{"id":105,"date":"2010-09-18T16:17:12","date_gmt":"2010-09-18T16:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.titansofthecage.com\/main\/?p=105"},"modified":"2010-09-18T16:17:12","modified_gmt":"2010-09-18T16:17:12","slug":"titans-of-the-cage-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.titansofthecage.com\/main\/?p=105","title":{"rendered":"Titans of the Cage – News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By WAYNE QUESENBERRY\/Staff<\/p>\n

The action was hard-hitting with knockouts and plenty of blood at Saturday night\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Titans of the Cage. The sportsmanship was respectful and honorable.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I wanted to do something new to Wytheville but not reckless,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Greg Ring, owner\/operator of Southwest Martial Arts, which sponsored the first-ever local mixed martial arts competition. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I did not want the participants to come across as disrespectful to their opponents or the audience. The theme was honor in the cage and I wanted to put martial arts back into martial arts. I teach my students respect. I teach them to be humble and to have a modest attitude.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nFive of Ring\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s students, Micah Sheffey, McKensey Heath, Doug Williams, David Long and Dakota McGinn competed in the Global Combat Alliance sanctioned event. It was the first time in the cage for Sheffey, Williams and Long, with only 16-year-old Williams losing his bout.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was thrilled with their performances,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ring stated. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is nice to win but when we conduct ourselves like champions we win every time by not being disrespectful or sore losers or bad winners.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nThere were 17 different bouts at the George Wythe High School gymnasium packed with spectators of all ages. Participants came from as far away as North Carolina and Tennessee.
\nOther local competitors included 18-year-old David Spencer of Wytheville, a student of Jinjer Covert at Kwik Kix in Wytheville and a student at Penn State University; Tony Fowler of Wytheville, a student of Jearl Sutherland of Sutherland Fighting Systems; and Craig Wilson, Aaron Davis and Cody Gibson, all of Wytheville and fighting as independents.
\nBouts were based on the weight of the fighter and the amount of experience. Participants could not be under the age of 16 and their competitors could be no more than two years older.
\nReferees and score keepers from the state-licensed Global Combat Alliance oversaw the event. Each match was scheduled to last three rounds but most did not go the distance with fighters being knocked out or surrendering to their opponent.
\nOne of the crowd-pleasers of the evening was the women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s match between Taylor Miller of Knoxville, Tenn., and Ashlee Nee of Indian Trail, N.C. The bout lasted all three rounds with Miller winning the judges\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 decision over favored-to-win Nee.
\nServing as ring card girls were Samantha Frye of Marion and Reva Akers of Radford. They took turns carrying cards announcing the number of rounds in the bout and posed for photos with winners of each category.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was a lot of fun,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d remarked Frye, who teaches gymnastics and works at Cracker Barrel.
\nAkers is a certified nursing assistant and works at a nursing home. She remarked about Titans of the Cage, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I enjoyed it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nThey both said they applied online for the jobs. It was their first time as ring card girls.
\nAlso sitting at ringside and presenting trophies to the winners was Miss Mountain Empire Misti Caviness of Wytheville, a contestant at the 2010 Miss Virginia Pageant. She sat with her hands over her face for most of the matches.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never seen a match before,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she stated after the nearly three-hour event. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what to expect.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nThe Wythe County JROTC Color Guard presented the flags at the opening of the event. Leslie F. Mabe, music teacher at Spiller Elementary School, sang the National Anthem.
\nAccording to Ring, he began planning Titans of the Cage in early March. He was assisted by his wife, Kimberly Ring; his assistant instructor, James Heath; and many other volunteers over the course of the event.
\nAmong the major factors were locating a place to hold the event, finding sponsors for the bouts, obtaining the official cage to hold the matches and securing participants for the bouts.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This has been absolutely a learning experience,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d stated Ring, a 25-year veteran teacher of martial arts. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It has taken an enormous amount of work to put this on. I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have done it without all the support everyone has given me. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already been asked when I was going to do it again. I tell them to let me get over this one first.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nAfter the considerable amount of expenses are paid, Ring plans to donate the remainder of he money to the Learn Today Lead Tomorrow Afterschool Program at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Wytheville. His wife is the executive director.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is a very worthwhile program,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ring added. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It provides a lot of activities for kids who would otherwise be left alone after school.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nWayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or wquesenberry@wythenews.com<\/a>