Students at the national religious school Amit-Acre know there is one student in the class they had better not mess with. Almog Bretsch,17, from Nahariya, does not look particularly menacing, but this week he won the title of world junior champion in Brazilian jiujitsu. Bretsch, a 12th grade student, returned to school on Thursday evening from the world championship in Romania, where he competed and prevailed over more than 2,000 young athletes from all over the world. Almog's father, Yaron, says that his son has been training from age 5 at a martial arts club and that he is also good at more conventional subjects like mathematics, English and Talmud. Almog studied jiujitsu under Sensai Ilan Turgeman, director of the Renzo Gracie academy in Nahariya. "I have no doubt it's because of him that I achieved this," he said. Almog competed in the under-87 kg (192 lbs.) category for youth. Before entering the finals, he prevailed against an opponent from Romania in a mere 20 seconds. This was the quickest match of the entire championship, earning him a special trophy. In the semifinal and final, Bretsch encountered rivals from Turkey and defeated them. Two years ago, Almog won the European championship for his age group. The principal of Amit-Acre, Etti Tzabari, describes Almog as a serious student who is liked by his fellow students. "He combines a focus on his studies with impressive sports ability and achievement. He represented us and the country with great success." Almog himself is very excited about the victory, especially the opponents he beat. "I can't say there isn't something sweet about the victory over wrestlers from Turkey, not all of whom are great lovers of Israel, but in the end its just sports and they accepted the result in a good spirit." He says that one of the most significant moments was when they played the Israeli national anthem. "When I heard Hatikvah sung from the podium it was an amazing feeling."
Israeli wins jiujitsu world junior championship
Almog Bretch, 17, wins gold medal in junior world championship of Brazilian jiujitsu • Principal at champion's school: Bretch is a good student, well-liked • Bretch excited that he beat Turkish rivals, some of whom he says are not huge fans of Israel.
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