Battle at the Border 2017 was an awesome event hosted by Chad Covington of Sol Kendamas. This year\’s turnout exceeded expectations, with almost 100 Kendama players in attendance. BATB17 was held in the historic Foundry building near downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The weather was pretty crazy in the southeastern U.S with snow and freezing rain but that didn’t stop groups like DKT, Grande Squad, Pineapple Kendama and others from making the drive. There were twenty two sponsors for the event including Kendama USA, Sol Kendamas, Sweets Kendamas, KROM, Terra Kendama, Grain Theory, RWB and more. As a result, there were tons of mini games and prizes given out throughout the event.
The freestyle competition had some of the most creative tricks around and some of the craziest bangers thrown on stage. The finals came down to a match between Jake Fisher & Max Norcross. Max Norcross nearly won however Jake Fisher came away with the win. Pictured below are the winners of the freestyle event:
From left to right: 4th – Christian Fraser, 3rd – Cam Herrero, 2nd – Max Norcross, 1st – Jake Fischer
The Open division was intense from the first match up to the final round with Liam Router and Ben Herald going head to head for the title of Battle at the Border and Liam taking the victory.
4th – Johnny Kress, 3rd – Blair Sylvester Wesley, 2nd – Ben Herald, 1st – Liam Rauter
There were also beginner, intermediate, and advanced ladders that were done during the event as well. Here are the winners for those divisions:
Beginner: 3rd – Lilly Kosicki, 2nd – Alex Jorgenson, 1st – Fame Cristobal
Intermediate: 4th – Tristen Wareham, 3rd – Dalton Hodge, 2nd – Carlos Castro, 1st – Walker Lifsey
Advanced: 4th – John Coffman, 3rd – Antonio Cecchetti, 2nd – Nick Dodenhoff, 1st – Caleb Rush
Again congratulations to all who placed in any of the divisions this year and thanks to Chad Covington and Sol Kendamas for throwing a fantastic event!
