His face covered with blood, Nik Vuljaj struggled with his opponent for 20 seconds. Pinning his adversary to the ground, his eyes were full of tears, and the clock stopped. Vuljaj rose from the match victorious and placed third in the 2005 Collegiate National Judo Championships.
Vuljaj, a microbiology and premedical senior, attended the event with one teammate from the MSU Judo Club. The event was held by the National Collegiate Judo Association late last month at San Jose State University.
Vuljaj brought home the bronze for the student organization. The club had not won a medal since the 2002 championships.
"It was actually quite emotional," Vuljaj said. "My eyes got kind of teary from the happiness and the idea of all the hard work put into this event."
Vuljaj, originally from Serbia, Yugoslavia, moved to Michigan when he was 16 years old. He began practicing Judo at age 9 and began competing professionally in Europe when he was 16.
"I was fortunate to have a very good coach who actually produced some of the Olympic medalists for (Yugoslavia) back in the seventies," Vuljaj said.
Vuljaj made the choice to attend MSU because of the judo club.
Now a collegiate medalist, Vuljaj said the win is not just for himself.
"I didn't see this medal as my medal, I saw it as the medal of the full club," Vuljaj said.
The MSU Judo Club was started in 1960 and now has about 60 members. The group has four advisers, or senseis. The university offers two judo classes per semester, and members say the courses help draw participants.
Greg Ondrus, a park, recreation and tourism resources senior who went to the championships with Vuljaj, said he hopes the win will help bring attention to the club.
"Right now, we probably have five or six guys that really work out hard to compete, but I think what this is going to do is it is really going to allow us to move that up a little bit," he said.
Although some think an increase in club participants is a possible result of Vuljaj's win, MSU Judo Club Sensei Tom Sheehan, said he doesn't think more participation is needed.
"It would be nice, but I'm not looking forward to seeing more people," Sheehan said. "There are a couple people that jump on, and then there are a couple of people that when they graduate they drop off, so it's a continuous process."
