by Matt Culbertson
published on Friday, October 19, 2007

STING LIKE A BEE: Christian Grosinsky, 25, of Tempe practices a punch sequence with ASU nursing graduate Lars Havens at the Student Recreation Complex. Pankration is a form of mixed martial arts that includes wrestling, kickboxing and other forms of fighting.

“Where else can you choke your professor, slap an attorney, punch your boss or in one case kick a politician without getting into trouble?”

For Jeff Funicello, the mixed martial arts coach who posed the question, ASU Pankration is the safe and legal way for ASU students to fulfill that fantasy and train to compete in martial arts.

Four times a week, a group of mostly ASU undergraduate students meet in the Student Recreation Complex to train in mixed martial art disciplines nearly 3,000 years old, called pankration.

Funicello, a 17-year veteran of the sport, said about half of the team competes in competitions ranging from local events to international bouts.

“Where else can a Christian fight a Muslim, or a Hindu fight a Jew, and walk away good friends?” Funicello said in an e-mail about pankration.

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by Robert Mladinich

Considering the fact that undefeated heavyweight Tony Grano of Hebron, Connecticut, didn’t begin boxing until he was 20 years old, he’s come a long way in a short time.

The former high school wrestling star, now 5-0-1 (5 KOS) as a pro, won a slew of amateur titles and was considered a frontrunner to represent the United States in the 2008 Olympic Games.

But Grano, who is now 25, had other plans. “By the time I’m 28, I want to be fighting for a [professional] heavyweight title,” he said. “I accomplished a lot in the amateurs, and just thought it was time to turn pro.”

Grano, who trains in New York, last fought on September 23 in Hartford, Connecticut, which is a stone’s throw from his hometown. He personally sold a few hundred tickets to his fans, who saw him demolish a former middle linebacker turned boxer named Mike Miller, now 2-4 (2 KOS), of Akron, Ohio, in two rounds.

While a victory like the one over Miller might seem insignificant to some, if you go behind the numbers there is more than meets the eye.