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The Aegis Sports

U.S. Taekwondo Academy athletes bring home 17 medals from national competition

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The U.S. Taekwondo Academy competition team won a total of 17 medals at the 2019 USA Taekwondo National Championships.

The U.S. Taekwondo Academy competition team won a total of 17 medals at the 2019 USA Taekwondo National Championships. (Courtesy of U.S. Taekwondo Academy)

Students of the U.S. Taekwondo Academy won a total of 17 medals at the 2019 USA Taekwondo National Championships earlier this month at the largest Taekwondo event in the world. This year’s USA Taekwondo National Championships were held in Minneapolis, Minnesota from June 28-July 4.

Placing at Nationals is thought of by many as the highest achievement, next to the World Games and Olympics. The rules of Nationals closely follow those at the Olympics.

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Taekwondo became a full medal sport at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Though the Olympic Committee currently only recognizes sparring as an official event, athletes may choose to compete in forms, board breaking and/or sparring at Nationals. To qualify for Nationals, an athlete must attend a qualifying tournament held just once a year per state. This year’s qualifiers were held at the Harford Community College (APG Arena). Qualifiers are filters so only the highest caliber athletes may move onto the National level. U.S. Taekwondo Academy coached 16 athletes at Nationals this year, collecting a total of 17 medals.

Here are the results for the competition team:

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Alana Coby, Bronze (Breaking); Alexis Pirczhalski, Bronze (Breaking), Bronze (Sparring); Alyssa Courtney, Silver (Breaking), Bronze (Sparring); Arissa Coby, Gold (Sparring), Silver (Breaking); Christopher Chang, Bronze (Breaking), Bronze (Sparring); Deliah Marini, Bronze (Sparring), Bronze (Breaking); Eric Cumbie, Bronze (Sparring); Jason Redd, Bronze (Breaking); Joseph Pirczhalski, IV, Bronze (Breaking); Megan Myers, Gold (Breaking), Silver (Forms); and Wyatt Sutton, Bronze (Breaking).

The team also got outstanding performances by Brandon Santiago, David Kalthof, McKenna Wolak, Peighton Bowman and Robert Faby.

U.S. Taekwondo Academy trains an elite competition team called Team Chang. Team Chang’s athletes range in age from five to over 40.U.S. Taekwondo Academy (www.USTAchang.com) is a family-owned and operated Taekwondo chain with two locations in Bel Air.

Voted Harford’s Best Martial Arts Classes for 6 consecutive years, USTA offers high-caliber Taekwondo instruction to students of all ages: children, teens, adults and families.

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