FORT STEWART, Ga. – In a combatives tournament you never know what’s going to happen until the bodies hit the mat.
That was certainly the case for 1st Lt. Chris Wright and Pfc. Michael Johnson, members of the Marne Combatives Team who competed in the 2012 All-Army Combatives Tournament, July 26-28, at Fort Hood, Texas.
While Wright and Johnson did not place in their weight classes, through their wins each of them played a crucial role in the Marne Division crushing all but one team—Fort Hood—and coming home to Fort Stewart, Ga., champions in their own right.
After being recognized for their tournament performance, July 31, by 3rd Infantry Division Command Team, Maj. Gen. Robert “Abe” Abrams and Command Sgt. Maj. Edd Watson, the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team soldiers took time out to reflect on what it was like to throw down with the best the Army has to offer.
“This was my second All-Army tournament—last year I had the privilege to compete,” said Wright, a medical platoon leader with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th IBCT, 3rd Inf. Div. “It was just an honor to be able to go there and [use] what I learned from last year.”
Wright spoke with the confidence of a two-time tournament veteran, and bore an eye injury to prove his grit in having won four out of his six matches in the middleweight division. He said this time he made it to the pankration phase of the competition—the semi-finals where open-hand strikes and kicks are allowed—where he faced off with the eventual middleweight third-place winner. He said the resulting contusion was just part of doing business in that level of the tournament.
“It was a fight,” Wright said. “We started off on our feet. We exchanged strikes and once on the ground I was hit with a couple of strikes—but it’s nothing major. I was still able to give as much as I took in the situation.”
First-time contender Johnson, a light wheeled vehicle mechanic with Company G, 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th IBCT, championed two wins out of four matches in the welterweight division. Being unseasoned, he said he tried to approach the tournament as he did the countless matches he engaged in leading up to the event.
“It felt normal until we actually got there and I got on the mat—that’s when the nerves kind of hit me,” Johnson said. “When I was rolling I kind of felt like I didn’t know anything—it felt like I lost everything—so I had to try to get back to what I knew. I didn’t get the first win but I took my next two matches. It felt good to go there my first time and come out with [wins].”
Johnson said training for months on end and then competing sharpened his mind unlike anything else in the Army, and that the tough challenges he had to overcome—like cutting 30 pounds of weight to compete in the welterweight division—kept him focused on the mat and in life.
Wright said that while the focus during the tournament was to win, sportsmanship ruled at the end of each match he participated in and watched.
“When the fight was on, it was a fight—we were going for each other’s throats the whole time,” Wright said. “But once the fight [is] over we’re still soldiers, we’re brothers in arms and we treated each other as such.”
Johnson agreed.
“After every match that I saw, I saw everybody get up and congratulate their opponent,” the mechanic said. “The sportsmanship was really high.”
After they shared their stories both “Vanguard” competitors said they are proud of their performances, of competing alongside their teammates, and of representing the Marne Division.
“It felt awesome just to be there with the team,” Wright said. “We trained hard for four months and it was just nice to be able to take all that out on some other teams.”
“We went down there, we took names [and] we took it to them,” Wright concluded.
| Date Taken: |
07.25.2012 |
| Date Posted: |
08.02.2012 15:00 |
| Story ID: |
92587 |
| Location: |
FORT STEWART, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: |
71 |
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0 |
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This work, Proven warriors: Veteran, first-time contender reflect on All-Army Combatives Tournament, by SFC Mary Katzenberger, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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