Andrew Wiltse– Multiple Times BJJ Gold Champion

Andrew Wiltse is a BJJ black belt under Heath Pedigo and a judo brown belt under Mike Ogden. Wiltse is a representative of a Pedigo Submission Fighting Academy and was the team's first breakthrough black belt on the world’s sports circuit.

Andrew Wiltse established his reputation as one of his generation's fiercest grapplers while competing in the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation's (IBJJF) colored belt divisions, where he won five world titles, ranging from blue to brown belts, before moving up to the Pro Division.

Andrew further ascended to incredible heights by winning the IBJJF Pan American title seven times, once with a black belt and the other six times with different colored belts, thereby establishing himself as a formidable force in the professional grappling world.

Andrew was born on December 6, 1992, in Topanga Canyon, California. Wiltse lived in California until he was 10 years old.

Andrew's parents were both born in Michigan and migrated to California to operate a crystal shop and raise their children. However, Wiltse's father became frustrated with the hot weather in California and decided to return home, settling in Drummond Island, Michigan, with Andrew and his younger brother, Sathya in 2002.

Andrew’s parents got divorced within the next couple of years and his mother moved to Hawaii.

Andrew Wiltse began his martial arts journey in 2006 in Hawaii, when he was visiting his mother for the summer holidays. During his stay in Hawaii, Andrew joined a judo club and earned his blue belt by the end of the vacation.

When Andrew returned to Michigan, he urged his father to allow him to continue his judo lessons in Drummond. This request brought him to Mike Ogden, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu trainer who ran a small judo club in the area.

Because of the small population and remote location of Drummond Island, Ogden's judo school started small, and Andrew often had one-on-one sessions with the judo black belt. As a result of this close interaction, Wiltse became very close with his instructor, who was one of the early brilliant grapplers.

At the age of 16, Ogden convinced Andrew to start competing in MMA tournaments. Wiltse then opted to make his debut at Mutt MMA in the Upper Peninsula, but he was subdued by a flying armbar in the first 10 seconds of the match.

Unlike many athletes who would have been devastated by this bad experience, Andrew became even more committed to his training and began working on his skills.

Soon after that, Andrew met Heath Pedigo, one of the most powerful individuals in his sporting career, for the first time in Sault Ste. Marie, where Mr. Pedigo was traveling through promoting a mixed martial arts event.

Heath Pedigo visited a boxing gym where Ogden and Wiltse were staying at the time while searching for the local talent in the area. Heath stuck with Andrew for the duration of his stay, but they split ways soon after.

Andrew began studying at a college in Sault Ste. Marie after completing his high school. During that period, he learned about Heath Pedigo's jiu-jitsu school and grappling scholarship in Mount Vernon, Illinois, through his contacts with the local fighting gyms.

After learning about Mr. Pedigo's plans to recruit him on scholarship for the team and having a quick talk with him, Andrew abandoned his academic ambitions and relocated to Illinois to train full-time at the Pedigo Submission Fighting Academy.

Andrew formally began his jiu-jitsu career in 2013 as a white belt under Heath Pedigo— although he was already a brown belt in judo under Ogden at the time.

Heath saw Andrew's immense potential and wanted to make him into a professional grappler. Andrew’s early BJJ training at the academy was a bit harsh.

The academy was essentially an old launderette which Heath had bought and turned into a training gym. Andrew used to train during the day and sleep on mats at night with his teammates.

His first few months of practice were extremely brutal. Andrew’s opponents were more experienced and would beat him for hours on the mat. But the continuous beatings made Andrew more determined.

Wiltse would spend all his free time drilling with his teammate even after the training session ended. This hard training proved to be fruitful and helped him to succeed as a BJJ athlete.

Andrew quickly progressed through the jiu-jitsu ranks, becoming famous in the competition circuit of North America. By the year 2015, he was a world champion winning several world titles as a blue belt.

His main achievements as a blue belt were:

• Two gold medals at the IBJJF Championship 2015
• Three World Championship Titles in the Gi, No-Gi, and Absolute No-Gi Division
• Four Pan American Championships

Andrew advanced to purple (2016) and eventually brown (2017) belt over the next four years. He won the IBJJF World Championships as a purple and brown belt during this time, as well as the IBJJF Pan American Championships in the Brown Belt Division.

In 2018, Andrew became the first member of the Pedigo Submission Fighting to win a World Championship as a brown belt.

In 2019, Andrew Wiltse won his 5th world title by winning the IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championship and his 6th Pan American Gold by winning the 2019 Pan Championship.

Andrew was a fluent performer on the mats, and after all of his achievements, he was ready to take his game to the next level. Hence, Heath Pedigo promoted the young star to the black belt in December 2019 due to his remarkable progress in the sport.

Andrew Wiltse was a natural with his new belt, wasting no time in putting his training to use in competitions.

He won the gold medal at the No-Gi Pan Championship in 2020 in the 85kg Division by defeating all three of his opponents.

Andrew also competed in various pro events like Who’s Number One (WNO) and Fight to Win (F2W). Andrew defeated the world-class black belt John Combs at F2W 146 and won the match via penalty.

Andrew Wiltse returned to the top of the black belt rankings in 2021 after recovering from injuries.

Andrew defeated superstar grapplers PJ Barch and David Garmo in back-to-back super fights at WNO 6 and WNO 8.

Andrew then competed in the IBJJF Pan American Championship 2021, where he won three of his four matches but fell short of the gold medal by losing in the final against Jefferson Guaresi.

During his black belt campaign, Andrew Wiltse suffered a serious back injury. Many doubted Andrew's ability to compete in the 2020 Pan American Championships, but he was back on track after some rest and rehabilitation.

Andrew was scheduled to battle Roberto Jimenez in a super fight at the Road to ADCC the following year, but he was forced to withdraw due to a back ailment. Andrew is still working to reclaim his title .

Andrew Wiltse is still quite active in the professional grappling circuit, having several important victories over skilled competitors. Andrew will continue to train hard to win the ADCC Championships and the Black Belt World Championships. Andrew plans to fight in more events in the future, including Fight 2 Win, Polaris, and Submission Underground.

Andrew Wiltse has filmed numerous instructional videos for BJJ Fanatics, a well-known online platform. His knowledge of techniques is in high demand and only available through BJJ Fanatics. Some of his video titles include:

This classic series consists of four volumes where Andrew shares his famous Buzzsaw passing system, with a special focus on No-Gi guard passing.

The series includes concepts and strategies against both seated and supinated guard players, along with Andrew’s classic knee slice methods containing footwork, set-ups, finishes, and variations.

This series contains six volumes where Andrew skillfully teaches guard retention, strategies to counter and defend against the buzzsaw passing systems, multiple guard passing styles, and concepts of positioning, framing, and grip fighting.

In 2018, Flograppling started filming the crew at the Pedigo Submission Fighting Academy. These videos are known as the Daisy Fresh Series, named after the laundromat.

The first season featured Andrew Wiltse explaining how he started his BJJ journey at Pedigo Submission.

After that, Andrew recorded various videos under this series explaining the art of BJJ with knee slice, side control, kimura trap, and much more.

Each DVD in the Dairy series consists of many volumes which include,

• The Daisy Fresh Side Control System
• The Daisy Fresh Knee Slice
• The Daisy Fresh Omoplata
• The Daisy Fresh Kimura Trap

This series contains six volumes devoted to teaching how to do different guards and explaining the right positions for wrestling from the open guard.

• Prevent, Survive, and Pass Lasso Guard
• Swat the Spider
• Maintaining Back Control

Andrew demonstrated his submission skills in his debut match as a black belt, defeating Isiah Wright with a rear-naked choke in a super fight at Fight 2 Win 144.

As a black belt, Andrew's greatest tournament was in 2020. The Pan American No-Gi Championships was Andrew's first competition. In the quarter and semi-finals, Andrew successfully defeated Victor Silva and Cameron Guilliam.

Finally, Andrew won his first big IBJJF event as a black belt, defeating Pedro Rocha by a penalty point in the finals.

Andrew's most recent fight occurred at the 10th edition of the World Nomads Organization in 2021. During the first 10 minutes of the match, Almeida was able to control the match from the top position and defended against takedowns. The match was competitive but Almeida had the advantage .

However, in the last five minutes, Andrew was able to take the top position for the first time in the match. He quickly started hitting his classic knee slice pass to side control and went to the mount. At last, Andrew won the match by beating Almeida with a rear-naked choke.

Photo credit: @andrew.wiltse46