BJ did well in wrestling. I remember hearing that he beat a top ranked guy in an open tournament. Howard Liu should post on this subject.
delicious bassĀ -Ā He competed some and had good results. He had a really good single that he could score with and would basically take the back a lot when working on the mat.
"Taking the back" is not a major accomplishment in wrestling :)
I think BJ's athletic talent is underestimated by most. His cardio has issues but the dude is a hell of an athlete 
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cardio has issues? His lifestyle gave him cardio issues, nothing else
Tubesterbjj -misterwĀ -Ā BJ Penn mentioned in a recent interview that after he won the mundials, he wrestled for West Valley Junior College. I found an excerpt from his book on-line where he mentions that he participated in a few events and did well, but never accomplished any major titles or even came close.
Anyone know anything more about this?
I have wondered how an accomplished BJJ athlete would do if they took up wrestling without prior experience. There are many examples going the other way -- accomplished wrestlers who have done well in BJJ -- but I don't know of any like this. Very curious how he fared.
I have done bjj for over 2 years now with judo and I am now starting wrestling. As long as you have mat awareness you fit in pretty well especially using judo. Only problem I have is getting to comfortable on my back.
I went to a proper wrestling gym for the first time after five years of bjj, and years of judo as a kid.
I was absolutely DOMINATED.
Gave me a lot of respect for wrestlers.
Also made me realise that it's not the best sport to do when you've got a fucked up neck
I would have loved to e able to do it as a kid
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I know this is a very old post, but I ran across it and can clear it up a bit.
BJ Penn was my teammate on the 2000 West Valley Community College wrestling team.
I was our 197 lb. wrestler, and I believe he wrestled 157.
I found the results from the CA state CC champs tourney
, was going to put the URL but not allowed,
and neither one of us are mentioned, likely because we both lost in the pigtail rounds. (I did for sureā¦ LOL). He was quite good and every now and then Cung Le would stop by and since they were of similar weights, they would go at it, which was fun to watch and very competitive.
He was as good at wrestling as I was and then some and I had 15 yrs under my belt at that time and was 8 years his senior.
Not sure how long he stayed as I was only there a year as well.
Hope this helps.,
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Awesome - thanks for sharing
Not really. There are high school teams that would wreck a lot of juco teams.
You were 8 years older but wrestled in college together?
āThe best takedown is a left hookā - BJ Penn on the Jaxxon Podcast.
Are you currently taking any prescription medication?
Reply to bigraydaddy:
Yes, I was 29 years old when I wrestled on that team and BJ was, I think 20, maybe 21.
I went to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Originally, I was a Football recruit. I spent one year on the freshman team and being that I was a 6ā 1/2" 204 lb. offensive center, was told repeatedly that even though I was a 1st Team All-Conference performer at that position in the East Penn Conference PIAA 6A, that I would not be considered to be allowed to move forward in that sport.
Now, as many people who wrestling know, the Lehigh Valley has the best wrestling in the country. I was a 3 yr. starter, but since my career record was only 41-34, I was not recruited, even though, 9 of those losses ended up being to wrestlers who became Div 1 NCAA All-Americans.
So, as a sophomore at Penn, I walked on to the team and competed for a year, after which time, I ended my collegiate athletic career to concentrate on receiving my degree in Electrical Engineering.
The following year, I enrolled as a grad student at Santa Clara U. and became the head Wrestling coach of Homestead HS in Cupertino, CA for 1993-95. During that time, I met the Head Coach of the West Valley Wrestling team, Jim Root because he hosted the most prestigious HS wresting tournament in the Bay Area at the time. I, of course, wished, and did, attend that tournament with my team.
In 1995, I decided I wanted to re-continue my wrestling career as a freestyle wrestler. I competed in the National Freestyle Championships in LV from 1995-1999 (1998 in Orlando). I can scan a bracket for you where I wrestled Melvin Douglas (1996 US Olympic rep at 90kg) if you wish.
Coach Root, would open the room every Tues./Thurs. from 6-9pm for such athletes.
We spoke often, and I told him that if he ever had an empty spot at 190 lbs. that I had 2 yrs. of NCAA eligibility left, and would be happy to enroll in an Associates program in Phys. Ed. (which is what my father taught for 32 yrs.) to fill the empty spot.
In 2000, Coach Root gave me a call and I enrolled and competed for the WV team. I did not do as well as I had hoped, and that was the final year of my wrestling career, both coaching and competing.
If you were to ask BJ who I was, he probably wouldnāt know my name, but if you said āthe old guyā, he would most likely say, āOH, Yeah, himā¦ā.
He actually once asked my to do 3 training session with Bobby Southworth (TUF1 semifinalist), because he understood the importance of wrestling in MMA and I was the only guy he knew big enough to hang with him. My (ex) wife was a member there at the time and BJ would get me in for free, (membership was $100+ in 2000, couldnāt afford it, her membership was a bday present).
Hopefully, that explains the age difference.
If Coach were still alive, I would get the team pic, but I have not been able to locate itā¦ Bummer.
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Very cool explanation
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