Ten
to Head for the Hills
Posted: May 30, 2009
In
the first combined Junior Olympics – Senior Open regional
tournament, ten young boxers from Michigan made the grade and now
advance to national competition June 8-13 in Denver, Colorado.
Region
5 competition was held last weekend in Barberton, Ohio, a suburb
of Akron and the birthplace of U of M’s Bo Schembechler. A
male and female team for each class of competition made the journey
after winning at the state level in Port Huron the week before.
Junior
Olympics National Team
- Mens Team
– Of the thirteen weightclasses, four are filled by Michigan
boxers and three from Illinois. Ohio has the most with six fighters.
The other three states had no fighters victorious this year
at the regional level.
Austin
Watkins of Joe’s Boxing in Monroe, Zach Shamoun and Joseph
Bonas of Detroit’s Kronk Gym and Brandon Love of Detroit’s
Butzel Recreation will represent Michigan next week.
- Womens
Team – Sixteen weightclasses comprise the womens division
in the JOs but more than half will be vacant in Denver. Of the
seven filled slot, Kentucky has the most with three boxers while
Michigan and Ohio each have two young women to enter the ring.
Big
Dog’s Valerie Farley and newcomer Raven Barnes will represent
the state. Coach Jim Smedley of Big Dog Boxing in Port Huron and
Ohio's Michael Johnson are the team coaches.
Mens Jr. Olympic Team |
|
Womens Jr. Olympic
Team |
Weight |
Boxer |
|
Weight |
Boxer |
101 |
Cody
Stone (Indiana) |
|
110 |
Alycia
Baumgardner (Ohio) |
106 |
Hakeem
Watkins (Ohio) |
|
119 |
Cassandra
Nieves (Ohio) |
110 |
Austin
Watkins (Michigan) |
|
125 |
Valerie
Farley (Michigan) |
114 |
Zach
Shamoun (Michigan) |
|
132 |
Lauryn
Corey (Kentucky) |
119 |
Kenneth
Sims (Illinois) |
|
145 |
Sariah
Edwards (Kentucky) |
125 |
Albert
Bell (Ohio) |
|
154 |
Jessica
Caudill (Kentucky) |
132 |
Jose
Arambula (Illinois) |
|
176+ |
Raven
Barnes (Michigan) |
138 |
Khalid
Almousa (Illinois) |
|
|
|
145 |
Brandon
Love (Michigan) |
|
|
|
154 |
Joseph
Bonas (Michigan) |
|
|
|
165 |
Donald
Anderson (Ohio) |
|
|
|
176 |
Juan
Salinas (Ohio) |
|
|
|
176+ |
Trevor
Mourer (Ohio) |
|
|
|
Senior
Open National Team
- Mens Team
- Ten young men comprise this years national team with only
one representing Michigan. Saginaw’s Ernesto Garza III
survived where other quality fighters did not. He will be joined
by six Ohio and three Illinois boxers, while the 106 pound position
is vacant.
- Womens
Team - The young women make an impressive showing in numbers
this year with Michigan represented by a third of the nine woman
team; more than any other state in the region. The division
is comprised of the same number of weightclasses as the men
at eleven but the 106 and 112 pound slots are vacant.
Michigan
will be represented by Lapeer Boxing’s Chasity Funseth, Butzel’s
Sudana Fowler and Andrecia Wasson of the former River Rouge Boxing
Club, but now fighting out of Casa De Boxeo in Lincoln Park.
Mens
Senior Open Team |
|
Womens
Senior Open Team |
Weight |
Boxer |
|
Weight |
Boxer |
106 |
Vacant |
|
101 |
Samantha
Guzman (Illinois) |
112 |
Adon
Ortiz (Illinois) |
|
106 |
Vacant |
119 |
Rau'shee
Warren (Ohio) |
|
112 |
Vacant |
125 |
Ernesto
Garza (Michigan |
|
119 |
Tiffany
Perez (Illinois) |
132 |
Yuandale
Evans (Ohio) |
|
125 |
Chasity
Funseth (Michigan) |
141 |
Zeddie
Adams (Ohio) |
|
132 |
Sudana
Fowler (Michigan) |
154 |
Eduardo
Alicia (Ohio) |
|
141 |
Vanessa
Jackson (Ohio) |
165 |
Terrell
Gausha (Ohio) |
|
152 |
Andrecia
Wasson (Michigan) |
178 |
Armando
Pina (Illinois) |
|
165 |
Maria
Norton Baumer (Ohio) |
201 |
Robert
Jekobson (Illinois) |
|
178 |
Tiffinie
Hearn (Kentucky) |
201+ |
John
Smith (Ohio) |
|
178+ |
Traynora
Locke (Kentucky) |
|
|
|
|
|
(c)
2009, Sportssummary.com
|
