Alliance Taekwondo fielded a blackbelt-heavy team of seventeen competitors for the 2026 Greenquist Championship Invitational. Adult blackbelt competitors Master Devon Waldron, Master Tammy Fairbanks, Mr Justin LaFavor, Mr Tanner LaFavor and Mr Kristofer Huck were joined by a juniors team led by jr blackbelts Ms Reese Spadgenske and Mr Carter DelaBarre; the underbelt roster consisted of Ms Bethany Just, Mr Zachary Ziegler, Mr Nathan VanVoorhis, Ms Alison Just, Mr Luke Hartl, Mr Ellis Price, Mr Maxon Frederick, Mr Gavin Brunelle-Durand, Mr Harris Papalichev and Ms Emmalie Hartl.
Alliance took home a total of thirty-seven awards, including fourteen first place finishes, ten second place finishes, eight 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 Alliance fielded seven competitors. In the highest ranking division Master Devon Waldron competed with Jitae for the first time; in a tight run-off with Master Morgan Solberg, Master Devon claimed the first place spot in a split decision. Under the master level, Mr Tanner LaFavor took first place with a powerful Keumgang; Mr Justin Lafavor also performed Keumgang and landed in third place. Mr Kristofer Huck managed to earn a fourth place finish despite a couple errors due to his energy and execution of Koryo. In the junior blackbelt divisions, Ms Reese Spadgenske took first place with Keumgang, and Mr Carter DelaBarre placed second with Koryo. In weapons pattern competition, Mr Tanner earned a first place finish with a well-rehearsed Hapkido staff pattern, with Mr Kris coming in fourth in the same division. In the junior division, Ms Reese clinched first with Mr Carter in fourth.
In the underbelt forms divisions, Alliance took the top three spots in a large, competitive advanced teens division; Ms Bethany Just took first, Mr Zachary Ziegler came in second and Mr Gavin Brunelle-Durand came in third. In a younger advanced division, Mr Nathan VanVoorhis locked down the first place position while Mr Luke Hartl took second. In a younger division, Mr Maxon Frederick came in third. At the intermediate levels, Mr Harris Papalichev and Ms Emmalie Hartl both earned fourth place honorable mention finishes.
All juniors breaking and underbelt breaking was up next. In a stiff jr blackbelt division, Ms Reese earned a second place finish. In the advanced breaking division, Mr Zach Ziegler earned the first place spot in his teen division. In two separate divisions, Mr Nathan and Mr Luke both earned second place finishes. In a younger division, Mr Max came away with third place. At the intermediate level, Ms Emmalie took second in a young division, with Mr Gavin earning third place in the teen division.
Mr Tanner Lafavor competed again in the the Jay Halvorson Memorial breaking event, which awards a single trophy to the competitor breaking the most stacked boards with a single knifehand strike. Alliance blackbelts have claimed this award eight times. In a more decisive showing that last year, Mr Tanner again slammed through his boards to narrowly edge our Master Johnathan Pisk in the second round of breaking to win the award for the second year in a row.
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. Mr Tanner won the award for the 18+ jump rope contest, Mr Kris earned the under 18 pushup competition award, Mr Carter won the award for the under 18 jump rope competition, and Mr Nathan took the top spot for the award in the preteen jump rope competition.
In the advanced underbelt sparring divisions, Mr Zach Ziegler fought a series of three opponents taller than him; the match for first and second went into overtime and resulted in his only sparring loss to date, relegating him to second place. In a younger division, Mr Nathan VanVoorhis gunned through several opponents to take the first place position. In one of his best sparring performances to date, Mr Luke Hartl dealt with some tough competition and came out with third place after a win in his final match. In a younger division, Mr Max showcases his continued improvement in technique and awareness to eliminate his competition and take home his first advanced sparring gold medal. In the intermediate divisions, Mr Harris picked up his pace and outscored his competition to claim a first place win. In a younger division, Ms Emmalie likewise had an aggressive performance that earned her the first place spot. In a rough teen division, Mr Gavin came away with third place.
The jr blackbelt divisions, were substantially different than last year, with only Mr Carter competing. Showing how much improvement he has made in the last year, our Alliance fighter controlled the ring and took his points for a clean gold medal finish.
Mr Kristofer Huck was prepared to fight in the under 18 blackbelt division, but there were no other fighters willing to challenge him.
Alliance fielded two adult blackbelt fighters; the LaFavor brothers both fought again this year. Defending his title for the second time, Mr Justin LaFavor was seeded to face the overall winner of the men’s division. Mr Tanner Lafavor had a slow start, getting warmed up during his first match and conceding some points, but he found his rhythm by the second round and squeezed out a win. His next match was a clear demonstration of his skill level, as he faced an experienced Master and scored multiple times without conceding a single point. After frustrating his final opponent for the second year in a row, he moved on to the challenge round to again face his brother for the belt. In another close match, the brothers exchanged blows across two rounds. Late in the second round, the younger LaFavor brother crept past the defender in points, and finished out the round to take the title from his brother and claim another Greenquist fighting title for Alliance!
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.
