Four members of the Campbell River Judo Club fought in the Evergreen Sate Open in Washington State last month.
This was a large tournament with judo fighters coming from all over Western Canada and the western United States to participate. All members represented the club well and fought hard in very comparative divisions. Owen Wellard, age seven, the youngest member won a silver medal in the boys 31 kg division. In his final match to decide gold and silver, Owen lost a back-and-forth battle in which both fighters had the upper hand at different times.
Jamiliya Wellard ended up medaling in two divisions; silver in the under 38 kg girls ages 9/10 and a bronze in the girls ages 11/12. This is very impressive because Jamilya had just turned nine years old a few weeks prior to the tournament.
In the adult divisions, Glen Morris and Jason Wellard both medaled. Glen fought in the senior men’s under 73 kg and ended up with winning the bronze.
Jason won gold in the men’s under 81kg division and had to have a rematch with an opponent he had already between earlier that day to settle the division.