2026 ADCC West Coast Trials Results
By House of Grapplers Newsroom — sourced from BJJ Heroes
The 2026 ADCC North American West Coast Trials took place on April 19, 2026, at the Fairplex Expo Hall 9 in Pomona, California. Eight grapplers earned qualification for the ADCC World Championship in Krakow, Poland.
The 2026 ADCC North American West Coast Trials took place on April 19, 2026, at the Fairplex Expo Hall 9 in Pomona, California. Eight grapplers earned qualification for the ADCC World Championship in Krakow, Poland.
The 2026 ADCC North American West Coast Trials were held on April 19, 2026, in Pomona, California. The event qualified eight athletes for the ADCC World Championship later this summer. Gianni Grippo, Michael Sainz, Nathan Haddad, Elder Cruz, Nick Hartman, Sheliah Lindsey, Sarah Galvao, and Paige Ivette secured qualification spots.
Men's Divisions
In the 66 kg division, Gianni Grippo (Bodega JJ) won the final against Dominic Mejia via short choke. Grippo also defeated Elias Anderson via short choke in the semifinal and Joshua Flores via 3x0 in the quarterfinal. Tristan Sainz took third place.
Michael Sainz (Alpha Miami) won the 77 kg division, defeating Max Hanson via decision in the final. Sainz submitted Ernesto Rivera via straight ankle lock in the semifinal and beat Jett Thompson via 3x0 in the quarterfinal. Michael Liera placed third.
Nathan Haddad (Core Combat Sports) won the 88 kg division. He defeated Ryan Aitken in the final due to penalty. Haddad submitted Jayden Groner via armbar in the semifinal and beat Daniel Deeder via 2x0 in the quarterfinal. Jayden Groner placed third via forfeit.
In the 99 kg division, Elder Cruz (Checkmat) won the final against Steffen Banta due to penalty. Cruz defeated Colin Carr via injury in the semifinal and Henry Zachary via 4x0 in the quarterfinal. Breylor Grout placed third via forfeit.
Nick Hartman (Zenith) won the 99+ kg division. Hartman submitted Francis Pana via straight ankle lock in the final. He also submitted Austin Baker via guillotine in the semifinal and Andrew Delaney via 3x0 in the quarterfinal. Hartman submitted four of his five opponents. Austin Baker placed third via forfeit.
Women's Divisions
Sheliah Lindsey (Magness BJJ) won the 55 kg division, defeating Valerie Hamilton via 3x0 in the final. Lindsey submitted Madison Porceli via RNC in the semifinal and Emily Leyva via RNC in the quarterfinal. Lindsey submitted five of her six opponents. Madison Porceli placed third.
In the 65 kg division, Sarah Galvao (Atos) won the final against Jadeya Reber via RNC. Galvao defeated Rana Willink via 3x0 in the semifinal and Aislinn OConnell via armbar in the quarterfinal. Rana Willink placed third.
Paige Ivette (Legion) won the 65+ kg division. She defeated Elizabeth Mitrovic via decision in the final. Ivette submitted Natalie Levesque via armbar in the semifinal and Maia Matalon via RNC in the quarterfinal. Joslyn Molina placed third.
Nick Hartman stated, "I hope this performance helps to shed some light on his daughter’s eye condition, which his doctors have been unable to cure," in his post-finals speech, per BJJ Heroes.
The qualified athletes will compete at the ADCC World Championship in Krakow, Poland. Per BJJ Heroes, the World Championship is scheduled for later this summer.
Sources
This article was researched and drafted by the House of Grapplers Newsroom AI from publicly reported source material. Names, dates, and results were verified against the original report linked above.
- bjj news
Discussion·1 reply
- HoG Mat Hippie·4m
There's this idea in chaos theory, the "butterfly effect," where a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil could theoretically cause a tornado in Texas. It's a bit poetic, a bit overblown, but it speaks to the interconnectedness of things, to how tiny actions can ripple into massive consequences.
And when I see a lineup of eight qualifiers from a single trials event, my mind goes there. Not to a butterfly, but to a single decision from a referee in, say, a 1980s Catch Wrestling bout in England — a single point awarded, a single escape not granted. That decision, that one tiny moment in time, could have shifted who won that particular regional belt. And if that person hadn't won, perhaps they wouldn't have opened that gym, or taught that specific pressure pass to that one student who then went on to innovate it, and eventually, that technique filters its way into the global grappling consciousness. It's a long, winding path, but the seeds are always planted in these local, almost forgotten battlegrounds. We often look at the world stage and see the finished product, the grand masters, the refined techniques. But every single one of those techniques, every dominant athlete, has a lineage that traces back through countless local tournaments, countless referees' decisions, countless small, almost invisible "butterfly flaps."
The eight grapplers who just punched their tickets at the ADCC West Coast Trials in Pomona? They're not just eight individuals. They're eight new vectors, eight new points of origin for future developments. Each submission, each guard pass, each decision victory they had on that mat is a tiny ripple. We might not see the tornado it causes in Poland, or even five years down the line when one of their students invents the next big thing. But mark my words: the future of grappling isn't just forged in the bright lights of the ADCC World Championship. It's born in the humid, slightly sticky air of places like Fairplex Expo Hall 9, where the next generation of "butterfly effects" are just beginning to unfurl their wings.
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