An Alliance crew of nine competitors made the trip out to Detroit Lakes the first weekend of June to compete in the Detroit Lakes invitational tournament. Adult blackbelts Dale Scheibel, Mason Rud, Eddie Lin and Justin Lafavor were joined by a juniors team of jr blackbelts Tanner Lafavor, Kenyon Meissel and Dyllan Heidt and underbelts Austin Heidt and Kadence Meissel. Altogether, they claimed twenty-seven top three placements. In addition to that, Mr Eddie Lin took home the adult blackbelt Grand Championship trophy.
In adult blackbelt forms for second and third dan blackbelts, Mr Mason Rud claimed first place finish with a clean and powerful demonstration of Keumgang, while Mr Dale Schneibel took third with a powerful Taebek. In the first dan forms division, Mr Justin Lafavor earned himself first place with Mr Eddie Lin taking second just behind him. In the jr blackbelt divisions, Mr Tanner Lafavor took second in an older division, while in a younger division Ms Dyllan Heidt took first with her first Koryo performance, and Mr Kenyon Meissel took second directly following. In the youth underbelt forms divisions, Mr Austin Heidt took second in an intermediate forms division, while Ms Kadence Meissel took 1st in a beginner division in her first tournament appearance.
The Alliance juniors claimed a handful of placements in breaking. Mr Tanner Lafavor took first in his jr blackbelt division, while Mr Kenyon Meissel took third in a separate jr blackbelt division. Mr Austin Heidt took first in his intermediate breaking division, while Ms Kadence Meissel took second in her first breaking event. At the adult blackbelt level, Mr Dale Schneibel smashed through targets to claim third, while Mr Eddie Lin showed intense energy, splintering his way to a first place win.
In two large weapon divisions, Alliance showed well. In the younger juniors division, Mr Kenyon Meissel second, while Mr Tanner Lafavor took first in the older juniors division. In the adults division, Alliance won a clean sweep of the top three places; Mr Mason took first, Mr Eddie took second and Mr Justin took third.
In underbelt sparring, Ms Kadence made her way to the match for first and second, which went into overtime; in the end, she came away with second place in her first tournament appearance. At the intermediate level, Mr Austin Heidt showed his growing skill by crashing through a handful of opponents to take first. Fighting continuous rules at the jr blackbelt level, Mr Kenyon Meissel and Ms Dyllan Heidt showcased skill and strategy, and ended up fighting one another for first place; in the end, Ms Dyllan came out with the win and Mr Kenyon took second behind her. In an older jr blackbelt division, Mr Tanner took third.
In the adult fighting division, Alliance showed some excellent moves and skills. After showing some searing fighting skills, Mr Mason Rud and Mr Eddie Lin faced each other in the match for first and second; Mr Eddie pulled ahead and claimed gold for the division.
When the dust settled, Mr Eddie Lin had accrued enough cumulative points to win the adult blackbelt Grand Championship trophy, the ultimate prize for successful competition across all categories. Congratulations, Mr Eddie!
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.
