Thirteen athletes from the KEES Yorkton Taekwondo club participated Saturday, June 12 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 our junior elite and developing future elite players. There were about 175 competitors from Manitoba,
Saskatchewan, Ontario and northern USA. 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, Autumn Ashcroft and Rae Ashcroft. Susanne Mitchell centre refereed for the black belt competition.
Most notable result were Devon Frounfelter, a triple medalist in the Junior C 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 7-1 and 4-0 wins. Shane took gold in sparring and patterns.Most improved performance 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. He demonstrated a big improvement over his last event. He won the first match by a score of 5-2 and his second match with a 2-0 outcome for a gold medal in Pee Wee intermediate sparring.
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 5-4 loss for Kathryn. Kathryn utilized many skills that she has been working on improving and implementing. This was a huge step towards future improved performance and confidence.
Other black belt sparring performances were very encouraging. Francis Bazin returned after a rehab for an injured ankle and defeated Junior National medalist Jerid Roulette. in an exciting 8 to 8 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 14-1 victory. Samuel Lohnes competed in the Junior A light weight division. He drew an experienced 16 year old for his first match. Samuel kept his focus throughout the game and landed some of the higher level techniques he has been practicing. The match was a hard fought battle that went back and forth ending in a 17-14 loss for Samuel. This was a great confidence builder for Samuel.
Complete results are listed by name, division, medals in sparring, patterns and breaking (if applicable):
Shane Varjassy, Junior boys B black belt light, gold, gold; Kathryn Lohnes, Junior Girls B black belt middle, silver, silver; Francis Bazin, Junior Boys A black belt heavy, gold; Clark Bazin, Junior boys B black belt heavy, gold; Samuel Lohnes, Junior Boys A black belt light, bronze, bronze; Austin Stinson, Junior Boys B black belt light, silver; Devon Frounfelter, Junior C boys advanced heavy, gold, gold, silver; Liam Cherry, Pee Wee boys intermediate heavy, gold, silver; Shaylene Froese, Pee Wee girls intermediate light, silver; Daniel Bazin, Pee Wee boys intermediate heavy, gold, silver; Zane Chopik, Pee Wee Boys intermediate light, silver; Tyler Buenneke, Pee Wee boys intermediate light, gold, silver; Seth Cherry, Mitey Mite Boys intermediate heavy, gold.
