Students from Nexus Martial Arts & Fitness of Wareham won 33 medals at the recent North American Grappling Association New England Championships. The Nexus team, which was comprised of students from 9 to 49 years old, also learned last week that it took third place overall in the teams division.

 "The results were really exciting for me and all of our students on a number of fronts," explained Nexus owner and chief instructor Stephen Whittier. "First, we finished third in teams as a young school. When I relocated to the South Coast from Boston and opened the new school three years ago, we started from scratch with all new students. To hold our own with the largest and most established teams in the Northeast is a testament to our methods and great group of people."

Whittier also points out that despite the strong showing, the focus of his school is not on competition: "This was the other great aspect of the tournament; we are a very inclusive school that balances martial arts training with fitness and personal development instead of just focusing on building a bunch of rough and tumble competitors. The majority of our people who do compete just go out to participate in the big tournaments once or twice per year for fun."