Grapple&Move Freiberg is new champion at Rising Sun

The opening of the German Top Team Performance Centers at Gym 24 Lifestyle in Herrenberg was an absolute martial arts highlight this weekend. Teams and athletes from all over Germany were live on site during the last two days at this groundbreaking event and actively participated. The workshops on Saturday of Sven Fortenbacher and Selvin Ramcilovic were packed and the mats were well attended throughout the day.

Then today, Sunday, was the highlight of the opening with the tournament "Rising Sun III" an absolute matte thriller. Six teams from the German Top Team Affiliation network battle it out in Grappling Team Survival Match mode to determine the champion in this quintet-style tournament. And the surprise was great when the Grapple&Move of Sascha Rau and Amin Aichele crowned itself the winner. The Freiberg dojo, which only recently became famous throughout Germany thanks to the sensational 50-man kumite of Luta Livre Blackbelt Amin Aichele, showed an extremely solid performance and deservedly crowned itself the new champion.

Here at Kakutogi there is an exclusive report about the 5 team duels that took place in Herrenberg today.

Alps BJJ Kempten vs. Samurai Fight Team Leipzig

Already the first duel promised some excitement and action. Kempten vs. Leipzig was an interesting clash of two strong teams at eye level. In the opening match Sebastian Hetterich (Alpen BJJ) and Shooto wunderkind Björn Herrmann (Samurai Fight Team) drew and both had to leave the mat. Gela Deisadze then put the Samurais in the lead with a submission win over Paul Schubert and fought to a draw in the next match against Ivan Zovko, forcing both fighters off the mat. However, the Samurais from Leipzig were now ahead by one point, or had one more fighter in the team.

Dimitrij Tschodu (Samurai Fight Team) and Christina Brauchle (Alpen BJJ), who was the only woman on a team today, also drew. So Alpen BJJ had only one fighter left in the match with Michael Haupert, but Haupert prevailed dominantly against Eugen Weber with submission and could equalize. In the last match, the two team captains faced each other and a real mat thriller broke out.

At the end of the fighting time both teams were tied. Without further ado, an extension with ADCC points was fought over 3 minutes, but this also ended in another draw with 2-2. Finally, a mandatory decision of the three mat judges had to be made and here it was again very close with 2-1 votes. However, Alpen BJJ had the slight edge here and won by a razor-thin margin against the Samurais from Leipzig. Thus, the Kemptner moved into the semifinals against the German Top Team Böblingen, who had a walk-through in the preliminary round.

German Top Team HQ vs. Kenan Academy Würzburg

The Reutlingen from the headquarters of the German Top Team went here as favorites into the race against a young and also light team from Würzburg. As expected, René Zeller (GTTHQ) could win the opening match against Maximilian Neumann by submission. But already in the next fight came the surprise, when the oldest participant Franz Winter (Kenan Academy) wrested a draw from the Reutlinger and threw him out of the game.

The Würzburg team was still one player behind, but that was not too big a lead for the Reutlingen team. But they now brought the "Hero" Markus Held into the game. The BJJ and Luta Livre brown belt showed all his class from the start and was able to defeat both Kai Fröhlich and Artur Hovakimyan by submission. Now only the team captain of Würzburg was left, but what followed was definitely the most exciting and technically best fight of the day.

Matthew Mays (Kenan Academy) provided several shock moments when he took Held's back and put him in serious trouble with several submission approaches. The Reutlinger's heart stopped several times briefly and it is only thanks to Held's incredible experience that he was able to free himself from the submissions again and again. After six nerve-wracking minutes, the two athletes separated in a draw and both had to leave the mat. Thus, the German Top Team HQ was determined as the semi-final opponent of Grapple&Move.

Semifinal 1: Alpen BJJ Kempten vs. German Top Team Böblingen

What a performance by Luta Livre Blackbelt Selvin Ramcilovic, who competed with a torn ligament in his ankle, which he had contracted last week at the competition in Lisbon. Single-handedly, Ramcilovic, who has been leading the German Top Team in Böblingen for about 1 1/4 years, swept through the field of participants from the Allgäu region and defeated his first four opponents by submission in under a minute each.

It seemed almost surreal how Ramcilovic forced even 30 kg heavier opponents to give up in the shortest time. Only in the last fight did he meet an equal opponent in Michael Haupert and an exciting match characterized by tactics broke out. After six minutes, the two top fighters separated in a draw and Selvin got the victory for Böblingen with the elimination of the last opponent from Alpen BJJ, who were now determined as the first opponent in the final.

Semifinal 2: German Top Team HQ vs. Grapple&Move Freiberg

What an exciting semifinal! Both teams had a blackbelt in their ranks and a whole cadre of strong Blue-, Purple- and Brownbelts in the backhand. René Zeller (GTTHQ) and Dennis Hahl (Grapple&Move) kicked things off, with Zeller impressively prevailing over the much heavier Hahl with a reverse triangle from the backmount. However, René had to leave a lot of power in this fight and lost to the Leglock specialist Can Dogan (Grapple&Move) by submission.

So both teams were tied again and Markus Held came on the mat. He gave the nimble Dogan no chance and defeated him by submission, thus putting the Reutlingen team in the lead again. But Daniel Pfizenmaier (Grapple&Move) quickly put an end to Held's technically strong game with his enormous pressure and defeated Held with a submission, so that the match was tied again. Now the "stonemason" Martin Przegendza came on the mat for Reutlingen and he managed to submit Pfizenmaier.

But Lukas Märtig brought the fighters from Freiberg back on track by forcing Przegendza to give up and now stood against the much lighter Stefan Hoss (GTTHQ) on the mat. And what a feast for the eyes this match was. The "Boss" Hoss threw everything into the scale and was able to wrest a draw from Märtig, which eliminated both fighters from the tournament and it came down to a "final" of the two team captains Sven Fortenbacher (GTTHQ) and Amin Aichele (Grapple&Move).

Aichele left no doubt that he wanted to bring the victory to Freiberg. With a picture book leglock he forced Fortenbacher to give up after a few minutes and thus brought his team into the final against the German Top Team Böblingen.

Final: German Top Team Böblingen vs. Grapple&Move Freiberg

There could not have been a more exciting and worthy final than this. Both teams were highly motivated and ready to go beyond their limits. With stoic disdain for pain, a visibly battered Selvin Ramcilovic entered the mat and suffered a bitter defeat against Dennis Hahl (Grapple&Move) right at the start. Böblingen looked almost shocked, but then 18-year-old Finn Schmid took to the mat for Böblingen.

The fighter from the Budokeller Bonlanden also trains in Böblingen with Selvin Ramcilovic and is the current ADCC champion in Germany. This should now also show clearly, because Finn made with his next two opponents early short process. Both Dennis Hahl and Can Dogan had to admit defeat to Schmid and now the Böblingen were in the lead.

Only Daniel Pfizenmaier (Grapple&Move) was able to turn the tide again by wresting a draw from Schmid and thus eliminating him from the mat. Johannes Richter (German Top Team Böblingen) and Lukas Märtig (Grapple&Move) also drew, so that both had to leave the mat. Now Böblingen sent the last man on the mat with their team captain Amin Aichele.

And of all things the 107 kg ADCC champion and Luta Livre Blackbelt Alex Budja (German Top Team Böblingen) was his opponent. But now the "Yamatodamashii" of the man from Böblingen came into play. Ice-cold and completely unimpressed Amin managed the sensation and forced his opponent from Böblingen to give up.

Thus, he faced Stefan Samsonian in the last fight, who had stepped in from the Samurai Fight Team Leipzig at short notice for the injured Daniel Tempera. And here Amin had no problems at all and got the submission with an armbar at the beginning of the round.

With this victory, the team captain from the Grapple&Move cemented the victory of his team. Overjoyed, he accepted the trophy, a real samurai sword, from the hands of Peter Angerer and celebrated the success of his still young team with all those present.