Gianni Grippo wins the black belt open weight division at the 2014 IBJJF Boston Spring Open. Photo: Erin Herle

The black belt adult open weight division at the 2014 IBJJF Boston Spring Open held five athletes:

Lightweight Renan Borges of BTT
Lightweight Gianni Grippo of Alliance Marcelo Garcia
Middleweight Vinicius Silva of Team Link
Medium-heavyweight Jarod Lawton of New England United BJJ
Heavyweight Antonio Antonioli of Atos Jiu-Jitsu

Here is how the bracket was organized:

Here is the drawn up bracket for the black belt open weight

The first match was Renan Borges against Vinicius Silva. Renan was able to secure a the back and a bow and arrow choke ensued from there moving him tot he semi-finals.

Antonio Antonioli had a bye and stepped into the semi-final. Renan pulled guard and after Antonio moved towards north south, he did not get around Renan’s inverted guard. Renan came up with an arm drag and earned an advantage since the referee called stop as they went out of bounds. Renan pulled guard again and then was able to secure a sweep off of x-guard and win the match 2-0 points.

The next match was on the other side of the bracket as Gianni Grippo faced Jarod Lawton. Gianni pulled guard and as Jarod attempted to pass Gianni swept. Jarod reciprocated with a sweep of his own. Gianni came up in a leg drag position to earn two points for a sweep and as he went to secure a pass, Jarod was able to stand. Gianni pulled guard once again and swept into 50-50 position and came up on top to earn another two points for the sweep. The match ended as Jarod attempted to attack the feet. The end score was 6-2 and Gianni earned his place in the final.

The final match began with a double-guard pull between Renan and Gianni. They were called for stalling since neither came up on top. Finally Renan sat up to pass and there were more stalling calls for inactivity. Renan tried for various passes with double-unders, over-unders and more but the lasso and spider guard of Gianni prevented any passes. Near the very end of the match Gianni was able to secure a berimbolo position and came up on top with a leg drag and took the back. Before he secured the hooks, he grabbed the lapel and submitted Renan with a bow and arrow choke.

See a gallery of photos here: