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Kee's sends 12 to Winnipeg tournament

Twelve competitors from the KEES Yorkton Taekwondo club participated Saturday May 26 at the 3rd Annual Iron Fist Taekwondo Club Challenge in Winnipeg. The event was hosted by Iron Fist Taekwondo.


Twelve competitors from the KEES Yorkton Taekwondo club participated Saturday May 26 at the 3rd Annual Iron Fist Taekwondo Club Challenge in Winnipeg.

The event was hosted by Iron Fist Taekwondo. They have been established in Winnipeg for more than 25 years.

The event was a welcome participation and experience opportunity for our junior elite and developing future elite players. The event was capped at 262 players from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and northern USA.

There was over 27 clubs in attendance this year. The events consisted of sparring (Kyorugi), patterns (Poomsae) and Breaking (Kyupka). Athletes could enter one, two or three events.

Coaches for this event were Master Wayne Mitchell and Autumn Ashcroft. Kathryn Lohnes also coached some Pee Wee players.

There were many notable result.Eric Fookes, Tyler Buenneke and Kallie Beunneke came away as triple medalists.

Shane Varjassy was the gold medalist in the Junior A Black belt light weight sparring division winning all three matches.

His first two games were very lop sided victories for him while he final match was a tougher game against fellow club mate, Eric Fookes. Tyler Buenneke and Zane Chopik had a talented division in which they stood out.

They met each other in their third game providing a very entertaining technical match that saw Tyler come away with the gold medal.

The remaining results are as follows (name, division, sparring, patterns, breaking):

Shane Varjassy, Junior Boys A black belt Light, gold (nothing in patterns or breaking);

Eric Fookes, Junior Boys A black belt Light, Silver, Bronze, Bronze; Kathryn Lohnes, Junior Girls A black belt Middle, Silver; Zane Chopik, Pee Wee Boys advanced Light, Silver, Bronze;Tyler Buenneke, Pee Wee Boys advanced Light, Gold, Silver, Gold;

Justin Fookes, Pee Wee Boys intermediate Light, Bronze;Kallie Buenneke, Mitey Mite Girls Intermediate Light, Silver, Gold, Bronze; Ashley Buenneke, Pee Wee Girls Advanced, Silver, Silver; Janaya Head, Pee Wee Girls beginners Light, Gold; Josiah Head, Pee Wee Boys beginners Heavy, Silver, Gold; Nathan Head, Pee Wee Boys beginners Middle, Gold, Silver.