Warren Grafton and Ashtin Callaghan didn't leave the Karate Canada national championships empty-handed. Both were awarded medals in team competition but, in individual fighting, they were shut out.
"Based on the circumstances, it went as good as it could have," said the 30-year-old Grafton, a second-degree black belt and a member of Prince George's Nechako Karate Club. "To get on the podium the stars have got to kind of align a little bit for you. The draw has to be right and everything has to happen just right."
The championships were held last weekend in Quebec City. While there, Grafton helped Team B.C. to a silver medal in men's kumite and placed fifth in both the senior male under-84-kilogram class and senior male open division. Callaghan, a 27-year-old black belt who also fights out of the Nechako club, was part of a B.C. team that battled to bronze in women's kumite. Individually, she finished fifth in the women's under-61kg category.
In the under-84kg men's group, every opponent Grafton faced was a standing member of the national team. As tough as the lineup was, he did find a way to defeat Philippe Soucey - who has multiple Canadian titles to his credit - in his second match. For Grafton, following a defensive strategy was the key to victory.
"There was no way I could beat this guy in the points - he's a far superior fighter to me - so I told everyone before, 'This is going to be the worst and best fight you've ever seen me do,'" Grafton said with a chuckle. "The idea was to frustrate the heck out of him and either score in the last 30 seconds and hope the time runs out before he gets it back, or frustrate him enough that he does something and fouls out."
And Soucey did, in fact, foul out because of excessive holding penalties.
In Grafton's next bout, he took on last year's silver-medalist, Guillaume Tremblay, a guy who has become his nemesis. Tremblay kept Grafton off the medal podium at the 2015 and 2016 nationals and did it again in Quebec City - in both the under-84kg and open classes.
"I have a new name for him - he's the Gatekeeper," Grafton said. "He's very experienced and always seems to be able to pull off wins, no matter what situation he's in."
In the open class, Grafton worked his way into the bronze-medal fight against Tremblay and came oh-so close to victory.
"I was winning, and then the Gatekeeper got one point ahead of me (5-4) and time ran out," he said.
Callaghan, in her comeback season in karate after several years away, dropped her first opponent with a devastating kick but had mixed results after that in the women's under-61kg division.
"She did great for where she's at, first year back," Grafton said.
For nationals, Grafton and Callaghan were the only northern-based members of Team B.C. Both will now resume training and are looking forward to a meet at the Nechako Karate Club on May 6-7.
