SPOKANE, WA — Witnesses at Stonegate Grappling’s Saturday open mat said Monday that a nine-minute silent staredown between purple belts Renny Jopling and Marco Prewitt constituted “the most depressed staredown ever performed on these mats,” with attending blue belts describing the exchange in group chats, in the post-class parking lot, and to anyone who would listen as “worse than watching Professor Voorhees try to demo the kimura from bottom half in 2019.”
The April 11 incident began at 10:14 a.m., approximately two minutes into the hour-long open mat session at the 2,100-square-foot academy on North Hamilton Street. Jopling, 34, a staff accountant at Mountain West Regional Bank who separated from his wife Teagan six weeks ago, bumped fists and slapped five with Prewitt, 37, an underemployed contract web developer whose divorce was finalized in early March. The two then assumed a loose neutral stance approximately four feet apart.
They did not move for the next nine minutes.
“You could tell something was wrong about thirty seconds in,” said Jacob Tilghman, a two-stripe blue belt who had just tapped to a visiting upper belt and was stretching against the south wall. “Neither of them changed levels. Neither of them took a grip. Prewitt kind of swayed once. That was the only movement. They just looked at each other like they were waiting for a bus that was never coming.”
Multiple witnesses confirmed that at no point during the exchange did either man feign a shot, feint with a collar grip, or adjust their bare feet on the mat. Jopling’s left hand, witnesses said, hovered approximately six inches from his hip for the entire duration, as though he had been about to reach for something and then forgotten what that something was.
The staredown entered a second phase at the 4:30 mark, when Prewitt reportedly exhaled through his nose — a sound several attending blue belts described as “not quite a sigh but a worse version of one.” Jopling, according to witnesses, began blinking at a rate estimated as “maybe once every forty-five seconds.” Neither man spoke. Neither man looked away. On the adjacent mat, two white belts rolling for the first time quietly agreed to stop their own roll out of what one of them later called “respect, or maybe fear, I don’t know.”
At approximately 7:20, observers said Jopling broke eye contact for the first time — not to look at Prewitt’s lead hand or his hips, but to glance briefly at the attending blue belts sitting against the far wall.
“I’m fine with this,” Jopling reportedly said, aloud, to no one in particular.
He then resumed the staredown for another 100 seconds.
Head coach Professor Daryl Voorhees, 51, told reporters he first noticed something unusual when two lower belts who had been waiting to rotate in looked at him with what he described as “a face.” Voorhees said he approached the two purple belts, placed a hand on each of their shoulders, and asked — in what multiple witnesses characterized as the gentlest voice they had ever heard him use — “Hey guys, either of you interested in rolling? There’s a line.”
“They both just kind of nodded,” Voorhees said. “Not at me. At each other. And then they walked off the mat.”
Jopling and Prewitt did not speak as they sat against the far wall of the training area. Witnesses confirmed that Jopling produced a single Liquid IV Hydration Multiplier packet from his gym bag, tore it open, and poured approximately half of it into Prewitt’s water bottle without asking. Prewitt reportedly drank it. Neither man had been submitted during the exchange. Neither man had submitted anyone during the exchange. Neither had executed a single grip, takedown attempt, guard pull, or feint. The two sat in silence for the remaining 38 minutes of the session.
“I’ve been training at this gym for six years,” said Amanda Quon, a four-stripe blue belt who had been rolling on the opposite side of the room. “I’ve seen guys cry after rolls. I’ve seen guys throw up. I saw one guy propose to his girlfriend at a belt ceremony. This was the saddest thing that has ever happened on this mat.”
At approximately 11:02 a.m., the class gathered for the traditional cooldown circle. According to witnesses, neither Jopling nor Prewitt made eye contact during the circle, though both stood directly across from one another. Professor Voorhees reportedly chose not to mention the exchange during his closing remarks, opting instead to announce an upcoming in-house tournament and remind the class that the gi washing machine was out of order until further notice.
Both men posted to Instagram that evening. Jopling’s post, a stock black-and-white photograph of a clenched fist, was captioned “good roll.” Prewitt’s post, an image of his rolled-up gi on the floor of his studio apartment, was also captioned “good roll.” Each post had 11 likes at the time of publication, six of which came from the other man. Neither post had been commented on.
Reached for comment Monday morning, Jopling said he felt “good about the exchange” and characterized his performance as “an opportunity to work on defensive posture.” Prewitt, reached separately, said he was “proud of the round” and described himself as “just trying to be a better training partner.” Asked whether either man planned to roll with the other at Saturday’s open mat, both responded, in nearly identical phrasing, that they were “definitely open to it” but that it “kind of depends on the schedule.”
As of press time, Professor Voorhees had reportedly emailed each man separately to ask if they were “doing okay” and had included in both messages a link to an article titled “7 Signs You Might Be Going Through Something.” Neither email had been opened. A follow-up message Voorhees sent later that evening, consisting of only the words “no pressure,” had also not been opened.
At Stonegate Grappling’s Tuesday evening class, both men reportedly arrived ten minutes early, bowed onto the mat, warmed up on opposite sides of the room, and, when the instructor announced partner drilling, simultaneously excused themselves to refill their water bottles.