An elite crew of of eight competitors from Alliance Taekwondo made the trip out to Detroit Lakes the first weekend of June to compete in the Detroit Lakes Invitational Tournament. Adult blackbelts Dale Scheibel and Mason Rud were joined by a juniors team captained by Eddie Lin, including Justin LaFavor and replete with newest Alliance jr blackbelts Kaitlyn Retzer, Tanner Lafavor and Kenyon Meissel and joined by a single underbelt, Kade Conklin. Altogether, they claimed twenty-one top three placements and two fourth place honorable mentions. In addition to that, Mr Mason Rud took home the adult blackbelt Grand Championship trophy.
In adult blackbelt forms, Mr Mason Rud claimed a third place finish. In the jr blackbelt divisions, Ms Kaitlyn Retzer took third with her first Koryo performance, having learned it the week prior. Mr Kenyon Meissel took first in his division with a polished Pal Gae Pal Cheung despite competing against other Koryo and Keumgang patterns. In the youth underbelt forms divisions, Mr Kade Conklin took first with a strong Pal Gae Il Cheung.
The Alliance juniors claimed a handful of placements in breaking. In a large jr blackbelt divisions, Alliance swept first, second and third by Mr Tanner Lafavor, Mr Justin Lafavor and Mr Eddie Lin respectively. Mr Kade Conklin took second in his underbelt breaking division as well. At the adult blackbelt level, Mr Mason Rud sheared through wood with style to earn a first place win.
In two large weapon divisions, Alliance showed well. In the juniors division, Mr Eddie Lin took first and Mr Justin Lafavor took fourth. At the adult blackbelt level, Mr Mason Rud took first place.
Kicking off the sparring divisions was the blackbelt team fighting division. Alliance blackbelt Mr Mason Rud teamed up with Greenquist Academy blackbelts Master Jesse Kip and Ms Grace Elijah to compete against four other teams of three for the team fighting championship trophy. After besting two of the three other teams in a strong showing, the Greenquist team registered a second place finish.
In underbelt sparring, Mr Kade Conklin showed some serious improvement and soundly defeated his opponents to claim first in his division. Fighting continuous rules for the first time in his jr blackbelt division, Mr Kenyon Meissel showcased some of his best fighting to date and took first as well. In a separate jr blackbelt division, Ms Kaitlyn fought two rough matches for the first time at the blackbelt level and earned a third place finish. In a third division, Mr Eddie and Mr Tanner waded through their competition to claim first and second respectively. Mr Justin Lafavor, again fighting in a combined division of under eighteen adult blackbelts, fought with skill and tenacity and took first place. In the adult fighting division, Mr Mason Rud was alive and focused as he made his way to the first place match; he lost by only a single point to veteran sparring competitor Britton Kleeb.
When the dust settled, Mr Mason Rud had accrued enough cumulative points to win the adult blackbelt Grand Championship trophy, the ultimate prize for successful competition across all categories. Congratulations, Mr Mason!
Alliance would like to thank Master Lucas Holzhueter for hosting the tournament and providing a solid environment for competition where Alliance students experienced both team and personal growth. 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 martial arts.
