NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with catch wrestlers Thomas Velasquez, Justin Sumter, Joe Shick, and Pat Sabatini, along with Thomas Velasquez's coach Ray Karakas, right after their catch wrestling matches at the 2015 MMA World Expo. They were all part of the North American Catch Wrestling Association/King of Catch Wrestling competition, the third straight year in which there has been catch wrestling at the MMA World Expo.

In the four catch wrestling matches at the MMA World Expo this year, the victors were Thomas Velasquez, Justin Sumter, Joe Shick, and Pat Sabatini. With his victory over Travis Newaza, Thomas Velasquez captured the 2015 North American Heavyweight King of Catch championship.

The 2015 MMA World Expo took place Saturday, December 12, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

In our post-match interviews, each of the wrestlers discussed how their matches went, their varied backgrounds including college and high school wrestling as well as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA, their plans for the future, the future of catch wrestling, and much more.

Here are the complete results:

North American Catch Wrestling Association/King of Catch Results
MMA World Expo
December 12, 2015
Jacob Javits Center, New York

Joe Shick vs. Anthony Pipola, middleweight
1 - Joe Shick pinned Anthony Pipola, 4:30
2 - Joe Shick pinned Anthony Pipola, 3:01
Joe Shick wins, 2 falls to 0

Pat Sabatini vs. Lee Yalowitz, catchweight
1 - Pat Sabatini pinned Lee Yalowitz, 1:31
2 - Pat Sabatini pinned Lee Yalowitz, 1:30
Pat Sabatini wins, 2 falls to 0

Justin Sumter vs. George Mecaj, light heavyweight
1 - Justin Sumter wins by rear naked choke submission, 37 seconds
2 - Justin Sumter pinned George Mecaj, 24 seconds
Justin Sumter wins, 2 falls to 0

West Coast King of Catch Travis Newaza vs. East Coast King of Catch Thomas Velasquez, for 2015 North American King of Catch Heavyweight Title
1 - Travis Newaza wins by inverted heel hook submission, 6:11
2 - Thomas Velasquez pinned Travis Newaza, 1:44
3 - Thomas Velasquez pinned Travis Newaza, 12:21

There is a photo gallery from the North American Catch Wrestling Association/King of Catch here.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.
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Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: Eddie Goldman, Joe Shick, Justin Sumter, King of Catch Wrestling, MMA World Expo, NACWA, No Holds Barred, Pat Sabatini, Ray Karakas, Thomas Velasquez

by Eddie Goldman

North American Catch Wrestling Association/King of Catch Results
MMA World Expo
December 12, 2015
Jacob Javits Center, New York

Joe Shick vs. Anthony Pipola, middleweight
1 - Joe Shick pinned Anthony Pipola, 4:30
2 - Joe Shick pinned Anthony Pipola, 3:01
Joe Shick wins, 2 falls to 0

Pat Sabatini vs. Lee Yalowitz, catchweight
1 - Pat Sabatini pinned Lee Yalowitz, 1:31
2 - Pat Sabatini pinned Lee Yalowitz, 1:30
Pat Sabatini wins, 2 falls to 0

Justin Sumter vs. George Mecaj, light heavyweight
1 - Justin Sumter wins by rear naked choke submission, 37 seconds
2 - Justin Sumter pinned George Mecaj, 24 seconds
Justin Sumter wins, 2 falls to 0

West Coast King of Catch Travis Newaza vs. East Coast King of Catch Thomas Velasquez, for 2015 North American King of Catch Heavyweight Title
1 - Travis Newaza wins by inverted heel hook submission, 6:11
2 - Thomas Velasquez pinned Travis Newaza, 1:44
3 - Thomas Velasquez pinned Travis Newaza, 12:21

Labels: Anthony Pipola, Dan Kanagie, Dan Severn, Eddie Goldman, George Mecaj, Joe Shick, Justin Sumter, King of Catch Wrestling, Lee Yalowitz, MMA World Expo, NACWA, Pat Sabatini, Thomas Velasquez, Travis Newaza

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Dan Kanagie of the North American Catch Wrestling Association (NACWA).

He updated us on the next event for the NACWA, called the Virginia Shooter's Challenge, which will take place this Saturday, April 5. It will be held at the Amherst County High School, 139 Lancer Lane, Amherst, Virginia 24521.

The Virginia Shooter's Challenge is a regional qualifier for this year's NACWA national tournament, the Liberty Bell Classic, which will be held later this year.

This tournament will be held under traditional American catch wrestling rules, where you can only win by submission or pin. The matches will not have any points scored, as they are based on a win, lose, or draw format. There are no divisions by experience level in order to stop sandbagging. All kinds of submissions are allowed, except groin attacks, fish hooking, spitting, biting, eye gouging, hair grabbing, intentional striking, and kicking. Athletes from all styles, schools, and organizations are welcome.

We spoke with Dan Kanagie by phone Wednesday.

"Things are looking good for our second event," he said. But he is realistic that the revival of catch wrestling is just in its earliest stages. "Being new and doing the whole grassroots thing, we're not actually expecting a massive turnout in the thousands, but for being our second event, it's looking really good."

With about 20 wrestlers already pre-registered, he said, "That should be a nice turnout, double the size of the last one."

Later this month, he will also start teaching regular catch wrestling classes at the Primal Gym in Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

We also discussed how grapplers from various styles are adapting to the rules and techniques of catch wrestling, the issues of governance and a governing body for catch wrestling as it continues to develop, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Labels: Dan Kanagie, Eddie Goldman, grappling, NACWA, No Holds Barred, North American Catch Wrestling Association, submission, Virginia Shooter's Challenge

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Dan Kanagie and Billy Warlock of the North American Catch Wrestling Association (NACWA).

The next event for the NACWA will take place Saturday, April 5, called the Virginia Shooter's Challenge. It will be held at Amherst County High School, 139 Lancer Lane, Amherst, Virginia 24521.

The Virginia Shooter's Challenge is a regional qualifier for this year's NACWA national tournament, the Liberty Bell Classic, which will be held later this year in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

NACWA events are held under traditional American catch wrestling rules, where you can win by submission or pin. There are no points, no politics, and no sandbagging. Grapplers of all styles, organizations, and levels of experience are welcome. There are six weight classes for men. For women, the Madison System will be used, with competitors matched closest to their weights.

The tournament will not have any points scored, as matches are based on win, lose, or draw format. There are no divisions by experience level in order to stop sandbagging. All kinds of submissions are allowed, except groin attacks, fish hooking, spitting, biting, hair grabbing, intentional striking, and kicking.

We spoke with Dan Kanagie and Billy Warlock by phone Tuesday.

The NACWA national event will invite all the winners of the regional tournaments, said Dan Kanagie, the NACWA national director, in order to "find out who's the best of the best."

As for the competitors at the Virginia Shooter's Challenge, Billy Warlock, the NACWA Virginia director, said, "It's kind of across the board here in Virginia. We've got a ton of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu schools, several of them that I'm friends with that we've opened up to. So it's going to be a wide range of competitors, both amateur wrestlers from some of the high schools here in the area have confirmed that they're going to be attending and sending wrestlers to compete, as well as some of the area's top grappling and, as I said, BJJ gi schools are sending competitors."

Both have been discussing setting up regional catch wrestling tournaments which lead up to a national tournament for years.

The goal of this one, Billy Warlock said, is "to put on the best tournament that we can here in Virginia and get guys qualified to head on up to Philly for nationals."

We also discussed the tremendous potential catch wrestling has to recapture its place as a legitimate and popular professional spectator sport, why the catch wrestling rules result in exciting action on the mat, why catch wrestling is "the workmen's art", why it is "the greatest combat sport on the face of the planet", and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Labels: Billy Warlock, Dan Kanagie, Eddie Goldman, grappling, NACWA, No Holds Barred, North American Catch Wrestling Association, submission, Virginia Shooter's Challenge