The 1st Annual Erie Hayastan Grappling Championship, promoted by Norman Yonkers’ Karate Connection MMA, was held on June 11th at Family First Sports Park in Erie, PA.

Competitors from NY, PA, OH, NC, and Canada were on hand to showcase their skills. The Grappling Competition was a smooth running event that had some great grappling action.    The Absolute Champions were as follows: 12 and under: Daniel Contraguerro, Teen: Jordan Berry, Women: Donna Plucinik, Men’s Gi: Ryan Kenski, and the Men’s No-Gi Winner was Eric Herbert.

The NY and NC Hayastan Grappling Team had a great showning.  Congrats to Sensei Paul Booe and Hayastan IMB Team on their Wins!

The next event for Norman Yonkers is his Annual Fall Hayastan Grappling Challenge at Fredonia High School on September 24th. He is also hosting a seminar by World Champion Gokor Chivichyan on September 25th. For more info on their next event go to www.karatecon.com or www.grapplingchallenge.com.