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GWHS Seniors to Showcase MMA Fighting Skills

THE YOUNGER GENERATION OF MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

GWHS Seniors to Showcase MMA Fighting Skills

 This Saturday, October 22nd, two George Wythe High School seniors will enter the cage to test their fighting skills during Titans of the Cage III.

 Doug Williams and McKensey Heath are not only classmates, but they also share a close friendship that dates all the way back to their early elementary school years.

 These young men are “Cage Fighters” and the younger competitors of Mixed Martial Arts.  They can be found training four days a week at Southwest Martial Arts Academy, where they are members of Team SWMA.  While Williams and Heath share a passion for Mixed Martial Arts, they also share a tremendous work ethic and a passion for excellence.

Doug Williams serves as President of the GWHS senior class and ironically, Heath is the Vice-President.  Williams was recently crowned Homecoming King this past weekend during half-time of the GWHS and Chilhowie homecoming game.  

McKensey Heath currently has a 4.2 grade average and Williams a 4.0 grade average after the first six- weeks grading period.  Upon graduation, both young men will become United States Marines. 

In addition to excelling academically, the two young men share a great passion for the martial arts and both train together at Southwest Martial Arts Academy, in Wytheville.  Heath holds the rank of black belt in Tang Soo Do karate under Master Kimberly Ring and is currently an advanced level brown belt in Combat Jiu-Jitsu under 3rd degree black belt, Sensei Greg Ring. 

Williams also started studying karate as a youngster and earned his first two belts, but later became more involved in wrestling, which he has practiced for nearly 10 years.   He returned to Southwest Martial Arts upon entering high school where he has studied Jiu-Jitsu under Sensei Greg Ring. Williams will be testing for the rank of blue belt shortly after the upcoming cage fighting event.

Both Heath and Williams will put their martial arts skills to the test this Saturday night at Titans of the Cage III.  Heath, who is undefeated with a 2-0 record, will face Joseph Shearin of Henderson, NC.  Shearin is considered to be the most experienced young fighter in the Eastern United States.  Joseph Shearin, at age 18, has already had 14 fights inside the cage.   Williams who is 1-1 will face Aaron Davis, 1-1, of Wytheville.  Williams and Davis have been wrestling teammates for the past 4 years.

The two young men would like to invite the whole community to come out and learn more about the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, which according to Kimberly Ring, is often misunderstood.  Ms. Ring states, “There is often a misconception of MMA as being something violent.  MMA is definitely an extreme sport.  Few athletes would be able to endure the intensive training necessary to compete at this level.”  Ring continues, “These young men both set a strong and positive example for MMA.  I have little doubt the work ethic required of them in the gym has also been a huge factor in their academic successes.  Those witnessing their skills during TOC III will see confident and highly determined fighters.  Yet, every Thursday evening you will find them praising and encouraging a pre-school Jiu-Jitsu student at Southwest Martial Arts Academy, or helping a struggling student with their homework after school.”

The community is invited to support our local Mixed Martial Artist competing in Titans of the Cage III on Saturday, October 22nd at George Wythe High School, Wytheville, VA.  For more information please visit www.titansofthecage.com or call 276-405-1566.

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Titans of the Cage II

Titans of the Cage #2 is tenatively planned for April 2nd, 2011!  We will announce the OFFICIAL DATE for the event as soon as the venue is secured.
 
We are requesting that all fighters interested in being on the TOC #2 card for March, please visit the website at : www.titansofthecage.com
and click on FIGHTERS REGISTRATION and submit your official registration information ASAP!!
 
Our registration form has some slight changes so we are requiring that ALL FIGHTERS submit their registration info, even if they fought in the first event you still need to submit a new fighters resistration.
 
The sooner we receive your registration information the better chance our match-makers will have of finding you a suitable opponent.
 
Please feel free to forward this email to your coaches, instructors, teammates or other individuals that might be interested in fighting in this event. 
 
Please let us hear from you and we will look for your new registration to come in soon.
 
Thanks,
 
TOC Promotions
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Titans of the Cage – News

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By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

The action was hard-hitting with knockouts and plenty of blood at Saturday night’s Titans of the Cage. The sportsmanship was respectful and honorable.
“I wanted to do something new to Wytheville but not reckless,” said Greg Ring, owner/operator of Southwest Martial Arts, which sponsored the first-ever local mixed martial arts competition. “I did not want the participants to come across as disrespectful to their opponents or the audience. The theme was honor in the cage and I wanted to put martial arts back into martial arts. I teach my students respect. I teach them to be humble and to have a modest attitude.”
Five of Ring’s students, Micah Sheffey, McKensey Heath, Doug Williams, David Long and Dakota McGinn competed in the Global Combat Alliance sanctioned event. It was the first time in the cage for Sheffey, Williams and Long, with only 16-year-old Williams losing his bout.
“I was thrilled with their performances,” Ring stated. “It is nice to win but when we conduct ourselves like champions we win every time by not being disrespectful or sore losers or bad winners.”
There were 17 different bouts at the George Wythe High School gymnasium packed with spectators of all ages. Participants came from as far away as North Carolina and Tennessee.
Other local competitors included 18-year-old David Spencer of Wytheville, a student of Jinjer Covert at Kwik Kix in Wytheville and a student at Penn State University; Tony Fowler of Wytheville, a student of Jearl Sutherland of Sutherland Fighting Systems; and Craig Wilson, Aaron Davis and Cody Gibson, all of Wytheville and fighting as independents.
Bouts were based on the weight of the fighter and the amount of experience. Participants could not be under the age of 16 and their competitors could be no more than two years older.
Referees and score keepers from the state-licensed Global Combat Alliance oversaw the event. Each match was scheduled to last three rounds but most did not go the distance with fighters being knocked out or surrendering to their opponent.
One of the crowd-pleasers of the evening was the women’s match between Taylor Miller of Knoxville, Tenn., and Ashlee Nee of Indian Trail, N.C. The bout lasted all three rounds with Miller winning the judges’ decision over favored-to-win Nee.
Serving as ring card girls were Samantha Frye of Marion and Reva Akers of Radford. They took turns carrying cards announcing the number of rounds in the bout and posed for photos with winners of each category.
“It was a lot of fun,” remarked Frye, who teaches gymnastics and works at Cracker Barrel.
Akers is a certified nursing assistant and works at a nursing home. She remarked about Titans of the Cage, “I enjoyed it.”
They both said they applied online for the jobs. It was their first time as ring card girls.
Also sitting at ringside and presenting trophies to the winners was Miss Mountain Empire Misti Caviness of Wytheville, a contestant at the 2010 Miss Virginia Pageant. She sat with her hands over her face for most of the matches.
“I’d never seen a match before,” she stated after the nearly three-hour event. “I didn’t know what to expect.”
The Wythe County JROTC Color Guard presented the flags at the opening of the event. Leslie F. Mabe, music teacher at Spiller Elementary School, sang the National Anthem.
According to Ring, he began planning Titans of the Cage in early March. He was assisted by his wife, Kimberly Ring; his assistant instructor, James Heath; and many other volunteers over the course of the event.
Among the major factors were locating a place to hold the event, finding sponsors for the bouts, obtaining the official cage to hold the matches and securing participants for the bouts.
“This has been absolutely a learning experience,” stated Ring, a 25-year veteran teacher of martial arts. “It has taken an enormous amount of work to put this on. I couldn’t have done it without all the support everyone has given me. I’ve already been asked when I was going to do it again. I tell them to let me get over this one first.”
After the considerable amount of expenses are paid, Ring plans to donate the remainder of he money to the Learn Today Lead Tomorrow Afterschool Program at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Wytheville. His wife is the executive director.
“It is a very worthwhile program,” Ring added. “It provides a lot of activities for kids who would otherwise be left alone after school.”
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or wquesenberry@wythenews.com .