collected medals at the Australian Kodokan Judo Associations (AKJA) National Championships in Adelaide on the weekend. Also pictured is Louie Mitchell (at far right) who was a stand-out at the competition competing up in the Cadets grade against older and more experienced opponents. ▪ Photo contributed
Members of the Cobar Judo Club were part of Team NSW who competed in the Australian Kodokan Judo Associations (AKJA) National Championships in Adelaide over the weekend.
Having missed last year’s event, the Cobar members were chomping at the bit to get back to this event and show the rest of the country the high level of Judo taking place in Cobar.
The Junior divisions were contested on Saturday with Caleb Theakston showing his opponents great technique to once again take the Gold for his weight class, the U90kg ‘Cadets’ division.
Caleb showed that since he took out this division back in 2023, he has only gotten better in the last two years.
The standout however, was newcomer to the club Louie Mitchell.
As there was no one else to fight in his age and weight class as a junior, Louie was forced to step up to the Cadets division, made up of mostly 16+ year olds with far more experience.
This was Louie’s first major tournament and he was up against competitors in the U70kg division who were three to four ranks higher than himself.
With a calm that belied his inexperience, he took the fight to his opponents, and though had a few close calls, was able to dominate his matches, even to the point of pulling off what could only be described as the best throw of the entire competition.
Unfortunately, Louie was eliminated from the Open Cadets in the preliminary rounds.
Caleb then came back for the Open Cadets division and scored for himself an additional Bronze for the day.
The Senior competitors took to the mat on Sunday.
Caleb Theakston also chose to take part in this event, stepping up to the Men’s U90kg division.
Caleb made it as far the Bronze decider match for 3rd place, but he couldn’t quite get over the line, though he did come awfully close.
Connor Caton stepped up for the Men’s U80kg division.
Connor showed his skill, experience, and possibly one of the fastest strangulation techniques to force one of his opponents to submit and tap out.
When it was all said and done, Connor walked away with the Bronze medal.
Finally it was Paul Theakston’s turn to compete in the U80kg Veterans division.
Paul hadn’t had a lot of mat/prep time leading up to the event due to work commitments, but despite this, he made a good show, calling upon his experience to earn Silver for this division.
Caleb and Connor both returned to compete in the Men’s Open division.
Unfortunately, despite some early wins by both of them, they were eventually eliminated from the competition.
Paul also returned for the Open Veterans division, but he too was eventually eliminated.
Cobar Judo Club members are now looking towards the AKJA Nationals to be held in Cairns, Queensland, in 2026.—contributed
