Alliance Taekwondo fielded a team of fifteen competitors for the 2025 Greenquist Championship Invitational. Adult blackbelt competitors Master Tammy Fairbanks, Mr Justin Lafavor and Mr Tanner Lafavor were joined by a juniors team led by jr blackbelts Mr Braxton Standaert and Mr Carter Delabarre; the underbelt roster consisted of Mr Zachary Ziegler, Mr Luke Hartl, Mr Ellis Price, Mr Maxon Frederick, Ms Annabelle Griffin, Ms Emmalie Hartl, Mr Thatcher Kerzman, Mr Judah Kerzman, Mr Camden Standaert, and Ms Elliot Ziegler.
Alliance took home a total of thirty-nine awards, including twelve first place finishes, ten second place finishes, six 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 and secured second place in the Master’s division. Under the master level, Mr Justin Lafavor took first with a snappy and powerful performance of Koryo. In the junior blackbelt divisions, Mr Carter Delabarre placed second for the second time with his second performance of Koryo. In weapons pattern competition, Mr Tanner Lafavor earned a first place finish with a well-rehearsed Hapkido staff pattern.
In the underbelt forms divisions, Mr Zach Ziegler won first place in the advanced division for his age group. At the intermediate levels, Mr Ellis Price and Mr Luke Hartl took home second and third place finishes, while Mr Maxon Frederick earned a third place finish in a separate division. At the beginner levels, Ms Emmalie Hartl secured a first place finish; the Kerzman brothers Thatcher and Judah, in their second tournament appearance, both won first place in different age groups; Ms Elliot Ziegler took home second place, and Mr Camden Standaert received a fourth place honorable mention.
All juniors breaking and underbelt breaking was up next. In a stiff jr blackbelt boys division, Alliance juniors captain Mr Braxton Standaert took second in a confusing scoring situation where he objectively should have earned higher marks based on the criteria. In the advanced breaking division, Mr Zach Ziegler was awarded a fourth place honorable mention. At the intermediate level Mr Luke took third; in a separate division Mr Maxon earned second and Ms Annabelle came away with fourth. At the beginner levels, Ms Emmalie took first in a young division, with Mr Camden earning a fourth place finish; in two separate older divisions, Mr Thatcher and Mr Judah won first and second place respectively.
Mr Tanner Lafavor competed this year for the first time in the Jay Halvorson Memorial breaking event, which awards a single trophy to the competitor breaking the most stacked boards with a single knifehand strike, which Alliance blackbelts have claimed seven times in the last fifteen years. In the first round of breaking, Mr Tanner Lafavor slammed through six boards without issue. After the six board round, he and two other challengers went head to head in a seven board competition. After Mr Tanner and one other competitor broke all seven boards, the moved to eight. In a surprising conclusion, both competitors broke six of eight boards at the eight board round for the first ever tied finish in the history of the Jay Halvorson Memorial breaking event. Tournament host Grand Master Eric Greenquist awarded a shared first place spot to Mr Tanner Lafavor of Alliance and Master Rob Bergerson of Sydney, MT.
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 their respective divisions and rings, Ms Annabelle Griffin won the award for belt tying, Mr Braxton Standaert won the award for jump rope, and in group including all ranks of adult blackbelt competitors Mr Justin Lafavor won both the men’s jumprope and men’s belt tying awards.
In the advanced underbelt sparring divisions, Mr Zach Ziegler continued his streak as an up-and-coming advanced fighter, taking home another first place win for his collection. In the intermediate divisions, Mr Luke Hartl battled his way to a second place finish and Mr Maxon claimed third place in a separate division. Out of the beginner divisions, Alliance saw four competitors medal; Mr Judah claimed first place in his division, Ms Emmalie took second in a younger division, Ms Elliot took second in her division and Mr Camden took third in his division.
In the jr blackbelt divisions, our Alliance fighters showed their mettle. In the boys division, Mr Braxton Standaert won his first match with style and a clear margin of victory. Mr Carter won his first match, and the two Alliance fighters faced off for chance to fight for first; Mr Carter was unable to continue due to a bloody nose (from humidity, not contact) and Mr Braxton – who was ahead on points – went on to the first place match. Despite being up by four points toward the end of the match, the fight was stopped in a questionable call for contact and the win given to his opponent, relegating him to a second place finish despite his winning performance. Mr Carter finished in third.
Alliance fielded two adult blackbelt fighters; the Lafavor brothers both fought this year, with both young men fighting in the 18+ division for the first time. As the defending champion, Mr Justin Lafavor was seeded to defend his place as the champion against the overall winner of the men’s division. Mr Tanner Lafavor put the screws to his opponents, defeating three opponents – all higher rank including one fourth-degree master – to take first place and challenge his brother for the belt. In a nail-biting match, the brothers exchanged blows across two rounds, neither conceding points to the other and pushing the match into a third round. Late in the final round, elder brother Justin capitalized on a small error and caught his younger sibling with a roundhouse to the head that Mr Tanner couldn’t quite slip; Mr Tanner wasn’t able to equalize before time, and Mr Justin came away from the match as the belt-winner and champion for the second year in a row!
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.
