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Finals fights set at Army combatives tourney

FORT BENNING, Ga. — After more than eight hours and 550 fights, 28 soldiers remain in the third annual All-Army Combatives tournament here.

VIDEO FROM THE TOURNAMENT

Capt. Lauren Shaw wins in the prelims

Dale Wooden, a Navy SEAL favored to win, falters in fight

The finalists, fighting in seven weight classes, will step into the ring Sunday afternoon to vie for top honors in the Army’s premier combatives tournament. All eyes will be on the ring in the middle of the Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith Fitness Center on post as the soldiers — some of them top finishers in last year’s tournament, others first-time competitors — unleash their mixed martial arts skills on each other.

“The level of competition has increased,” said Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy, who is representing Fort Bragg, N.C. Kennedy, of 7th Special Forces Group, will fight for the light heavyweight championship, a title he has won two years in a row.

On Saturday, almost 200 soldiers took their turn on the mats as the cadre of the Modern Army Combatives School ran four fights at a time, efficiently running the competitors through their bracketed fights. Competitors were eliminated after they lost two fights.

The number of soldiers who participated, even with 30,000 more soldiers deployed this year than last, indicates the popularity and importance of Army combatives, said Matt Larsen, director of the combatives program.

“Competition motivates people to train,” Larsen said. “It’s about training for the battlefield. This is just a way to do that.”

As the fights got going across the fitness center, countless stories of motivation, dedication and pure love of combatives could be found among the competing soldiers.

Sgt. James West, who fought for the 3rd Infantry Division, planned his 18-day rest and recuperation leave from a 15-month deployment in Iraq to coincide with the tournament. His wife, Raquel, two children, and parents cheered for him from the bleachers.

“I wouldn’t have let him come here if he wasn’t good,” his wife said.

West, who fought in the cruiserweight class, which is 185 pounds or less, won his first four fights but was eliminated in the intermediate round.

Combatives helps keep him focused, and it eases some of the stress in the war zone, said West, who bought equipment such as mats, a heavy bag, a speed bag and a weight machine so that he and his fellow soldiers could train while in Iraq.

“You work a long day in Iraq, and after work we work out,” he said. “It really, really helps the morale.”

Capt. Lauren Shaw, who represented Fort Campbell, was one of two or three women who participated this year. She fought in the lightweight class, which is 140 pounds or less.

“I’m definitely really nervous,” Shaw said before the tournament. “I’m just afraid I’ll embarrass myself.”

Shaw won her first fight to a burst of cheers from the crowd, but lost her second and third fights and was eliminated from the competition. She said afterward that she is looking forward to next year’s tournament.

Lt. Col. Kevin Petit, commander of 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, will deploy to Iraq next week, but he and his soldiers still turned up to fight in the tournament.

Petit fought in the cruiserweight class, and was eliminated before the intermediate round.

His feet slightly bloody and bandaged, Petit talked about his change of command ceremony in February.

“Right after the change of command I had a squadron formation to introduce myself and talk about my priorities,” he said. “At the end of that, I said, ‘Charlie Company, send me your best man.’” There, in the grass, the new squadron commander fought a specialist from Charlie Company. Petit won, but he awarded the soldier an Army Achievement Medal for stepping up to fight his new leader. Now, almost every other week, after Petit gives his soldiers a safety briefing, he will call for one of his companies to send their best soldier forward to fight.

So far, he has fought approximately 80 of his soldiers. He has about 470 soldiers in his squadron.

“They love it. They never cheer for me,” Petit said, joking. “What’s going to set you apart? What gets your boys fired up? I chose [combatives] and it worked.”

An Army wrestler at West Point, Petit got his first taste of combatives when he was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment with Larsen, who is a retired sergeant first class and Ranger.

Petit plans to bring 58 mats to Iraq so that he and his soldiers can continue to train.

“I believe in fighting, I call it the inoculation against fear,” he said. “I think when you go to the streets of Iraq it calms your fear.”

Multimedia:

Video of some of the action at the Ft. Knox tournament