A teen who trains in El Paso just won a major international Jiu-Jitsu competition… again
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- 14-year-old Kolby Gonzales just won gold in the Jiu-Jitsu youth division at the ADCC Worlds Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Las Cruces resident trains five days a week in El Paso at Gracie Barra El Paso Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy.
At this week's tournament at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena, Gonzales was crowned world champion, dominating the competition, his trainers at Gracie Barra explain.
This is not the first time Gonzales has made an international splash. He also won gold at the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation tournament in Sao Paolo, Brazil in 2023. ABC-7 covered Gonzales' win when it happened, and you can read that story here.
"After his win in Brazil, Gonzales began the process of qualifying for an ADCC invitation to compete in Las Vegas," a spokesperson for Gonzales' jiu-jitsu academy in El Paso explained. "In order to be invited, he had to win gold at ADCC Open events. At the end of the qualifying period, the top four youth from the United States and Brazil were selected to compete in Las Vegas."
Those qualifying matches happened all across the country: Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlantic City, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas, and Las Vegas. At the Phoenix Open, Gonzales' trainers said the tournament organizers featured Gonzales and called him a "phenom."
Now that he has won this gold medal, Gonzales will be automatically qualified for future ADCC Worlds tournaments, according to his trainers.
Gonzales has a long history in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, training since the age of five, first at Three Crosses Jiu-Jitsu in Las Cruces, then under Jeff Vigil at Gracie Barra El Paso. In addition to his daily training in El Paso, Gonzales makes the trek up to Albuquerque on weekends to train at Jackson Wink MMA Academy, with the goal of competing in Mixed Martial Arts when he reaches the legal age.
Some of Gonzales' other recent accomplishments include wins at the Gi Worlds, No Gi Worlds, and Pan Kids tournaments, and a state wrestling title for Las Cruces High School earlier this year.
