Junior and Cadet World Teams to be Named in San Jose this Weekend

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – More than 1,000 athletes are expected to competed in the USA Judo Junior Olympic Championships in San Jose, Calif. from June 24-26.

The three-day tournament will be held at the McEnery Convention Center in Hall 3 and includes National Championship events on Friday and Saturday with international divisions held on Sunday.

Competition begins at 8:30 a.m. daily with all matches running through completion.

2022 Junior Olympics Live Results and Stream

Competition schedule is as follows:

Friday, June 24
Bantam, Cadet and Intermediate (Regular)

Saturday, June 25
Juvenile and IJF-Junior (Regular)

All Novice

Sunday, June 26
All International Categories

Athletes competing in the IJF-Junior and Cadet events at the Junior Olympic National Championships will be eligible to represent Team USA at the Junior and Cadet World Championships in August. 
Winners of the Cadet events will earn direct qualification to compete at the 2022 Cadet Worlds, Aug. 24-28 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Winners of the IJF-Junior events will earn direct qualification to compete at the 2022 Junior Worlds, Aug. 10-13 in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Athletes ranked in the top 10 in the world will be among those competing in San Jose:

• Junior World No. 3 at 90kg: Alexander Knauf (Yorkville, Ill. / NYAC / Cohen Brothers Judo), 2021 Junior Pan Am Champion and two-time Senior National Champion
• Junior World No. 5 and Cadet World No. 3 at 52kg: Nicole Cancela (Coral Springs, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center), 2021 Junior Pan Am Champion and 2022 Cadet Pan Am Champion
• Cadet World No. 1 at 60kg: Christopher Velazco (Coral Springs, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center), three-time Cadet Pan Am Champion and 2022 Coimbra Cadet European Cup Champion
• Cadet World No. 1 at 63kg: Emily Jaspe (Hialeah, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center), 2022 Cadet Pan Am Champion and two-time Cadet European Cup medalist
• Cadet World No. 1 at 70kg: Shavon Gonzalez (West Palm Beach, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Center), 2021 Junior Pan Am Champion and two-time Cadet European Cup medalist
• Cadet World No. 3 at 81kg: Aiden Cohen (Vernon Hills, Ill. / Cohen Brothers Judo), two-time Cadet Pan Am medalist and 2022 Coimbra Cadet European Cup bronze medalist
• Cadet World No. 3 at 90kg: Nikolas Vithoulkas (Whitestone, N.Y. / International Judo Center), two-time Cadet Pan Am medalist

In addition to their success at the junior level, Knauf and Velazco also won gold at the Senior Nationals with Jaspe earning a silver at the event.

Several athletes who represented Team USA at the 2022 Senior Pan Ams or fought in the gold medal finals of the 2022 Senior Nationals will be among those to watch in San Jose as well, including:

• Dominic Rodriguez (Lehigh Acres, Fla. / NYAC / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Site / 73kg), 2022 Senior Pan American Champion and three-time Cadet Pan American Champion
• Isaiah Ramirez (Barstow, Calif. / Barstow PAL Judo Club / 66kg), 2022 Senior Pan Am Team member and 2021 Junior World Team member
• Jack Yonezuka (West Long Beach, N.J. / NYAC / Cranford Judo & Karate Center / 73kg), 2022 Senior National Champion and 2021 Junior World Team member
• Isabella Garriga (Richmond, Texas / Texas A&M Judo / 70kg), 2022 Senior Nationals silver medalist and 2021 Junior World Team member
• Tasha Cancela (Coral Springs, Fla. / Ki-Itsu-Sai National Training Site / 57kg), 2022 Senior National silvers medalist and 2021 Junior World Team member
• Nick Yonezuka (West Long Beach, N.J. / NYAC / Cranford Judo & Karate Center / 81kg), 2022 Senior Nationals silver medalist and 2021 Junior World Team member
• Karlee Carrouth (Oklahoma City, Okla. / USA Stars / 63kg), 2022 Senior Nationals silver medalist and 2019 Cadet World Team member
• Amin Bakhtiyor (Fairfax, Va. / Pedro’s Judo Center / 66kg), 2022 Senior Nationals silver medalist