Jay and Ronda Russell and many of the students of Ross Martial Arts are in Atlanta, Ga. this weekend as they compete in the Southeast Regional Grappling Championship of the North American Grappling Association.

The competition comes just two weeks after the team competed in the Alabama Karate Circuit State Finals in Jasper.

“It’s an open martial arts tournament, which means any style, any school can compete,” Jay Russell said of the event. “To qualify for the state championships, you have to compete in at least three events throughout the year.”

The Ross team sent nine competitors to the state finals in Jasper and watched as the local martial arts students returned home with 15 first place trophies after having placed in the Top 3 in a total of 27 events.

“It looks like we are going to have at least seven state championships this year,” Jay said. “They’re tallying up the points right now. We’ll find out in November how many, if any, state championships we’ve won.”

Jay Russell took the first place trophy in lightweight men’s kickboxing, lightweight men’s no gi grappling and lightweight men’s gi grappling. Ronda Russell took first place in lightweight women’s no gi grappling and lightweight women’s gi grappling.

Jacob Dill, 17, a first-year student, took first place in 16 & 17-year-old heavyweight kickboxing, first place in 16 & 17-year-old open hand forms, first place in under 18 heavyweight gi grappling and third place in lightweight men’s no gi grappling.

Tristan Fitzgerald, 15, finished first place in 14 & 15-year-old boys point sparring, second place in under 18 middle weight gi grappling and third place in under 18 middleweight no gi grappling.

Jackson Morrison, 13, took first place in under 18 middleweight no gi grappling, third place in under 18 middleweight gi grappling and third place in 12 & 13-year-old boys point sparring.

Mackenzie Dill, 10, finished first place in 10 & 11 year old girls point sparring, first place in medium children’s no gi grappling, first place in medium children’s gi grappling and third place in 10 & 11-year-old open hand forms.

Austin Hall, 12, competed in his first ever tournament and took third place in under 18 heavyweight gi grappling and under 18 heavyweight no gi grappling.

Brett Schroeder, 10, finished first place in 8 & 9-year-old boys point sparring, first place in small children’s gi grappling and third place in small children’s no gi grappling.

First year student Patrick Hall, 10, took second place in 10 & 11-year-old open hand forms, second place in small children’s no gi grappling and third place in 10 & 11-year-old boys point sparring.

The tournament haul was one of the biggest days in the competition history of the Demopolis-based school.

“It really verifies what we believe in,” Jay said. “We train hard. We train often and it pays off. We like to compete. That’s why we have classes every night of the week.”