Little giants: Hayden gym brings home three jiu-jitsu world titles

Don’t underestimate the capabilities of small-town athletes.

Trevor Prangley’s AKA gym in Hayden taught that lesson to opponents at the World Master IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championships.

Held in Las Vegas in late August, Prangley’s team showed the world something special: No matter where someone trains, they can become champions.

“I love feeling that mat under my foot, bowing in to the referee, shaking hands, and then we go,” said Mark Stephens, 46, who won gold in the Master 4 featherweight division.

The world championships is a four-day tournament hosted by the International Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation. Athletes, starting at age 30, are divided into six age divisions in which they are further separated based on weight and gender.

“I normally go to these tournaments by myself or with just a couple of us,” Stephens said.

“For us to take 18 competitors down, that’s insane.”

Having received his brown belt earlier this year, Stephens has been active in the IBJJF competition scene. Earlier this year, Stephens competed in IBJJF Pan Americans, Masters International as well as IBJJF Gi and NoGi Nationals before competing at the worlds.

“For probably about five years now, I’ve been chasing that worlds (title),” Stephens said.

With his family and friends screaming his name in excitement during his last match, Stephens recalls lifting his arm up in victory during the match’s final seconds.

“(It was) my favorite memory of this tournament,” Stephens said.

For blue belt Shawn Carlock, who won silver in the Master 6 heavyweight division, one of his favorite memories was watching his professor, Trevor Prangley, compete.

Prangley, 52, fought his way to the finals match, where he was down on points and in danger of losing the gold.

“He armbarred (his opponent) in the last 10 or 15 seconds,” Carlock said. “Everybody lost their mind.”

On the podium, Prangley was awarded the Master 5 super heavyweight gold medal.

Though the win was satisfying, Prangley said he has “won enough” in his life.

For him, the true prize was watching his students fight.

“There was just no quitting,” Prangley said, mentioning his blue belt Madelyn Halligan’s fights. “She was in really bad situations, and she was able to pull through that and win.”

Halligan’s second match was a perfect example. Her opponent landed a tight armbar but Halligan escaped, coming out victorious.

“After that match, my arm was killing me,” Halligan said. “I was trying not to show everybody that I was hurt.”

The injury didn’t stop her.

“Trevor always says, ‘Your physical body should break before your mental body does – before your mind,’ ” Halligan said.

Halligan was in the finals match when her body gave up on her.

“(My opponent) caught me in a triangle (choke) and I couldn’t defend it,” Halligan said. “It was like I gave up, but it wasn’t that I had a choice. My body had broke.”

Despite the tap, Halligan took silver in the Master 1 lightweight division.

Teammate and fellow blue belt Rue Olp had a different outcome.

With only one of her matches going the distance, Olp, 42, played her game and submitted her opponents to secure IBJJF gold.

Her last match was unique in that she submitted her opponent from inside the closed guard.

“The only intention was to have her switch her hips, open her guard or go for an arm bar,” Olp said. “(The choke) went in really tight.”

That unique win in the finals earned her the title of Master 3 Middleweight World Champion.

As IBJJF’s Jiu Jitsu Con was underway, Prangley’s team also took some nonmasters students to Vegas.

Shelby Garten, 16, who is on the Idaho National Team for wrestling, won bronze in her division through a series of unfortunate events.

“I had a bye and then my second girl got disqualified,” Garten said. “I’m not happy (about that). because I wanted to go there and compete and everything, prove yourself.”

Garten lost her match by two points but looked on the bright side.

“It was a tough match,” Garten said. “All the girls in my bracket were studs.”

Regardless of each athlete’s outcome, the impact of the tournament made waves in the gym.

“It did revitalize everybody else here (at the gym),” Prangley said. “People are a little more excited, a little more buzz going on. So it’s a pretty cool thing.”

Prangley’s gym members plan to continue competing, whether it’s with Stephens on the big stage at IBJJF NoGi Worlds in December or with their youth at the Spokane Submission Series on Saturday.

“If it all ended tomorrow, I wouldn’t regret any of it,” Prangley said.