Greenquist Invitational 2024

Alliance Taekwondo fielded a team of twenty-four competitors for the 2024 Greenquist Championship Invitational. Adult blackbelt competitors Master Tammy Fairbanks, Mr Mason Rud, Mr Justin Lafavor and Mr Tanner Lafavor were joined by a juniors team led by Mr Kristofer Huck; jr blackbelts included Ms Dyllan Heidt, Ms Reese Spadgenske and Mr Braxton Standaert, and the underbelt roster consisted of Mr Austin Heidt, Mr Mason Hager, Mr Carter Delabarre, Mr Zachary Ziegler, Mr Eli Molzahn, Mr Elijah VanVoorhis, Mr Nathan VanVoorhis, Mr Luke Hartl, Mr Ellis Price, Mr Steven Price, Ms Bethany Just, Ms Emmalie Hartl, Mr Maxon Frederick, Mr Grady Griffin, Ms Elliot Ziegler and Mr Camden Standaert.

Alliance took home a total of fifty-four awards, including eighteen first place finishes, eleven second place finishes, fourteen third place finishes, five fourth place honorable mention finishes, five additional non-standard contest wins and the men’s championship belt.

In the blackbelt forms divisions Master Tammy showed finesse and polish with Pyongwan at the master level. Under the master level, Mr Tanner Lafavor took first with a snappy and powerful performance of Koryo. In the junior blackbelt divisions, Ms Reese Spadgenske took second, with teammate Mr Braxton Standaert taking third. In weapons pattern competition, blackbelt brothers Justin and Tanner Lafavor each took third in two separate age divisions. Ms Reese Spadgenske took second with a well-rehearsed Hapkido bo-staff pattern.

Mr Maxon and Ms Emmalie with some well-earned breaking medals.

In underbelt forms, fifteen juniors and one adult competed.  In separate advanced divisions, Mr Austin Heidt came away with a second place finish, Mr Carter Delabarre took home third and Mr Mason Hager earned fourth. In a separate division, Mr Zach Ziegler won second place. At the intermediate levels, brothers Mr Elijah and Mr Nathan VanVoorhis placed in separate age groups, with older brother Elijah taking third and younger brother Nathan taking first. In younger intermediate divisions, Mr Luke Hartl and Mr Ellis Price both took first; father Steven Price, also competing at intermediate in the adult divisions, took fourth. Ms Bethany Just took second in her first tournament appearance. At the beginner levels, Ms Emmalie Hartl earned a fourth place finish in forms in the youngest division. In a separate division, Ms Elliot Ziegler, Mr Maxon Frederick and Mr Camden Standaert took first, second and third respectively. In a slightly older division, Mr Grady Griffin also took first place.

All juniors breaking and underbelt breaking was up next.  In a stiff jr blackbelt boys division, Alliance juniors captain Mr Kristofer Huck took first with Mr Braxton Standaert taking second; in the girls division Ms Reese claimed the top spot. In a large advanced division, Mr Austin took first; in a separate division, Mr Mason took fourth. Mr Zach Ziegler took first in a younger division. At the intermediate level in separate divisions Mr Nathan took first and Mr Luke took third; Mr Steven took second in the adult division. At the beginner levels, Ms Emmalie took third in the youngest division; Ms Elliot and Mr Maxon took third and fourth respectively in another division.

In a few fun, non-standard events unique to the Greenquist Invitational, competitors participate in jump-rope and belt tying competitions. Each division was large and only one award was presented to the top competitor in each ring. In their respective divisions and rings, Mr Kristofer Huck and Mr Nathan VanVoorhis took the award for jump-rope and Mr Reese Spadgenske, Mr Austin Heidt and Ms Emmalie Hartl took the awards for belt-tying.

Mr Nathan VanVoorhis with his triple gold, plus the jump-rope trophy for his ring.

In the advanced underbelt sparring divisions, training partners Mr Mason Hager and Mr Carter Delabarre plowed through the competition and ended up battling for first and second, with Mr Carter coming away with the win. In a separate division, Mr Zach Ziegler showed his improving skills and claimed the first place spot. In the intermediate divisions, Mr Eli Molzahn battled his way to a third place finish, winning two of three matches. Mr Nathan VanVoorhis showed his fast action and targeting skills to take first. Ms Bethany Just, in her first sparring competition, also secured a first place finish. Out of the beginner divisions, Alliance saw three competitors medal; Ms Emmalie took third in the youngest division, and in two separate divisions Mr Camden and Mr Maxon won second and third respectively.

In the jr blackbelt divisions, Alliance fighters had some challenging matches. Divisions were split into boys and girls. In the boys division, Mr Kristofer Huck was up first in a rematch with veteran Detroit Lakes competitor Brennen Hill – unlike their last clash, Mr Brennen outscored Mr Kristofer and relegated him to the fight for third, which he won. Mr Braxton Standaert won his first match to challenge Mr Brennen for first, but Mr Brennen’s hard work kept him in the second place spot.

Mr Justin Lafavor after claiming the Greenquist fighting belt.

Alliance fielded two adult blackbelt fighters; the Lafavor brothers both fought this year, with Mr Justin in the 18+ division and Mr Tanner in the under 18 division. Mr Tanner was taking names, letting none of his challengers get away with outscoring him; he won a clean and clear first place finish. Mr Justin lanced through all of his opponents this year, edging out even seasoned masters in the circuit, to claim first place. Mr Justin then beat the first place fighter from the other adult men’s blackbelt division and earned himself a shot at the belt and a rematch with Mr Cameron Kerns, to whom he lost last year. This year Mr Justin wrote a different story, however; in a very close match with the veteran national competitor, Mr Justin scored the final point to claim the traveling championship belt in the final moments of this year’s Greenquist event!

Alliance would like to thank the Greenquist Academy for all the work they put in to host 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.