Students of the Pound Martial Arts Center, located at 3103 Cranberry Highway in East Wareham, took home top honors at this year's North American Grappling Association competition on Sunday, January 30.

NAGA is the largest submission grappling association in North America with more than 46,600 participants worldwide, including some of the highest ranked jiu-jitsu fighters in the world. NAGA holds grappling tournaments for gi and no-gi competitors. Gi is traditional Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with uniforms, while no-gi is similar to wrestling with submissions and casual attire. 

Travis Clayton, 14, of Wareham, received first place in his division for gi and second in his division for no-gi. Vance Kelsch, 8, also of Wareham, won second place in his division for gi and 2nd place for no-gi.

"We were proud to have them represent The Pound," said Krystine Jones, co-owner of The Pound. Both students have been trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling at The Pound since it opened in August. This was the first grappling tournament the two have competed in.

“They are the future of Brazilian Top Team,” said Joao Amaral, who is a third-degree black belt and head coach of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the Pound.

Another Pound student also received honors at the NAGA competition. North American Grappling Association President Kipp Kollar presented Lee Matthews, 9, of West Wareham with an honorary title belt. Lee has Hunter's Syndrome. He does not have an enzyme to clean out the dead cells in his body, which affects his brain and other organs. Lee participated in martial arts classes until the age of 5 when the symptoms of the disease took away his ability to participate.