It’s a sign of a successful weekend when you come back from a meet with more medals than the number of competitors sent.

That was the case for the Moose Jaw Koseikan Judo Club this past weekend in Swift Current. The club sent 27 competitors who returned with 34 medals.

Amongst the 12 gold, 14 silver and 8 bronze performance, were many multiple medal winners. Brian Smith led the way with two gold and two silver as he won seven matches in the one-day tournament.

Alex McGillis, Andrew Rinisland, Mark Kerr, Jeremy Williams and John Smith also returned with two medals each.

The Koseikan club was also strong in the senior categories. Jeromey Martini claimed gold in the men’s novice under-81 kg. category. Instructor Jim Wiens needed three wins to claim gold in the men’s advanced over-90 kg. field and Dan Orescanin went undefeated in claiming gold in the advanced under-90 kg. competition.

Former Olympian Nancy Filteau also returned to the mat and won all three of her matches in the masters mixed open weight class.

The Koseikan Club will look for more strong performances when they host 120 competitors from across the prairies at their own tournament on Feb. 17.

Appeared in the Moose Jaw Times-Herald February 10, 2001