If you were on the mats the Monday after the tournament, you heard it before you saw it. The room was loud. People who never talk were talking.
Here's why. RGLA finished second as a team at JJWL The Worlds.
Second place. In a tournament full of academies that came to win. In May 2024, that was Renzo Gracie Los Angeles.
Short version: In May 2024 RGLA took 2nd place as a team at JJWL The Worlds, with over 300 team points, 26 wins and 9 submissions. Vianet Franco, Jon Quero and Ryan Ritzenthaler had standout days.
What is JJWL The Worlds?
JJWL is the Jiu Jitsu World League, a major tournament series here in California, and The Worlds is the big one on its calendar. Academies show up with full rosters.
Why does that matter to you? Because this wasn't a small local event where three schools swap medals. Finishing second as a team there means we beat a lot of good academies across a lot of divisions. It means the people you roll with on a Tuesday night are for real.
How does a team finish 2nd at JJWL Worlds?
By winning a lot of matches, in a lot of divisions, on the same weekend. Results from every division get added up into one team score, and the academies with the most points at the end are the top teams.
Here's what ours added up to:
- Over 300 team points. Consistent across the whole event, not one hot bracket.
- 26 wins. Twenty-six times an RGLA hand went up.
- 9 submissions. Nine matches that ended with a tap, not a scorecard. Chokes and joint locks, finished.
Twenty-six wins doesn't happen because one person had a great day. It happens because a lot of people did their jobs at the same time. That's a team result.
Who put points on the board?
Everyone who won a match. But three names came up again and again on Monday.
Vianet Franco, V to everyone in the room, took second in her division and got one of her wins by smother tap. If you've never seen one, it's exactly what it sounds like: pressure so heavy the other person taps just to breathe. Nothing flashy about it. Control, patience, and the refusal to let go. Relentless is the word. That's V.
Jon Quero won three matches, one of them by submission, and his day alone put 58 points on the board for the team. Jon is tactical. He doesn't rush, he doesn't panic, and by the time you figure out what he's doing, it's already done. He coaches our kids, by the way.
Ryan Ritzenthaler won four matches, two of them by submission. Agile, precise, and quick to finish when the opening showed up. On a weekend with a lot of standouts, he was one of the biggest.
Who else deserves credit?
The people who never touched a medal. Coaches, training partners, and everyone who showed up to support.
Nobody wins 26 matches alone. Behind every one of those wins is a training partner who let themselves get put in a bad position over and over so it'd be sharp on the day. A coach who spotted the late grip in training and said so. Honest feedback, encouragement, and people who wanted it for you as much as you did. That's the backbone of a result like this.
Did you help someone get ready for this one? Then part of that second place is yours.
Back to work
We were proud. We celebrated. Then everyone went back to the mat, fixing the things that cost us matches and sharpening the things that won them. That's the whole cycle: compete, learn, train, repeat.
If you don't train here yet, come see the room these results came out of. Your first class is free, no contract, and nobody's going to make you compete. Some people just like knowing they train next to people who can.
Questions people ask
What is JJWL?
Jiu Jitsu World League, a major California tournament series. The Worlds is the big one on its calendar. Academies enter athletes across many divisions, and results add up to a team score alongside the individual medals. In May 2024, RGLA finished second as a team.
What do "team points" mean at a jiu jitsu tournament?
Every athlete's results in every division get added into one academy total, which is why depth across many brackets matters as much as one star. RGLA scored over 300 at JJWL The Worlds; Jon Quero alone accounted for 58 of them.
Do I need to compete to train at Renzo Gracie LA?
No. Plenty of our students never compete, and that's completely fine. People train here for fitness, confidence and the people they train with.
Did RGLA compete anywhere else that year?
Yes. In August 2024, six RGLA grapplers made the podium at the Submission Grapplers Tournament: two first places, two seconds and two thirds. A couple of the names on this page were on that podium too.
