Maryland State Trooper Brandon Stein was flipping television channels last year when he came upon the first episode of Spike TV?s series “The Ultimate Fighter.”
“I knew when I saw ?The Ultimate Fighter? that this was something I wanted to do,” said Stein, 24, of Pasadena. “I was hooked.”
Stein, a former state champion wrestler at Northern High School in Garrett County, was one of about 100 competitors who tried to choke or submit their opponents Saturday at Maryland?s first International Submission Wrestling Association-sanctioned tournament at John Carroll School in Bel Air.
At 175 pounds, Stein was one of six champions in the event?s Senior Competitive division. Jermaine Wilson (145 pounds); Mike Hornzell (160); Tenyah Dixon (190); Mark Lefond (205); and Johnny Kane (heavyweight) also won titles.
With the rise in popularity of mixed martial arts fighting leagues like America?s Ultimate Fighting Championship and Japan?s Pride, more young men are becoming interested in combat sports, said Matt Slutzky, mid-Atlantic representative of the ISWA.
A former four-time state champ for Aberdeen, Slutzky said the ISWA combines the sports of wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
“We?ve done a lot of demographic research,” he said. “About 90 percent of high school wrestlers don?t compete in college and 90 percent of college wrestlers don?t wrestle again after that. There?s a lot of 18- to 23-year-olds out there who want a combat sport to compete in.”
Since the ISWA does not allow striking, Slutzky said athletes training for mixed martial arts fights can use the league as a chance to work on their grappling skills.
“You can?t get in a MMA fight every weekend,” he said. “It?s just too much of a beating.”
Former Mount St. Joseph standout wrestler Binky Jones, 36, now a teacher in Woodlawn, won the event?s featured bout by submission.
“Because of Spike and the UFC, the sport is really taking off,” Jones said. “We usually have to travel to New Jersey or Florida or New York. This is great to have an event like this in Maryland.”
The event drew competitors from around the mid-Atlantic region as well as those from strong martial arts schools like Canton?s Ground Control.
Lucille Gassner, 15, the event?s only female athlete, traveled from Woodburry, N.J., to compete.
“Some of my friends worry about me,” she said. “But I?m a pretty tough girl.”
