2013 Boston Winter Open: Big and little names found luck

2013 Boston Winter Open / Photo by Erin Herle

The 2013 Boston Winter Open was a success on Sunday, Mar 3 at the UMASS Athletics gym. From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., matches determined winners from white to black.

The crowd grew tremendously throughout the day with dedicated coaches and teammates cheering on their brave team members as they put it all on the line. The weather was near freezing with piles of snow pushed to the side of the parking lots, but inside the gymnasium warmth was welcomed by all.

The team trophies were distributed at the very end of the night with Gracie Barra placing third, Fenix BJJ placing second and Team Lloyd Irvin placing first.

You can see the full results by clicking here.

Blue belts claimed their titles, some for the first time in an IBJJF tournament, and some who have been doing it for some time now like members of Team Lloyd Irvin who were able to add their points to the team first place trophy.

While Keenan Cornelius was always a shoe-in regarding points towards Team Lloyd Irvin, the superstar sported a new gi with no patches as this was his first tournament on his newly announced team of Atos. He leaves tomorrow for San Diego, Calif. to train with Andre Galvao along with JT Torres.

DJ Jackson was also present as he worked his way to double gold after beating names like Rafael Barbosa and Gregor Gracie along the way. Another black belt standout was Danny Alvarez of GMA Alvarez BJJ who left his Jiu-Jitsu haven alone to come to the Boston Winter Open. He said he made it a goal and he wanted to visit a place he’d never been before. Despite being without his team, he achieved his goal of competing and even came out with double gold in the senior 1 feather division and the absolute. Also, he said his purple belt daughter, Danielle Alvarez, who has made her name achieving great results at Pan Ams and Worlds over the years, will be moving closer to home to return to training. Her semester away at school wasn’t fulfilling enough for her to leave Jiu-Jitsu and her dad is glad to have her back.

Gianni Grippo won his brown belt light weight division after moving up from feather so that he could have more fights. In the absolute he defeated three opponents before being defeated by Keenan Cornelius in the final. “I’m headed to Chicago Open next week so I’m hoping to win both my feather weight division and the absolute there,” he said.

Check out this match below of the brown belt absolute division with Keenan Cornelius vs. Gianni Grippo. This is the first time they have encountered each other: