UST men at cusp of Judo title retention

c/o UAAP

UAAP Season 85 Collegiate Judo Standings after Day 1
School - points - g-s-b

Men's
UST 25 3-1-1
UP 16 1-2-3
Ateneo 4 0-1-1
DLSU 3 0-0-3

University of Santo Tomas is halfway to a successful title defense, at the close of the first day of collegiate action in the UAAP Season 85 judo tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Blue Eagle Gym.

The Tiger Judokas claimed three gold medals on their way to 25 points. a nine-point lead against the University of the Philippines, which has a gold in their main tally.

Aaron Reyes was one of the UST gold medalists, surviving an accidental headbutt in the quarterfinals from Karl Tenorio of UP to eventually claim the middleweight (under-90 kg) title.

The senior would secure the gold after a quick victory over Arhann Rodil of Ateneo. He shares about his road to the gold, "Yung sa 'kin naman, sa performance ko, binuhos ko talaga lahat kasi last playing year ko na. Para sa 'kin kahit anong mangyari basta manalo."

Another gold for UST came from Chino Sy in the half-heavyweight (under-100 kg) class, making quick work out of Carlos Sandoval of the University of the Philippines in the final.

The third gold came from Rael Abujos, who assured a 1-2 finish for the Tiger Judokas by defeating teammate Tristan Reyes in the final of the heavyweight (over-100kg) division. UP's Zarchie Garay and Ateneo's Yvan Ayalin secured the bronze medals.

The lone gold that did not go to UST's way went to Jayvee Ferrer. The SEA Games silver medalist defeated fellow UP judoka Ollzhen Dionisio to claim the half-middleweight (under-81 kg) crown, with Junel Porlaje of UST and John Hernandez of DLSU securing the bronze medals.

When asked about UST's performance, Reyes acknowledges, "Para sa 'kin, OK naman po performance ng team. Sa heavyweights po nakuha namin yung mostly gold and silver."

Day 2 of collegiate judo action resumes on Sunday afternoon.