Austin, TX, March 1, 2025 – The University of Texas at Austin hosted the first-ever Southern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (SCTC) tournament, marking a major milestone for collegiate Taekwondo in the southern region. With over 100 competitors from UT Austin, Texas A&M University, UT Dallas, UT Rio Grande Valley, and the University of Chicago, the event showcased team Poomsae, team sparring, and individual sparring, fostering both competition and community among athletes.

This tournament also served as a qualifier for the new NCTA Cup Division, set to debut at the 2025 NCTA National Collegiate Championships. “Six regional conferences are being recognized and organized across the United States, creating more opportunities than ever for college students to compete and grow as athletes and leaders,” said Dan Chuang, President of the NCTA. “Participation in these regional conferences will qualify collegiate athletes for the NCTA Team Championships, where they will compete for the new traveling trophy, the NCTA Cup. This cup will reside with the winning school each year.”

The tournament introduced the 3v3 Poomsae and Kyorugi formats for both black belts and color belts—formats that had yet to be seen in the southern collegiate circuit. “This event was not without its hiccups, but overall, it was many steps in a positive direction,” said Danielle Drews, a UT Austin alumna. “All schools and athletes demonstrated remarkable sportsmanship and camaraderie as this tournament brought them one step closer to their goals for the national collegiate tournament next month.”

The tournament also saw a growing presence of UT Austin alumni stepping up to support the event. “From an operations perspective, this year went so much smoother than the chaos of trying new things last year,” said Drews. “I am so grateful for everyone’s continued support. Having day-of support from ECTC Tournament Committee member Joshua Kwok and virtual support from Will Estey was extremely helpful. We were also able to garner more support from UT alumni, which felt amazing, especially after being the sole onsite alum volunteer last year. NCTA Tournament Committee Chair Tara Sarathi and I have talked before about the ECTC tournament committees and how the alumni have grown into the incredible force they are, and that’s my dream for the UT Taekwondo program.”

Tournament Results

Poomsae Winners

A Team Winners:
🏆 UT Austin PA2 – Ava Lim, Rachel Zhang, Wesland Ung
🥈 UT Austin PA1 – Fiona Hawkins, Kacie Nguyen, Kaila Pierson
🥉 UChicago PA1 – Ronik Bhaskar, Karen Chuchuca, Ethan Li
🏅 UTD PA1 – Nathan Boyle, Becky Leija, Travis Raley

B Team Winners:
🏆 UT Austin PB1 – Joey Hummel, Tivon Nguyen, Tyler Moon
🥈 UT Austin PB2 – Catherine Ta, Nicholas Peasley
🥉 UT Austin PB4 – Alice Jeong, Ilaria Cielo, Robin Sherrer
🏅 UChicago PB1 – Jocelyn Hsu, Lia Guerrero, Victoria Alana

C Team Winners:
🏆 UT Austin PC1 – Anh Vu, Christopher Chin, Martin Becker
🥈 UT Austin PC6 – Abi Pither, June Lee, Brianne Johnson
🥉 UT Austin PC5 – Ashwini Patil, Francesca Cadet, Lilliana Cadet
🏅 UT Austin PC2 – Hailey Lockett, Jack Whitehead, Paromita Cesano Bagchi

Men’s Sparring Winners

A Team Winners:
🏆 UTRGV Men’s A1 – Alex Rayas, Matias Lopez, Matthew Kim
🥈 Texas A&M Men’s A1 – Bryan Sutjipto, Jack Hughes, Tyler Seibert, Kevin Von Nacher
🥉 UT Austin Men’s A1 – Joey Hummel, Francisco Martinez
🏅 UTD Men’s A1 – Lu-Chen Lu, Bryan Ha, Brandon Kim

B Team Winners:
🏆 Texas A&M Men’s B1 – Zachary Gavlick, Aayushman Sharma
🥈 UT Austin Men’s B3 – William Chau, Arav Rawat
🥉 UT Austin Men’s B1 – Tyler Moon, Adarsh Javvaji, Douglas Ramirez
🏅 UT Austin Men’s B2 – Nicholas Peasley, Siddharth Shanbhag

C Team Winners:
🏆 UT Austin Men’s C2 – Jack Whitehead, Inhyeok Cho
🥈 UT Austin Men’s C5 – Samarveer Panag, Tyler Chamberlain
🥉 Texas A&M Men’s C1 – Kush Ganji, Varun Venkataraman
🏅 UT Austin Men’s C1 – Langston Stowers, Aaron Chris Tabuco

Women’s Sparring Winners

A Team Winners:
🏆 UT Austin Women’s A1 – Madeline Pitts, Danica Deaton
🥈 Texas A&M Women’s A1 – Isabella Afsar, Nora Dolt

B Team Winners:
🏆 UT Austin Women’s B4 – Stephanie Degnore, Adalia Sorola, Kate Mader
🥈 UT Austin Women’s B3 – Franchesca Untalan, Yashwini Trivedi
🥉 UT Austin Women’s B2 – Paloma Vega, Esmeralda Rizo, Ankitha Doma
🏅 UT Austin Women’s B1 – Mia Saavedra, Catherine Ta

C Team Winners:
🏆 UT Austin Women’s C1 – Malaika Shah, Sophia Li, Pournima Mante
🥈 Texas A&M Women’s C1 – Lauren Pilon, Malina Nesian, Rosaline Kumar
🥉 Texas A&M Women’s C2 – Divija Dronadula, Orleane Alima
🏅 UT Austin Women’s C2 – Eesha Conikee, Cassidy Wong

As the SCTC continues to establish itself within the collegiate Taekwondo landscape, this tournament set a strong foundation for future events and strengthened the competitive pipeline leading into the 2025 National Collegiate Taekwondo Championships.

MCTC Concludes Season With Second Championship, Demo Exhibition, All-Star Team Selection
March 1, 2025
Evanston, IL

The Midwest Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (MCTC) hosted the league’s second championship event of the 2024-2025 season. Northwestern University served as the host for the event on March 1, 2025.

It was another historic event for MCTC, as teams competed for a second regional championship in the same season, a first for the league. “I was really impressed not just by the turnout of schools, but also the marked progress that all of the teams have made since the last event in the fall.” said Coach David Lee, President of MCTC. “It really speaks to the energy of the athletes and coaches in this region. Everyone here is dedicated to growing the size and quality of collegiate Taekwondo. There’s never been a better time to be involved!”

One of those teams is Northwestern University, who is quickly becoming a cornerstone of the region. “It was incredible because I could watch our organization growing and thriving in real time,” remarked Izzy Lisco, President of NUTKD. “The sportsmanship, competitiveness, and overall excitement of the athletes, volunteers, and coaches was inspiring. Seeing the community flourish makes all work that goes into hosting worth it.”

“The competition atmosphere was energetic,” said Jason Dalhberg from University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. “It was amazing to see so many teams in one place cheering with so much passion and excitement for their teammates.”

Meanwhile, Washington University made their first-ever appearance at MCTC as they prepare for the NCTA National Championship. “It’s so amazing to see a collegiate taekwondo league develop in the Midwest and that we are able to participate in a tournament closer to home!” said Julia Baguio from WashU. “This tournament has given us lots of experience and things to work on in preparation for the NCTA cup in April.”

As MCTC continues to grow, the organization is looking to scale with its teams. This event had double the number of volunteers from the Fall, a new Poomsae system with live scoring, and improved efficiencies in Sparring matchmaking. These commitments to continuous improvements didn’t go unnoticed by Coach Humza Qazi of UIUC. “I remain impressed and inspired by MCTC’s continued commitment to professionalism in its tournament practices. MCTC served as the perfect opportunity to ease myself back into the competitive scene, for which I am very grateful toward Coach Lee and his team.”

MCTC even selected its first All-Star Team, who will receive stipends to compete at NCTA and a dedicated training to continue evolving their skills. “The ultimate goal is to support our athletes here in the Midwest,” explained Coach Lee. “There is so much talent here, and I believe with the right support and experience, athletes will not only thrive in competition but also in their own communities as they bring back positive experiences and new skills to share with their teams. We cannot get better in silos. We have to keep pushing our communities together to be the best we can be.”

This championship wraps up the 2024-2025 season, as MCTC shifts its focus to the 2025-2026 season. A Training Camp, Fall Championship, and Spring Championship are all in the works.

All Results:

Exhibition Demonstration Team Results

1st: University of Minnesota Twin Cities

2nd: Ohio State University

Overall Team Results

1st: Ohio State University – 572 Points

2nd: Northwestern University – 476 Points

3rd: University of Illinois Urbana Champaign – 308 Points

3rd: Purdue University – 224 Points

Poomsae Results:
A-League Division
1st: Northwestern University PA1 – Izzy Lisco, Vincent Chen, Alicia Li

2nd: University of Illinois Urbana Champaign PA2 – Ashley Chen, Humza Qazi, Samantha Sy

3rd: University of Illinois Urbana Champaign PA1 – Iman Qazi, Jason Dahlberg, Siyoung Ahn

3rd: Purdue University PA1 – Abhaya Sundar, Julia Kang, Sanjay Kandadi

B-League Division

1st: University of Illinois Urbana Champaign PB1 – David Cox, Peggy Lee, Saumya Patel

2nd: University of Wisconsin Madison PB1 – Hamlet Abrahamyan, Kaitlyn Shi, Taksoo Kim

3rd: Ohio State University PB1 – Sirojiddin Aripov, Elizabeth Nitz, Sophia Weiss

3rd: Ohio State University PB2 – James Riddell, Shelby Summers, Maxton Colby

C-League Division

1st: Northwestern University PC3 – Tyler Lau, Alexander Barb, Cole Edelstein

2nd: Northwestern University PC1 – Lacey Thompson, Bianca Diaz, Jillian Tabak

3rd: Northwestern University PC2 – Hannah Zhang, Hortense Ineza, Harrison Schilling

3rd: Ohio State University PC1 – Portia Thompson, Ryan Smith, Avery Temple

Sparring Results:

Men’s A-League Division:

1st: Ohio State University Men’s A1 – David Green, Shagnik Sarkar, Alex Papadopol

2nd: Northwestern University Men’s A1 – Vincent Chen, Eric Dare, Mark Fortes

3rd: Washington University Men’s A1 – Jason Ng, Nathan Zhou, Stephen Lee

3rd: University of Illinois Urbana Champaign – Alexander Jeong, Joaquin Castillo, Stephen Olexa

Men’s B-League Division:

1st: Ohio State University Men’s B1 – Sirojiddin Aripov, Ryan Smith, Maxton Colby

2nd: Northwestern University Men’s B1 – Tyler Lau, Ned Yu, Grant Putnam

3rd: Ohio State University Men’s B2 – James Riddell, Owen Mikulski

3rd: University of Illinois Urbana Champaign – David Cox, Joaquin Lopez

Men’s C-League Division

1st: Northwestern University Men’s C1 – Alexander Barb, Harrison Schilling, Tapiwa Gwapedza

2nd: University of Illinois Chicago Men’s C1 – Jason Jang, Aaron Iosevich, Thomas Weisgram

3rd: University of Minnesota Twin Cities Men’s C1 – James Bode, Tyler Mlenar

3rd: University of Illinois Chicago Men’s C1 – Jason Jardiel, Kaizon Cummins

Women’s A-League Division:

1st: Northwestern University Women’s A1 – Izzy Lisco, Nusayba Abdullah, Alicia Li

2nd: University of Wisconsin Madison Women’s A1 – Andrea Flores, Kangyu Huang, Nedda Besharat

3rd: Purdue University Women’s A1 – Abhaya Sundar

3rd: University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Women’s A1 – Ashley Chen

Women’s B-League Division

1st: Ohio State University Women’s B1 – Elizabeth Nitz, Sophia Weiss

2nd: Purdue University Women’s B1 – Yeji Kim, Anjali Muthyala

3rd: Ohio State University Women’s B2 – Shelby Summers

3rd: Purdue University Women’s B2 – Lillian Ji

Women’s C-League Division

1st: Ohio State University Women’s C1 – Portia Thompson, Corrine Niaura

2nd: University of Illinois Chicago Women’s C1 – Gabija Gricius, Zoe McClain

3rd: Northwestern University Women’s C1 – Lacey Thompson, Bianca Diaz, Jillian Tabak

3rd: Purdue University Women’s C1 – Rashmi Dahiya, Scout Hudson

2024-2025 MCTC All-Stars

Northwestern University Poomsae A1 Izzy Lisco, Vincent Chen, Alicia Li

Ohio State University Female Sparring B1 Elizabeth Nitz, Sophia Weiss

Ohio State University Male Sparring A1 David Green, Shagnik Sarkar, Alex Papadopol

Northwestern University Male Sparring A1 Vincent Chen, Eric Dare, Mark Fortes