

Yeah, the US Open is known for being a well run tournament, and my story was in no way meant as a criticism of the tournament as a whole, more as a story of my personal experience. Quite honestly I was happy to get the chance to start over. I don't compete enough, and I think I needed that first loss to get me going. I had a great experience and plan on getting first next year.

 

[Jonathan Randall]

Yeah, the US Open is known for being a well run tournament, and my story was in no way meant as a criticism of the tournament as a whole, more as a story of my personal experience. Quite honestly I was happy to get the chance to start over. I don't compete enough, and I think I needed that first loss to get me going. I had a great experience and plan on getting first next year.

Great job and congratulations!

Even if you didn't perform in the first match as you expected, you're still head and shoulders above those who never put themselves out by competing. Kudos!