NEWBERG, Ore. — On one of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s biggest stages, 17-year-old Bryan “Beast” Marugg trotted out onto the mat and squared off against his opponent. Twenty-seven seconds later, the match was over. Suddenly, all eyes were on an unheralded teenager from Oregon.
He won his second match by points. The three matches after that didn’t last longer than two minutes each. During the next couple of hours, Marugg swept, choked and joint locked his way to a second-place finish at the Pan Am Jiu-Jitsu Championships in Irvine, Calif., on April 8. By the numbers, it’s the largest tournament of its kind, and only the World Championships carry more prestige.
Marugg, a high school kid from Newberg, Ore., competed against adult men in the Lightweight Blue Belt division, which was the biggest bracket in the tournament. One hundred athletes from around the world stood between him and his dream of a gold medal.