FIRST-YEAR COMPETITION REPORT (2021/2022)
This past month, Kilian Academy celebrated its first year in competitive Jiu-Jitsu in Canada and achieved success beyond expectation.
Established in Owen Sound in March 2019, the small rural martial arts academy was established by Abrie Kilian and opened its doors to the public. In 2022, the Academy was relocated to Shallow Lake. Since 2019, the academy has grown into one of the largest martial arts training facilities in Grey-Bruce County and started to compete actively in September 2021 at the annual GTA Classic. In its first year of competition, two Canadian Champions and 5 Ontario Champions call the Academy home.
Twin brothers from Owen Sound, Sean and Alec Wildeboer were crowned AJP Canadian National champions at last year's AJP Tour National Championship in the adult white belt division and have since obtained their blue belts and several more medals across Ontario. Sean was crowned Ontario Champion in the No-gi version at the Ontario Open.
Port Elgin’s Nick Mole and St Mary’s High School student, Ethan Guichelaar were both crowned Ontario Gi Champions earlier this year, with Mole securing his second Ontario crown at the No-gi version of the championship, a month later.
Landon Lorenowicz was also crowned Ontario No-gi Champion to add his success story to that of the Academy.
Abrie Kilian, Program Director at Kilian Academy reported: “In our first year of competition, we competed at 12 tournaments with our athletes involved in 96 matches. Of those 96 matches, we secured 57 wins and lost only 39 times, at a win rate of 59,5%. What is even more impressive is the fact that our athletes were able to finish 40 of the 57 wins by way of submission. In other words, an Academy athlete has a 59.5% chance of winning a match with a 70,2% chance of doing so by way of submission.”
Nick Mole competed at 4 tournaments with a record of 10 wins and 1 loss, securing 3 golds and 1 bronze medal. “Nick is arguably the best in Canada and with the upcoming 2022 AJP Tour National Championship, Nick will prove this fact beyond a reasonable doubt.” Stated Kilian.
Sean Wildeboer competed at 5 tournaments with a record of 9 wins and 3 losses, securing 3 golds and 2 bronze medals. Alec Wildeboer suffering from a knee injury in early 2022, was able to compete at 4 tournaments, with a record of 6 wins and 4 losses, securing 2 golds and 3 bronze medals.
The past 12 months saw 17 athletes compete for a total of 43 times, bringing home 17 gold medals, 8 silver medals and 11 bronze medals to Grey-Bruce County. “Academy athletes have an 83,7% chance of being on the podium at a tournament.” Added Kilian. “This statistic can be interpreted in two ways: The first option is that academy athletes are well prepared to compete at tournaments, alternatively, we only send the best competitors to tournaments knowing that they will succeed.”
“Our athletes have worked hard throughout the year to compete at the AJP Tour National Championship. Both Kilian Academy and Grey-Bruce County will be represented by 15 athletes at this year’s AJP Tour National Championships, and we hope to see a few more crowned as Canadian Champions.”
The 2022 AJP Tour National Championship will take place on the 15th of October 2022 and will be broadcasted online. Martial art enthusiasts are granted the opportunity to watch the matches live through the AJP Tour website.
