NCAA Wrestling Champions and All Americans re-unite to compete at Western Regional Grappling Duals on Feb. 9th
Team Takedown MMA Fighters “Team Up” for “Take Downs” with Marc Laimon’s Cobra-Kai at Grappling Competition
Arlington, TX, January 28, 2008: Former collegiate champion wrestlers turned pro
MMA fighters will dual together once again at the Western Regional Duals on Feb.9, at Palomar
College in San Marcos, California.
Team Takedown Fighters Jake Rosholt, Johny Hendricks, Eric Bradley, and Shane Roller join forces
with Marc Laimon’s Cobra Kai talented team members. Bets are on that “Team Takedown-Cobra Kai”
is a force to be reckoned with. A new MMA clothing line called CK Fight Gear developed by Sporting Goods giant Cliff Keen is sponsoring the team.
· Jake Rosholt – 3X NCAA Div. I Champ, 4X All American, Big 12 Champion
MMA Pro Record 3-0 Including 3 TKO’s and 3 Light Heavyweight Titles
· Johny Hendicks – 2X NCAA Div. I Champ, 4X All American, 3X Big 12 Champion
MMA Pro Record 2-0 Including 2 TKO’s
· Eric Bradley – 2X All American, 2X Big Ten Champ, National Collegiate Boxing Champion
MMA Pro Record 2-1
· Shane Roller – 3X All American, Big 12 Conference Champion
MMA Pro Record 2-1 Including a 16 second TKO in round 1.
Team Takedown Managing Partner Ted Ehrhardt is looking forward to watching his fighters compete together one entity and use this experience as a learning curve. Ted, who thrives on competition and loves a challenge feels the team is going to have great success.TTD_Myspace.jpg “I am so excited, I can hardly wait….I feel like it’s Christmas all over again!” said Ehrhardt.
The Team Takedown Fighters (www.TeamTakeDownFighters.com have a positive attitude and feel they will benefit from the experience of competitive Grappling.
Shane Roller said “I’m excited about competing in the Western Duals because it will allow me to use my wrestling as well as the Brazilian jui-jitsu that I’ve been learning. It will also give me an opportunity to see what I need to work on to get better. This should definitely help me in MMA because it will improve my ground game. The wrestlers in MMA spend most of their fights on the ground, so I feel this will be very beneficial.”
Johny Hendricks agreed “I think this will help me better understand BJJ moves and positions, and also help me advance my position to finish the fight from the ground.”
Eric Bradley is the only Team Takedown fighter with some experience in competitive Grappling. Bradley won the Intermediate division at 180 pounds at the Grappler’s Quest in Las Vegas in Dec. 2006. Bradley feels “It will get him more comfortable passing the guard and working on some techniques without getting hit in the face.”
Jake Rosholt is looking forward to competing and believes “It will give me things to go back to the gym and focus
on.”
World renowned black belt Marc Laimon, from Cobra Kai Jiu Jitsu is currently helping with the training of
several of the Team Takedown fighters. Laimon encouraged Jake Rosholt do some Grappling competitions, and Ted Ehrhardt jumped on the idea, and suggested forming a team. Marc Laimon is fired up for the competition and says to “Bring your video cameras. The game is about to change!
Team Takedown – Cobra Kai is about to unleash the next big evolution in the sport. I am so excited to be working
with such high caliber athletes, that possess the work ethic to become the very best in the sport.”
Laimon expresses that “Team Takedown will benefit by being under stressful live situations that
relate very closely to MMA. They will be able to practice takedowns to guard passes, to dominate positions,
which ultimately will lead to a submission victory. Basically, they get to work on a component of MMA
without getting punched in the face. I am so excited to see what these guys can do.
THEY are the FUTURE!!”
Cobra Kai is also bringing tow top guns in Sim Go and Chris Holdsworth who were competitors in last year’s USA Wrestling Grappling World Team Trials.
logo.gif
Who is the BEST in the WEST??
Tournament organizers expect as many as 12 teams to participate, many of which have backgrounds in Grappling, jiu jitsu, wrestling and other martial arts. With the dual meet format, participants will have an opportunity for a number of quality matches.
“I believe that this will be the highest level team competition we have seen to date,” said Chris Carlino, the Director of Grappling for California USA Wrestling. “The Grappling community has not seen a competition like this before. Grapplers of all levels will be able to have competitive matches. That is the beauty of the dual meet format.”
USA Wrestling events featuring Grappling have proven to be successful in Southern California this year,
according to Richard Malliet, the Director of the San Diego Wrestling Association. This fall, the SDWA has
run eight tournaments where a Grappling division has been included and they have been well received.
‘We are having fun with this newly sanctioned USA Wrestling sport, and will continue promoting it as far as
we can,” said Malliet.
For more information on the competition, contact Chris Carlino, Team/Competition Director for the event at 714-334-9257 or via e-mail at chriscarlino@hotmail.com
USAW_logo_04.jpg
WHAT: WESTERN REGIONAL DUALS – GRAPPLING TOURNAMENT
WHEN: FEBRUARY 8 – WEIGH IN’S & PACKET PICK- UP
FEBRUARY 9 – PRELIMINARY ROUNDS START AT 9:00 AM
WHERE: PALOMAR COLLEGE
1140 WEST MISSION ROAD.
SAN MARCOS, CALIFORNIA 92069
CONTACT INFO:
To learn more about Team Takedown Fighters please visit www.TeamTakedownFighters.com
Please contact Ted Ehrhardt for interviews and sponsorship opportunities at
Ted@TeamTakeDownFighters.com or call (817) 821-1790
www.TheMat.com – The official website for USA wrestling.
www.ckjk.com – Marc Laimon’s Jiu Jitsu
www.ckFightGear.com – Cliff Keen Fight Gear