The Moose Jaw Koseikan Judo Club must love competing in Swift Current.

For the second straight year the club sent a large contingent to the tournament and for the second straight year they came home with an exceptional medal haul.

The club won no less than 33 medals at the event, 10 of those gold, to come away with the top team performance of the competition..

National level competitor Mark Pivovar — who recently returned to school at SIAST and rejoined the local club after his most recent training stint in Montreal — won gold in the senior men’s advanced under-90 kilogram and under-100 kg divisions. .

Brian Smith finished third in both categories to go along with a second place performance in the under-90 kg junior men’s division.

Smith — who was promoted to the rank of blue belt Tuesday — was recently named to Team Saskatchewan for the Canadian Junior/Juvenile championship in Lethbridge Mar. 25-26.

The club also enjoyed an impressive performance in the senior men’s novice division, as Colin Waynert — a member of the club for a little over two months — took gold in the 73-81 kg combined category. Local competitors swept the top three places with Alex Carleton finishing second and Shane Hogaboom third.

Garth Rivers continued his run of dominance in the juvenile boys under-40 kilogram division, earning his second straight gold medal in as many tournaments this year.

Justin Filteau took first place in the cadet boys under-26 kg category while Connor MacDonald finished first in under-30 kg and Leigh White took gold in the under-38 kg category in the same age class

In the cadet boys over-46 kg category, Chris Kuntz dominated the division to finish first overall while Danielle Pakula won Koseikan’s final gold medal in the cadet girls over-43 kg

Other results for the local club are as follows:

Cadet boys (born after 1989)

Under-26 kg — second, Jessi Barnes; fourth, Nick Hughes
Under-30 kg — fourth, Jamie Burns
Under-35 kg — third, Stephan Gerry
Under-38 kg — third, Stuart Burns
Under-43 kg — third, Calvin Rain

Cadet Boys (born 1988-89)

Under-30 kg — third, Levi Cordick
Under-34 kg — second, Tyler Filteau
Under-38 kg — third, Chris Gerry
Under-46 kg — fourth, T.J. Langevin
Over-46 kg — third, Derrick Oesch

Juvenile Boys

Under-43 kg — second, Tyler O’Rourke
Under-64 kg — second, John Smith
Under-69 kg — third, Andrew Rininsand
Under-74 kg — third, Mark Kerr

Juvenile Girls

Under-57 kg — second, Stephanie Legault
Under-63 kg — second, Marisa Kerr

Junior Men

Under-81 kg — third, Steven Erickson
Under-90 kg — third, Mark Kerr

Senior Men Novice

Under 73-81 kg combined — fifth, Mike Kleckner
Under 81-90 kg combined — second, Curtis Cave

Senior Men Advanced

Over 100 kg — second, Jim Wiens

Appeared in the Moose Jaw Times-Herald Feb. 12, 2000