The Capital City Judo Club is a humble abode. There\u2019s no fancy equipment \u2014 just a mat, a timer and a smiling coach named Jay Watts. Absent are the tyrannical instructors and obsessive parents typical of an olympic factory.<\/p>\n
It could be any neighborhood dojo in any city in America, only it\u2019s not: this is where Juneau-Douglas High School senior and 2016 Junior Olympic Champion Cody Weldon learned to fight men.<\/p>\n
Inside the dojo, half a dozen young men in white robes grapple on a gray mat on a Tuesday evening. Weldon takes ahold of a man many years his senior, an instructor named Luke Fortier, who wears a blue robe and brown belt. Holding each other\u2019s lapels, the pair practices footwork, attempting to sweep one another from their feet for a takedown.<\/p>\n
Weldon is not outmatched. At 6-foot-1 and a lean 220 pounds, he\u2019s a 17 year old in a grown man\u2019s body. It was that strength that helped him win gold in the 90-100kg weight class at the Summer Nationals Judo Tournament and Junior Olympics International competition. He also netted silver at the Junior Olympics National competition.<\/p>\n
On a break from practice, Weldon said he attended these competitions to get mat time, and had no idea he would do so well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I was going to get my butt kicked, to be quite frank,\u201d Weldon said of the Junior Olympics. \u201cI didn\u2019t really go to the competition thinking I would win or lose, I was just trying to get matches. In Alaska, it\u2019s really hard to find guys my size.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weldon had to move up an age group this year and was only expecting to win a couple of matches. Last year he won bronze in the Juvenile category at the U.S. Junior Open and silver in the Junior Nationals. This year he competed in the Junior category.<\/p>\n