Trio Collects Medals at Minnesota Tournament

From Left to Right - Sensei Chaye Thompson, Josh Costlow, Rachel Salisbury, Jacob van Cleaf

On September 20th, 2025, three judoka from the Des Moines Judo Academy competed in the 2nd Annual Twin Cities Classic in St. Paul Minnesota. The tournament, a newly established tradition primarily drawing over 100 competitors, mostly from Minnesota and Wisconsin, saw the Des Moines Judo Academy represented by Joshua Costlow, Rachel Salisbury, and Jacob van Cleaf. Sensei Chaye Thompson was also kind enough to sacrifice his day to make the trip to advise and support his students.

Joshua, who made his tournament debut in July at the 2025 Iowa games, where he took gold, made the trip the day of the tournament with Sensei Thompson. After a brief struggle to make weight, Josh fought in the Novice Senior Men’s under 100kg division. Josh won both his matches and secured the gold in the round robin style competition against two other competitors from Midway Judo, a club located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Josh is still a white belt, primarily attending the Judo Fundamentals Classes taught by Sensei Thompson, and Thursday evening classes taught primarily by Sensei Leo Rodriguez, with Sensei Thompson assisting as an adjunct. This author looks forward to reporting his promotion in the near future.

Rachel Salisbury, a long time spectator and supporter of competitions at our dojo, recently resumed training and made her tournament debut at this event. Rachel fought in the Novice Senior Women’s [REDACTED] division (I’m stupid, but I’m not that stupid), facing two opponents in a round robin style competition. Still a white belt, Rachel fought against a green belt competitor from Madison Judo in Wisconsin, and a yellow belt competitor, cross trained in sport ju-jitsu, from Red River Judo located in Fargo North Dakota. Mz. Salisbury made an excellent first showing on the mat, at one point smoothly transitioning from ippon seoi-nage (which her opponent blocked by hipping in) to ko-uchi-makikomi, and swiftly splitting and passing an opponents guard before being stood up by the referee. Rachel secured a bronze medal for her efforts, and has since returned to her regular training with a clear focus on how and where to improve, as well as renewed vigor.

Jacob van Cleaf, a regular competitor since first starting with the Des Moines Judo Club in July of 2023, competed in the Novice Senior Men’s over 100kg and Novice Masters Men’s over 100kg categories. Jacob secured a bronze medal in the Master category, expressing that “Sensei Parkhill has always said that ‘a tournament is the equivalent of 6 months of training all at once’, and this experience has definitely helped me absorb some lessons more quickly.” Jacob has chosen to use this experience as a test run to help him focus his training for the Iowa State Championship in November.

Following the competition, the trio and instructor had an adventure exploring the local restaurant scene before returning to the Des Moines area. Congratulations all!

Dojo Represented at 2024 Paul Owens Memorial Tournament

The Des Moines Judo & Sambo Academy was present at the Paul Owens Memorial Tournament, held Saturday, October 12th, 2024. A sole Judoka from our dojo, Jacob van Cleaf, made the trip to the Lincoln Martial Arts center to attend this annual event. In addition to the hosting school, several other dojos were present in force, including Uprise Judo Club from York, Nebraska, and Sempai Judo Academy from the Omaha area, both of which were welcoming and willing to adopt the rogue attendant from our Academy for the day. Numerous competitors of all sizes were present, offering the super heavy weight competitor not only several matches with new opponents, but the rare opportunity to compete in the masters age bracket, had he chosen to do so.

Jacob, an orange belt or “gokyu,” competed in the novice and open divisions for his weight, earning a bronze and silver medal respectively.

Kids Place at Minnesota Classic

Brayden (5th Junior Rank) and Jayce Hanssen (4th Junior Rank), students at the Des Moines Judo & Sambo Academy, and sons of instructor Ryan Hanssen, both participated in the Minnesota Classic. The tournament was held at the North Dale Recreation Center in St. Paul Minnesota on September 15th, 2024. The boys placed 3rd and 4th in their respective weight classes and generally made an impressive showing. Their proud papa was proud to show off footage of each taking down an opponent with “Koshi-Guruma” (“Hip Wheel”) a hip throw performed on an opponent held in a headlock. Both boys are regular competitors, and we look forward to seeing them on the mat more in the coming months.