Martin, a Burnt Hills High School graduate started the JMJC off the first day, April 19, by taking a bronze medal at 63kg in her first Pan Am Championship appearance. She posted a 3-1 record on the day. Martin dropped her first bout to Diana Velasco (Columbia) then strung three straight wins together beating Yennifer Dominguez (Guatemala), Andrea Gutierrez (Mexico) then Wisneybi Machado (Venezuela) in the bronze medal match. This result moves Martin up nine spots from No. 24 to a career high No. 15 on the world ranking list, which currently qualifies her for the 2013 World Judo Masters in Tyumen, Russia May 24–25.
The World Masters invites only the top 16 athletes in each weight class. Martin would be notified of an official invite following the European Championships in Budapest, Hungary next weekend. If Martin were to qualify, she will be the first athlete from the JMJC to do so.
Burnt Hills High graduate, Kossor kept the momentum going posting a 3-1 record on day two (April 20) to capture a bronze medal in the 60kg division. Like Martin, Kossor lost his first match to eventual silver medalist Nabor Castillo (Mexico) then won three straight beating Nehuen Melita (Argentina), Juan Postigos (Peru) then Jose Romero (Ecuador) in the bronze medal bout. This catapults Kossor 25 slots on the WRL from No. 55 to a career high No. 30. This was Kossor’s first medal at the Pan Ams in his third attempt.
Bolen duplicated Kossor and Martin’s path to win the bronze medal, losing his first contest to eventual champ, Luiz Revite (Brazil) before winning three straight. Bolen defeated Wander Mateo (Dominican Republic), Israel Verdugo (Ecuador) and then used the “Bolen Arrow” choke against Alonso Wong (Peru) to nail down the bronze. Bolen improved his world ranking eight spots from No. 32 to No. 24. This was Bolen’s third medal at the Pan Ams, giving the JMJC 14 total Pam Am medals in it’s 12 year history. The three JMJC stars also qualified for the World Judo Championships August 26-30, 2013 in Rio, Brazil.
