Alliance Taekwondo attended the 2019 Roughrider Invitational Championship on October 20th. Alliance fielded a team twenty-six total competitors, including adult blackbelts Dale Schneibel and twins Mason and Mads Rud; the youth team was lead by junior blackbelts Eddie Lin, Shauna Fairbanks, Justin Lafavor, Tristian Glass, Kaitlyn Retzer, Tanner Lafavor and Kenyon Meissel; underbelt competitors included Dyllan Heidt, Tyler and Tanner Glass, Tatum and Reese Spadgenske, Sophie Zhang, Kristofer Huck, Braxton Standaert, Sadie Xu, Jaden Silveria, Jacob Wilson, Brooklyn and Ellie Leubke, Mason Hager, Jora Shaw and Braylee Emineth. The Alliance team claimed thirty-seven trophies in total, including fourteen first place wins, eleven second place awards and twelve third place finishes.
The competition started – as usual – with blackbelt forms. In the adult divisions, Mr Mason took 2nd with a strong performance of Keumgang. In the jr blackbelt divisions, Mr Eddie took first, Ms Shauna second and Mr Justin third; in a separate jr blackbelt division, Ms Kaitlyn took third. In the jr blackbelt weapons forms divisions, Mr Justin took first with traditional Hapkido bo-staff.
In underbelt forms, Ms Brooklyn Leubke took third, with sister Ellie also taking third in a separate division. Beginners Mr Tanner Glass, Ms Jora Shaw and Mr Mason Hager claimed first, first and third respectively; it was the first tournament appearance for all three.
In breaking, underbelts Mr Kristofer Huck, Mr Braxton Standaert and Mr Jaden Silveria placed first, third and second in separate advanced divisions. In the beginner divisions, Mr Tanner Glass took second, Mr Mason Hager took third, and Mr Braylee Emineth took first. In the jr blackbelt divisions, Mr Eddie Lin slammed his way to a first place finish with Mr Justin Lafavor in close second and Mr Tanner Lafavor taking third. In a separate jr blackbelt division, Ms Kaitlyn Retzer claimed third place as well. In the adult breaking divisions, Alliance officer and third Dan Mr Dale Schneibel crushed his way to a second place finish.
In the sparring divisions, the Alliance underbelts put in work as always. In an advanced division, Mr Tyler Glass fought his best effort yet and was rewarded by a first place finish . In a separate division, Mr Kristofer Huck made quick work of his opponents – even landing with a cartwheel kick – to claim first. In another advanced division, Mr Braxton Standaert finished in third after some fiery action. Mr Jaden Silveria, in a display of greatly improved technical ability, claimed first place. In two separate intermediate divisions, sisters Brooklyn and Ellie Leubke both took second place, showing that they are up for a challenge. In the beginner divisions, Mr Tanner Glass overcame all opponents despite having to fight one opponent twice and came away with a first place finish. Ms Jora Shaw fought smart and picked off her opponents to likewise finish in first. Mr Braylee Emineth showed lots of energy and vigor and also earned a first place award.
The junior blackbelt divisions this time around were populated mostly by Alliance competitors, who were hoping to have more matches against fighters from other schools. In a series of matches that looked like a school sparring session, Mr Eddie Lin took first and relegated younger training brothers Tristian Glass and Tanner Lafavor to fight for second and third; in a very close decision, Mr Tristian took second, edging out Mr Tanner who took third.
Blackbelt fighting was two rounds of two-minute continuous fighting and scoring per match. At the age of fifteen, Alliance jr blackbelt Mr Justin Lafavor fought in the under eighteen full blackbelt division, showing his mettle against upper classmen one and two years his senior. After a close first match, he went on to take third place in a challenging division. In the over eighteen Dan divisions, twin fighters Mason and Mads Rud fought with tenacity; they both ended up narrowly loosing to a Master who would go on to claim first, with Mads eventually taking second and Mason finishing third.
Alliance would like to thank the Roughrider Academy and Grandmaster Ted Fitzsimmons 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.
