
The Black Belt Magazine sport karate rankings committee has rendered their decisions following the Compete Internationals. Headlining the changes is one of the premier divisions in the sport, men's CMX weapons, where Alex Mancillas regained his top ranking by winning the overall grand championship against former number one and AKA Warrior Cup grand champion Rashad Eugene. On the women's side of CMX weapons, Team AKA's Sara Campbell jumped up to the third spot with her first career overall grand championship win. There was little movement in the other adult forms and weapons divisions, as dominant competitors like Jake Presley in traditional weapons, Haley Glass in women's CMX forms, and Gabrielle Dunn in women's traditional forms all continued their winning ways in California to remain at the top.
Photo Courtesy: Kevin Walker via Facebook
In the adult fighting divisions, Team All Stars climbed the rankings thanks to strong showings by Kevin Walker (pictured) and Jack Felton. Walker won the heavyweight overall grand championship and gained momentum in those ranks, while Felton's lightweight overall grand championship and open weight wins pulled him upward on each of those lists. Their performance alongside Paolo Serafico in the team fighting division reintroduced the All Stars to the team fighting picture. Aside from the All Stars, Cassandra De La Barrera of Team Legend won the women's grand championship in her first season as an adult and catapulted into third place on the women's fighting leaderboard.
Photo Courtesy: Nicole Billow via Facebook
The AmeriKick National Competition Team's Shane Billow and Alessandra Alinea (both pictured above) each had stellar performances at The Competes. They moved up the rankings in the synchronized weapons division with a big win there, and were able to boost their individual rankings as well. After winning double overall grand championships, Billow is now the number one ranked competitor in 14-17 traditional forms and weapons and holds a number two ranking in CMX forms, trailing only Warrior Cup champion Aidan Kennedy. Alinea's solo overall grand championship win in junior girls' weapons earned her the top spot in the 14-17 traditional weapons category.
The youth divisions saw Sterling Keefe leap to the top of the traditional forms and weapons categories with a pair of huge divisional grand championship wins, as well as the overall title in weapons. Isabella Nicoli and Kodi Molina continued their closely-contested season by swapping their grand championships from the AKA Warrior Cup. Nicoli won traditional weapons and Molina won CMX weapons in Chicago, earning each of them top rankings in those categories, but they have now swapped places after Nicoli won the overall with CMX weapons and Molina made the finals with her traditional bo performance in California.
This is only a sample of the rankings updates after yet another big sport karate event. Check out the Official Black Belt Magazine Sport Karate Rankings page for a complete look at the new ranks including the stellar senior division, an expanded junior point fighting roster, and much more.