Thirteen athletes from the KEES Yorkton Taekwondo club participated recently at the first 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 junior elite and developing future elite players.
There were about 175 players from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario and northern USA. The events consisted of sparring (Kyorugi), patterms (Poomsae) and Breaking (Kyupka). Atheltes could enter one, two or three events.
The most notable results were Devon Frounfelter, a triple medalist in the JuniorC advanced belt division and Shane Varjassy a double gold medalist in the Junior B Black belt division. Devon captured a gold for sparring, gold for patterns and a silver for breaking. He dominated his sparring division with a seven to one and four to zero wins. Shane took gold in sparring and patterns.
The most improved performace for male competitor came from Seth Cherry. He had opponents that were over a head taller than him.
He fought with good heart and used his stepping skills to be continually out of range of his opponents yet kept agile enough to move back in range and score, says coach Wayne Mitchell.
Cherry demonstrated a big improvement over his last event. He won the first match by a score of five to two and his second match with a two to zero outcome for a gold medal in Pee Wee intermediate sparring.
The most improved female performance came from Kathryn Lohnes in the junior B female middle weight black belts. Her opponent in the gold medal match gained the first point and the score kept climbing on both sides in a hard fought battle that ended with a five to four loss for Lohnes. She utilized many skills that she has been working on improving and implementing. This was a huge step towards future improved performance and confidence, Mitchell notes.
Other black belt sparring performances were very encouraging. Fra-ncis Bazin returned after a rehab for an injured ankle and defeated Junior National medalist Jerid Roulette in an exciting eight to eight overtime game in the gold medal match. His first match saw his opponent not come out for round two.
Shane Varjassy and Austin Stinson competed against each other in the eventual gold medal match in the Junior B light weight division. Clark Bazin played with his opponent and cruised to a 14 to one victory.
Samuel Lohnes competed in the Junior A light weight division. He drew an experienced 16 year old for his first match.
Lohnes kept his focus throughout the game and landed some of the higher level techniques he has been practicing, Mitchell says.
The match was a hard fought battle that went back and forth ending in a 17 to 14 loss for Lohnes.
