JUDO: Five defenders win again at USA Judo National Championships in Las Vegas

Six-time U.S. national champion Nina Cutro-Kelly (Photo: IJF/Gabriela Sabau)

As no national teams were selected from the results of the 2019 USA Judo National Championships in Las Vegas, many of the top U.S. judoka decided to skip this year’s edition.

But there were plenty who didn’t and five were able to defend their 2018 titles:

Men/-100 kg: Nate Keeve

Women/-63 kg: Alisha Galles
Women/-70 kg: Chantal Wright
Women/-78 kg: Nefeli Papadakis
Women/+78 kg: Nina Cutro-Kelly

Galles won her third national title (also 2016-18) and Cutro-Kelly won her sixth, previously in 2013-14-15-16-18.

One streak was broken, in the men’s -73 kg class, as Bradford Bolen won a bronze medal, breaking his consecutive national-title run at five! Summaries:

USA Judo National Championships
Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) ~ 1-2 June 2019
(Full results here)


-55 kg: 1. Tegan Usasa; 2. Kyle Sakuda; 3. Conor Uyekawa and Ricardo Caduillo.

-60 kg: 1. Jacob More; 2. Patrick Mendiola; 3. Dominic Rodriguez and Yasier Alvarez.

-66 kg: 1. Micah Brooks; 2. Alejandro Menendez; 3. Ryan Vargas and Ricky Marin.

-73 kg: 1. Liam Wright; 2. Salama Salem; 3. Nicolas Yonezuka and Bradford Bolen.

-81 kg: 1. Tony Sangimino; 2. Alex Jacobsen; 3. Arthur Wright and Adrian Bernal.

-90 kg: 1. Nicholas Pavlov; 2. Lenny Guerrero Baez; 3. Alexander Graves and Christopher Moulton.

-100 kg: 1. Nate Keeve; 2. Ruben Martin; 3. Davit Arakelyan and Matthew Koch.

+100 kg: 1. Eric Kalajyan; 2. Luciano Gazzani; 3. Christian Konoval and Aaron Satterwhite.

Open: 1. Adham Ramadan; 2. Jan Jackiewicz; 3. Ryuken Satoh and Kosuke Yokoyama.


-44 kg: 1. Maia Waggoner; 2. Jenna Enoka; only placers.

-48 kg: 1. Louise Pekelo; 2. Jeannette Hong; 3. Cameron Miller and Jenna Schurr.

-52 kg: 1. Katelyn Jarrell; 2. Brianna Matsuhara; 3. Maria Dhami and alaine Abuan.

-57 kg: 1. Amelia Fulgentes; 2. Mariah Holguin; 3. Isadora Friedlander and Regina Arias.

-63 kg: 1. Alisha Galles; 2. Sara Golden; 3. Samantha Paduani and Karle Carrouth.

-70 kg: 1. Chantal Wright; 2. Melissa Myers; 3. Sophia, Teissler and Nina Seoane-Scheitermaier.

-78 kg: 1. Nefeli Papadakis; 2. Tiara Kaye; 3. Nicole Stout and Asami Kobata.

+78 kg: 1. Nina Cutro-Kelly; 2. Natalie Torres; only placers.

Open: 1. Donte Delia; 2. Alexandra Wilson; only placers.