Alliance Taekwondo

Alliance Taekwondo supported and competed in the Ehrmantraut’s Academy Capitol City Championship Invitational on January 26th, 2013. The Alliance team consisted of fourteen underbelt competitors and three black belt competitors. Alliance juniors Caleb and Logan Olson, Nicholas Uhlich, Shauna Fairbanks, Tanner Olson, Austin Hunt, Justin Story, Anthony Do, Zach and Mikka Webb, Hudson Eggie, Zach Miller and Pip Wheeler took home thirty trophies and four honorable mentions. Adult underbelts Ms Jennie Dvorak, Ms Megan Buckmeier and Ms Stephanie Webb took home seven trophies and an honorable mention, while adult black belt competitors and Alliance assistant instructors Ms Tammy Fairbanks and Mr Dale Schneibel took home one trophy and an honorable mention.

Ms Tammy Fairbanks was the only adult blackbelt forms competitor for Alliance that day, and secured an honorable mention in her division.  Caleb and Logan Olson stormed the forms division; Mr Caleb Olson took second with higher scores than any other competitor except his brother Logan, who took first place ahead of him.

In a first for the Ehrmantraut tournament, blackbelt breaking was up next.  Mr. Dale Schneibel took third place in a very large division, starting his routine with a hand break that required speed and accuracy and finishing with a powerful knife hand through four boards.  Later in the day, Caleb Olson claimed first in the jr blackbelt breaking division showing verve and concentration, with brother Logan Olson winning an honorable mention behind him.

In underbelt forms, twelve juniors competed; Mr Nick Uhlich, Ms Shauna Fairbanks and Mr Tanner Olson competed as red belts; Olson took first in his division, Fairbanks took second in hers, and Uhlich earned an honorable mention.  Brown Belts Justin Story and Austin Hunt took second and third in their respective forms divisions.  Blue belts Anthony Do, Zach and Mikka Webb, Zach Miller and Hudson Eggie all competed in forms; Anthony Do, Zach Webb and Mikka Webb received first, first and second places respectively in each of their divisions. Mr Pip Wheeler in his first tournament appearance earned an honorable mention in forms as a white belt.  Adult underbelt Stephanie Webb, in her second tournament appearance, took first place in her forms division.  Ms Megan Buckmeier took second in her forms division, and Ms Jennie Dvorak took first in her forms division.

In breaking, our underbelts took home four firsts, two seconds, three thirds and one honorable mention, in multiple divisions.  Red belts Shauna Fairbanks, Tanner Olson and Nick Uhlich, as well as brown belts Austin Hunt and Justin Story competed in advanced breaking divisions; Fairbanks and Hunt took first in their divisions, Story took second in his division, Olson took third in his division, and Uhlich earned an honorable mention.  In the intermediate divisions, Anthony Do secured first place in his division, and siblings Zach and Mikka Webb took second and third respectively.  In his first tournament appearance, Mr Pip Wheeler took third in his beginner breaking division.  In an adult beginner division, underbelt Stephanie Webb earned herself another first place finish.  Ms Megan Buckmeier finished second place in the advanced adult division, with teammate and training sister Jennie Dvorak winning an honorable mention behind her.

In the sparring divisons, the underbelts had a great run.  In the junior divisions, Ms Shauna Fairbanks battled her way to the first place match, in which she fought Ms Emily Grimestad into overtime.  Though she was eventually denied, Fairbanks was able to walk away from the match proud of her performance and her hard-won second place finish.  In a separate advanced division Mr Tanner Olson battled hard and ended up fighting teammate Austin Hunt for first place; Hunt pulled off a fast head kick that decided the match, with Hunt taking first and Olson taking second.  Teammate Mr Nick Uhlich showed an increased understanding of combat and took third place in a separate division.  In an older age group advanced division, Mr Justin Story battled his way to first place, where he faced off against Ms Blythe Ehrmantraut; in a rough match, Story narrowly secured the win to keep his undefeated sparring record in tact.  In the intermediate divisions, Mr Anthony Do battled his way to first place in his first tournament appearance.  In a younger division, Mr Zach Webb took home first place; his sister Mikka took home second in a separate division.  In the adult divisions, Ms Jennie Dvorak and Ms Megan Buckmeier had an excellent showing, with Dvorak finishing in first place in her first tournament in years, and Ms Megan finishing third place after her.

In the junior blackbelt division, brothers Caleb and Logan Olson fought through their bracket, putting away most of the opposition.  In the finals, Mr Logan Olson defeated his challenger in the match for third place; Mr Caleb Olson challenged Jacob Ehrmantraut for first, but was edged out by clean scoring late in the match and was relegated to a very respectable second.

Alliance saw three Juniors Team members finish in the power challenge; all three of the Olson brothers took home prizes for their age groups. Power challenge is a contest in which a competitor performs three elementary striking techniques to a padded target, which electronically measures the force delivered.

Alliance would like to thank the Ehrmantraut’s Academy for hosting the tournament and providing these opportunities. We would also like to congratulate the entire team on all the hard work, and thank the parents, instructors and coaches who have supported them. As always, our gratitude goes out to Grandmaster Eric Greenquist for his many years of dedication and instruction, and Great Grandmaster Moo Young Yun for his tireless efforts in the promotion of Korean martial arts.

Alliance Taekwondo would like to commend students and members of the juniors team Lynsey Eberle, Justin Story and Steven Weigel, for putting in the extra training, time and travel to compete at the first annual United States Chang Moo Kwan Taekwondo Union National Championships.  Each of them competed in both forms and sparring, and each one placed in both divisions, for a total of six trophies in five separate divisions.

Teammates Lynsey Eberle, Justin Story and Steven Weigel back in the studio with their awards from the first annual USCTU National Championships.

In a highly competitive jr blackbelt division, Ms Lynsey Eberle took second place with an excellent and polished performance of Koryo.  In the advanced forms division Mr Justin Story took first place, edging out teammate Steven Weigel, who took second.

In the advanced sparring divisions, Mr Justin Story knifed through three opponents and came out of the division securely in the first place spot, going undefeated in sparring for his fifth consecutive tournament.  Mr Steven Weigel, despite being sick just prior to the match for first place in his division, fought very smart against a larger opponent; in the end, he was denied a win due to particularly amaurotic and indubitate judging, and was awarded second place.  In the jr blackbelt girls division Ms Lynsey Eberle also fought for first place; despite some very good fighting at the end of the match, her taller opponent had secured the lead early on and Eberle couldn’t quite catch up in points, coming away with second place.

Please join us in extending congratulations to these three up and coming junior martial artists, and best of luck to them and the rest of the team; the Alliance competitors are all looking forward to the Ehrmantraut’s competition in January!

Alliance Taekwondo participated in the 2012 Roughrider Invitational on October 20th with twenty competitors.  The Alliance Juniors Team, captained by jr blacksbelts Caleb and Logan Olson and Lynsey Eberle was fifteen competitors strong; the twelve underbelt competitors included  Nicholas Uhlich, Tanner Olson, Shawna Fairbanks, Austin Hunt, Justin Story, Steven Weigel, Zachary Webb, Zachary Miller, Hudson Eggie, Jaxen Hassebrock, Braden Fritel and Trevion Two-Hearts.  The Juniors Team took home twenty-six trophies in twenty-six separate divisions.  Adult competitor Stephanie Webb competed in two divisions and took home a trophy.  Four black belt competitors, Alliance assistant instructors Tammy Fairbanks, Paige McDaniel, Dale Schneibel and Alliance alumnus Kyle Sanford, also competed in five separate divisions, taking home one trophy and bringing the full count up to twenty-eight awards in thirty-three separate divisions.

The Roughrider competition crew with trophies.

The blackbelts started the day with forms; Alliance alumnus and now Master in his own right, Master Charles Smith competed in a Master’s forms division and took home the first place trophy.  Junior Team captains Caleb Olson and Lynsey Eberle both took first in their respective jr blackbelt divisions.

In an arrangement unique to the Roughrider Invitational, blackbelt breaking was up next, where Mr. Dale Schneibel, took second place in a very large division with a display of determination and power.  Later in the day, Ms Lynsey Eberle claimed third in the jr blackbelt breaking division, showing excellent focus.

In underbelt forms, the Alliance Juniors team went big, with Justin Story, Steven Weigel and Zach Webb claiming first place in their respective divisions; Austin Hunt, Hudson Eggie, Braden Fritel and Trevion Two-Hearts all secured second place in their respective divisions; Zach Miller took home third place in his forms division.  Ms Stephanie Webb, as the only adult underbelt competitor from Alliance at this event, took first place in her division.

In underbelt breaking, Mr Justin Story and Mr Braden Fritel secured second place finishes; Mr Austin Hunt and Mr Trevion Two-Hearts claimed third place finishes in their respective divisions.

In the sparring divisions, the Junior Team captains were mixed into a large jr blackbelt division of seven competitors, but to their credit they came out on top with Ms Lynsey Eberle taking first, narrowly defeating teammate Caleb Olson, who took second.  In a single advanced boys division, Justin Story and Steven Weigel ended up in a similar situation, with Story taking first and Weigel taking second.  One weight class lower, their training brother Austin Hunt took first in his division.  In a younger advanced division, Mr Tanner Olson and Mr Nicholas Uhlich fought some of their best matches to date, and they came away with first and third places, respectively.  In a youth intermediate division, training brothers and newcomers to the tournament scene Zach Webb and Zach Miller ended up battling for a third place finish in their division, with Mr Zach Webb taking the win in the end.  In a youth beginner division, Braden Fritel and Trevion Two-Hearts advanced into the final round and squared off  for first and second, with the more experienced Fritel coming away in the number one spot.

In blackbelt fighting, after making it to the third place match Mr Kyle Sanford was denied a win due to a judging failure.  In the same division Master Charles Smith carved through each of his opponents in turn to take first.

Alliance would like to thank the Grandmaster Ted Fitzsimmons and the Roughrider Academy for hosting the tournament and providing these opportunities.  Alliance would also like to congratulate the entire team on all the hard work, and thank the parents, instructors and coaches who have supported them.  As always, our gratitude goes out to Grandmaster Eric Greenquist for his many years of dedication and instruction, and Great Grandmaster Moo Young Yun for his tireless efforts in the promotion of the martial arts.

Steven Weigel and Justin Story back in the studio with their awards.

Alliance Taekwondo would like to commend students and members of the juniors team, Justin Story and Steven Weigel, for putting in the extra time and travel to compete at Grandmaster Eugene Marquart’s Taekwondo Invitational 2012.  It is not a large tournament, but it is a tournament with a high degree of competition and both students stepped up their game to meet the challenge.

Both Story and Weigel only finished learning their new form five days prior to the tournament, and in the advanced 12-14 forms division, Mr. Justin Story took third place.  After a tough match for first place with a national bronze medalist (for his age and rank) Mr. Steven Weigel took silver in the advanced 10-12 sparring division.  Mr. Justin Story fought through some of his toughest matches to date and, though exhausted, came out of his advanced 12-14 sparring division with a gold medal.

Please join us in extending congratulations to these two up and coming junior martial artists, and best of luck to them and the rest of the team in the next competition event, the Roughrider tournament in October!