YORKTON - The 2022 Provincial Taekwondo Championships were held March 5 in Regina at the Turvey Centre.
With the long COVID layoff it had been almost three years since the last provincial championships.
The event was a combined provincials and Grandmaster Kim’s annual challenge event.
There were a lot of unknowns going into the start of competitions. It is very encouraging that there were 150 competitors from around the province that included clubs from Kipling, Regina, Moose Jaw, Shaunavon, Swift Current, North Battleford, Canora, and Yorkton.
There were also schools from Winnipeg and Medicine Hat.
The sparring format was a double elimination giving each competitor a chance for a second match.
Kees Yorkton and Canora took 15 athletes, four referees and three coaches to the event.
The referees were Ariel Alfelor, Joey Garcia and Jack Geraldoy with Master Susanne Mitchell overseeing the event as Provincial Referee Chair.
The Coaches were Master Matthew Bodnaryk and Autumn Bodnaryk.
The sparring team is quite young and on a new cycle of development. The two-year layoff has seen many older experienced competitors move on to other endeavours.
This was a great warm-up event for the 24th Prairie Wildfire Taekwondo Challenge scheduled for Yorkton April 23.
The full results for the 15 Yorkton competitors are:
Division Sparring Patterns
Brandon Novak Junior Black Belt male Welter Gold
Drune Rugland Junior Black Belt male Heavy Gold
Justus Jaquet Cadet Advanced male Middle Gold 4th
Jariz Geraldoy Cadet Advanced female Light Gold Bronze
Kenley Strutynski Cadet Intermediate female Silver
Turner Strutynski Youth Intermediate male Heavy Bronze Silver
Ty Strutynski Youth Intermediate male Heavy Gold Bronze
Kerr Pendleton Youth Intermediate male Middle Gold Gold
Eva Agar Youth Intermediate female Gold
Alex Ubongen Midget intermediate male Middle Gold Gold
Bennet Gramyk Midget intermediate male Middle Silver Bronze
Shennae Ethier Midget intermediate female Middle Silver Gold
Gage Agar Midget intermediate male Middle Bronze Bronze
Everett Pendleton Midget Beginner male Middle Gold Silver
Cole Barton Midget Beginner male Middle Silver Bronze