Mira Costa High School junior Jean Paul LeBosnoyani kept in shape this past summer for the upcoming wrestling season by competing in mixed martial arts. In August, he won both the the gi and non gi divisions in the submission only Gracie 2015 World Championships at the Anaheim Convention Center.
His sister Bianca, a freshman at Mira Costa, also competed at the World Championships. After submitting four female competitors, she fought to four draws in the male 14 to 17-year-old division.
The brother and sister are ranked among the top MMA fighters in their divisions in the world. The two began training before they started school at their father Nono’s studio in downtown Hermosa Beach.
Last year, Jean Paul was a member of Mira Costa’s CIF-Southern Section Championship team. In comparing mixed martial arts to wrestling, he admitted to feeling restricted when he wrestles. “In wrestling, you can only win by points or by pinning your opponent. Chokes and submission holds aren’t allowed.”
Bianca said she plans to compete for Mira Costa in cross country and track this year and decide in her sophomore year whether or not to wrestle. High school wrestling does not have a women’s division.
Other South Bayans who competed at the the Gracie World Championships included Olivia Bastasch, Nichole Goenewet and Annika Aguirre from Nono’s Hermosa Beach studio and Dean Wellen of Palos Verdes who trains at Combat Base in Redondo and at the Gracie Barra Academy in Hawthorne. Wellen won the purple belt, 145 pound with gi division. ER
