On Saturday, March 22, Master Kim’s Black Belt Academy, located in Bechtelsville, held their 19th Annual In-House Tournament. Students of all ages and belt levels from The Academy were eligible to compete in four events. The events were hammer fist board breaking, side kick board breaking, forms, and sparring. Each event was broken into divisions, as fairly as possible, according to age and belt level. Awards for first through fourth place were given to each competitor for their outstanding efforts.
Doors were open at 9:00 am for competitors to register and warm up for the day’s activities. The Academy was packed with family members, relatives, and friends who were there to support the participants. By 10:00, the spectators were seated and the competitors were ready to start the tournament.
The winners in the hammer fist board breaking division were as follows:
Division 1: 1st place, Sarah Freese; 2nd place, Mackenzie Moyer. Division 2:1st place, Nathan Erb; 2nd place, Nathan Freese; 3rd place, Matthew La Pish. Division 3: 1st place, Aydin Drescher; 2nd place, Kyle Kelsch. Division 4: 1st place, Christopher Haydt; 2nd place, Simone Sibley; 3rd place, Sam Ritter; 4th. Division 5: 1st place, Matthew Hook; 2nd place, Jonathan Jarvis; 3rd place, Matthew Mokris; 4th place, Gavin Freese. Division 6: 1st place, Nicholas Brown; 2nd place, Jillian Meitzler. Division 7: 1st place, Nicholas Gehringer; 2nd place Matthew Pavelko-Fox.
The winners in the side kick board breaking division were as follows:
Division 1: 1st place, Matthew La Pish; 2nd place, Sarah Freese; 3rd place, Nathan Freese. Division 2: 1st place, Joanna Mc Clelland; 2nd place, Kyle Kelsch. Division 3: 1st place, Aydin Derscher; 2nd place, Sam Ritter; 3rd place, Christopher Haydt. Division 4: 1st place, Jillian Meitzler; 2nd place Lori Freese. Division 5: 1st place, Gavin Freese; 2nd place, Jonathan Jarvis; 3rd place Matthew Mokris; 4th place Matthew Hook. Division 6: 1st place, Korina Zambrano; 2nd place, Nicholas Brown; 3rd place. Division 7: 1st place, Matthew Pavelko-Fox; 2nd place, Nicholas Gehringer.
The winners in the forms divisions were as follows: Division 1: 1st place, Matthew La Pish; 2nd place, Nathan Erb, 3rd place, Nate Freese. Division 2: 1st place, Sarah Freese, 2nd place, Mackenzie Moyer. Division 3:1st place, Kyle Kelcsh, 2nd place, Joanna Mc Clelland. Division 4: 1st place, Christopher Haydt; 2nd place, Aydin Drescser. Division 5: 1st place, Gavin Freese; 2nd place, Matthew Hook; 3rd place, Matthew Mokris; 4th place, Jonathan Jarvis. Division 6: 1st place, Jillian Meitzler; 2nd place Lori Freese; 3rd place, Simone Sibley. Division 7: 1st place, Korina Zambrano; 2nd place, Nicholas Brown. Division 8: 1st place, Matthwe Pavelko-Fox; 2nd place, Clayton Stauffer, 3rd place, Nicholas Gehringer; 4th place, Jake Mc Cann.
The winners in the free sparring divisions were as follows: Division 1: 1st place, Sarah Freese; 2nd place, Matthew La Pish. Division 2: 1st place, Nathan Erb ; 2nd place, Nathan Freese. Division 3: 1st place, Sam Ritter ; 2nd place, Aydin Drescher; 3rd place, Simone Sibley. Division 4: 1st place, Kyle Kelsch ; 2nd place, Joanna Mc Clelland. Division 5: 1st place, Matthew Hook ; 2nd place, Matthew Mokris; 3rd place Jonathon Jarvis; 4th place Gavin Freese . Division 6: 1st place, Lori Freese ; 2nd place, Jillian Meitzler . Division 7: 1st place, Korina Zambrano; 2nd place, Nicholas Brown; 3rd place, Jillian Meitzler. Division 8: 1st place Clayton Stauffer, 2nd place, Nicholas Gehringer, 3rd place, Matthew Pavelko-Fox, 4th place, Jake Mc Cann.
According to Master Kurt G. Miller, owner of the Academy, ‘I thought our little competition was a huge success for those who participated. When you train for competition, you develop a winning attitude. Win or lose, my students trained hard to get ready to compete, and in the process, they improved their skills and developed a positive mental attitude. I was very happy with the good sportsmanship demonstrated by all of my students. Sure, there were a few tears, but when all was said and done, there was no animosity between the competitors. Every one of the competitors brought their A game, and was prepared to put it all out there.’
On Saturday, April 26, students from Master Kim’s will be traveling to Salisbury High School, Pa. to compete in the 35th Annual 2014 Keystone State Invitational Tae Kwon Do Championship Tournament. This event will be hosted by Grand Master Jon Chung Kim of Allentown PA.
