Alliance Taekwondo fielded a team of twelve competitors for the 2022 Eastern Montana Regional Taekwondo Invitational. Three adult competitors including Mr Mason Rud, Mr Eddie Lin, Mr Justin Lafavor and Mr Aidan Motesfoote were joined by a juniors team led by Mr Tanner Lafavor; jr blackbelts also included Mr Kenyon Meissel, Mr Kristofer Huck, Ms Dyllan Heidt, Ms Reese Spadgenske and Mr Braxton Standaert, and the underbelt roster consisted of Mr Austin Heidt, Mr Mason Hager, Mr Zachary Ziegler and Mr Carter DelaBarre.
Alliance took home a total of forty-eight awards, including thirteen first place finishes, fourteen second place finishes, twelve third place finishes, one fourth place honorable mention finish and three of the four grand-champion awards; Alliance also claimed the “spirit” award.
In the blackbelt forms divisions Mr Justin Lafavor and Mr Eddie Lin competed with Koryo and earned second and third respectively. In the junior blackbelt divisions, Mr Kristofer and Mr Reese both took him first place awards in different divisions, with Ms Dyllan and Mr Kenyon taking 2nd behind them, and Mr Braxton taking third in one of the divisions as well. For adult blackbelt weapons, Mr Mason took home first place, Mr Justin won second and Mr Eddie took third; among the jr blackbelts, Mr Kristofer and Ms Dyllan took first in separate divisions, ahead of Mr Kenyon who took second and Ms Reese and Mr Braxton, who both took third in separate divisions.
In underbelt forms, five juniors competed. In an advanced division, Mr Austin came away with second with Mr Mason right behind him in third. Mr Zach took home second place in an intermediate divion, while Mr Carter took third in an older intermediate division. In a beginner adult division, Mr Aidan claimed the number one spot.
All juniors breaking and underbelt breaking was up next. Mr Braxton claimed the number one spot, with Mr Kristofer behind him in second and Mr Kenyon in third. Ms Dyllan claimed the girls’ division with first, and Ms Reese earned a spot behind her in third place. In the advanced boys divisionMr Austin claimed first with Mr Mason taking second behind him. In the intermediate division, Mr Zach took third and in an older division, Mr Carter earned a fourth place honorable mention. In the men’s beginner division, Mr Aidan handily claimed first place.
In a fun non-standard event unique to the Eastern Montana Invitational, competitors participated in team tug-o-war. Master Devon Waldron competed with some of the other Greenquist masters and blackbelts against a team comprised mostly of his own students; Master Devon’s team won best of three rounds. The Alliance jrs competed in two teams, mostly jr blackbelts vs mostly underbelts; in an upset, the underbelts beat out the jr blackbelts for best of three rounds.
In the advanced underbelt sparring divisions, Mr Austin Heidt battled through bigger opponents with fire and wit to claim first place. In a younger division, Mr Mason Hager fought his way to second. In the intermediate divisions, Mr Carter fought his way through his toughest matches yet to take second. In the men’s division, Mr Aidan beat two gentlemen – both older, higher rank and bigger than him – to claim first place.
In the jr blackbelt divisions, many of the other competitors and audience members gathered to watch the Alliance fighers. Mr Kristofer made it look easy on his way to first, while Mr Braxton showed some technical improvement and took second; Mr Kenyon battled hard and earned third. In the girls division, Ms Dyllan and Ms Reese ended up fighting for first and second; Ms Dyllan’s precision scoring gave her the edge to win.
Adult blackbelt breaking was the second to last event of the day, and consisted of two rings of black belts setting up breaking sequences of up to ten boards each. In the men’s division, Mr Eddie Lin ripped through his breaking with no errors to take home first place, with Mr Mason Rud behind him in third.
Alliance had two adult blackbelts fighting in a single division; in the final match for the division, Mr Eddie Lin and Mr Justin Lafavor ended up facing off – again – for first place. After two arduous rounds, Lin edged ahead and claimed the medal with Mr Justin taking second.
After the dust settled, Alliance competitors also won three of the four grand-champion awards for the event. Mr Kristofer Huck had claimed the boy’s grand-champion award, Ms Dyllan Heidt had claimed the women’s grand-champion award and Mr Eddie Lin and Mr Aidan Motesfoote had tied in points for the men’s grand-champion award; due to the difference in rank and experience, the tournament promoter Master Karen Ballentine determined that they each should earn a copy of the grand-champion award. Of additional note, Alliance Taekwondo was recognized for the “spirit” award, in appreciation of the competitors and their support for the event.
Alliance would like to thank the Eastern Montana Total Martial Arts Academy for hosting the tournament. 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.
