Alliance Taekwondo participated in the 2014 Rougherider Invitational Championship on October 18th with a crew of fourteen solid competitors. The Alliance team, twleve competitors strong, included blackbelts Tammy Fairbanks, Dale Schneibel, Kyle Sanford, Lynsey Eberle, Caleb Olson and Logan Olson, junior blackbelts Shauna Fairbanks, Tanner Olson, Justin Story and Braden Fritel, and underbelts Emily Frieze and Eddie Lin. The team took home twenty-three awards and a grand championship; Alliance came away from the tournament with seven first place finishes, eight second place finishes and seven third place finishes, as well as the youth grand championship trophy.
The 2014 Roughrider Invitational competition crew with trophies.
Ms Tammy Fairbanks, Mr Dale Schneibel and Mr Kyle Sanford competed in adult blackbelt forms for Alliance, with new adult blackbelts Lynsey Eberle and Caleb and Logan Olson competing in separate forms divisions. Tammy Fairbanks and Logan Olson both took third in their respective divisions, and Lynsey Eberle secured a solid first place win with an excellent and precise Koryo. The jr blackbelt divisions were divided into younger and older competitors. In the older division, Justin Story, even though feeling rusty, took first place; in the younger division, Braden Fritel took second.
In underbelt forms, two juniors competed; Ms Emily Frieze and Mr Eddie Lin. Lin, in his first tournament appearance, claimed the first place trophy for his presentation of Pal Gae Yuk Chung.
Two adult blackbelts and two junior blackbelts also competed in weapons. Of the four, Ms Lynsey Eberle placed second in her adult weapons division, Mr Justin Story took third in his jr blackbelt division and Mr Braden Fritel took first in his first tournament appearance at the jr blackbelt level.
In breaking, underbelts Emily Frieze and Eddie Lin competed. Lin came out of his division with a second place trophy.
In the jr blackbelt divisions, Justin Story, Tanner Olson and Braden Fritel took home trophies; Story and Fritel claimed second place in their respective divisions and Olson taking third in a separate division. In the adult blackbelt divisions Alliance fielded five competitors, with Ms Lynsey Eberle and Mr Caleb Olson coming away with second place finishes. In the men’s division, Mr Dale Schneibel finished ahead of Olson to claim the first place trophy.
In the sparring divisions, underbelt Eddie Lin had a solid run. Lin, in his tournament debut, fought through three opponents; with two wins and one loss, Mr Eddie Lin claimed third place.
The junior blackbelt divisions were once again split into older and younger juniors. In a younger girls-only division, Ms Shauna Fairbanks stepped up her game and, with good coaching and her best sparring performance to date, defeated bigger more aggressive fighters to claim first place in a round robin bracket. The younger boys division saw some of the best young fighters on the circuit compete in a round robin bracket, with Alliance competitor Braden Fritel decisively claiming first place in his first tournament appearance as a junior blackbelt. In the older division, Justin Story fought through a single elimination bracket of tough, low-scoring matches to claim another first place.
New blackbelts Lynsey Eberle and brothers Caleb and Logan Olson fought for the first time in adult blackbelt divisions, all fighting against more experienced opponents. Even so, Eberle took second in her division and Logan Olson took third in his division. Mr Kyle Sanford competed in a separate blackbelt sparring division; Sanford picked up the pace after a slow start, and eventually secured third place.
Finally, after all was said and done, Mr Braden Fritel claimed the youth grand championship trophy as a result of placing higher in more events than any other competitor in the youth age group (under 15); congratulations to Mr Braden on a very successful tournament and 2014 Roughrider grand champion status.
Alliance would like to thank the Roughrider Academy and Grandmaster Ted Fitzsimmons for hosting the tournament and providing these opportunities. 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.
