UST judokas capture record fifth UAAP crown

The UST Judo Tiger judokas claimed the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s judo championship for an unprecedented fifth straight time, beating host University of the Philippines Sunday at the UP College of the Human Kinetics Gym.

Playing without several key players due to disqualification, the Tigers rewrote UAAP history after surviving a tough challenge from the Maroons.

UST, headed by first ever rookie-MVP awardee Archie Oliver Martinez, Emile De la Cerna, 2000 MVP Steven Esteban, and last years MVP Freddie Agoot, sustained its winning streak which began in 1998.

Martinez was unbeatable in all of his four games. A national judoka, Martinez pulled off a superb form to become first ever rookie-MVP. He will turn fourth Dan black belt later this year.

It was another triumphant year for UST coach Jojo Arce, but what made the feat doubly impressive was the Tigers did it minus Darwin Tai, middleweight Jerome Gomez, and heavyweight Francisco Aniag who missed the competition due to overweight and academic deficiencies.

"It’s hard to defend the title this year, because other teams like UP and De La Salle have improved a lot especially in their ground and standing techniques," Arce said.

But their women counterparts failed to match their feat as they lost to archrival University of the Philippines, 3-4, settling for second place for the fourth time, all against UP. Cristina Labor of UP won the Most Valuable Player award, while Jeremiah De Castro of the DLSU took the Rookie of the Year honors.

In other results, Martinez beat Jonathan Patrick Tomagan via a full point Ippon Seionage technique in the extra lightweight division. Agoot defeated John Reginald Santos in a ground hold technique.

Lightweight De La Cerna won over Luigi Karlo Jose through Uchi Mata Technique. De La Salle University placed third after beating UP, 4-3, in men’s division while the Ateneo University finished third place in the women’s division.