Canton Student Wins Medals in Taekwondo Tournament

By Ruth Lopez Mendes

Twenty-two students from Avon, Barkhamsted, Burlington, Canton, Farmington, Harwinton, New Britain, Simsbury, Unionville, West Hartford and Woodbury proved to be fierce competitors at the 2015 U.S. Master Open and Massachusetts State Fall Championships, held Nov. 7-8 in Auburn, Mass.

The students won a total of 55 medals in sparring, poomsae forms and board breaking for their respective gender, age, and belt level.

The students train rigorously at Olympic Taekwondo Academy in Unionville - Simsbury. They competed as part of Team Light of the World, coached by Masters Kiye Cho and Sunmi Jung.

Results:

Avon:

• Gavin Engels, 8: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Gold, Sparring - Bronze
• Alex Kim, 15: Forms - Silver, Breaking - 2nd, Sparring - Gold
• Taylor Kim, 11: Forms: Bronze, Breaking: Gold, Sparring: Gold
• Ezra Mendes, 7: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Silver, Sparring - Silver
• Isabel Mendes, 9: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Bronze, Sparring - Bronze
• Naomi Morato, 7: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Gold

Barkhamsted:

• Isa Cardenas, 12: Forms - Silver, Breaking - Silver

Burlington:

• Matthew Bosnyak, 9: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Gold, Sparring - Bronze

Canton:

• Ryan Bae, 8: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Silver, Sparring - Bronze

Farmington:

• Andrew Duan, 7: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Gold, Sparring - Gold
• Audrey Duan, 9: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Gold
• Abi Leonard, 10: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Gold
• Savannah Smith, 9: Forms - Silver, Breaking - Gold, Sparring - Gold
• Mason Smith, 7: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Gold, Sparring - Silver

Harwinton:

• Tyler Burke, 7: Breaking - Silver, Sparring - Bronze

New Britain:

• Ceana Rodriguez, 16: Jr. Female 15 -16 World Class Sparring - Gold, Senior Women’s 18+ World Class Sparring - Gold, won the overall prize of a paid flight to the U. S. Open in Reno, Nevada

Simsbury:

• Carter Swanson, 7: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Gold
• Taylor Swanson, 9: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Gold

Unionville:

• Ava Olivo, 9: Forms - Gold, Breaking - Bronze

West Hartford:

• Caleb Rainey, 7: Breaking - Bronze, Sparring - Silver
• Taylynn Rainey, 13: Breaking - Gold, Sparring - Gold

Woodbury:

• Brycen Gagne, 7: Forms - Silver, Breaking - Gold, Sparring - Gold

Photos courtesy of Ruth Lopez Mendes