Catherine Tong

Chicago, IL, February 28, 2026 – The Midwest Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (MCTC) concluded the 2025–2026 season with the MCTC Spring 2026 Championship, hosted by the University of Chicago. As the second and final event of the season, the tournament brought together more than 200 athletes from across the Midwest for a full day of high-level collegiate competition in both poomsae and sparring.

Teams from across the conference gathered in Chicago to close out a season that saw strong participation and continued growth for the region’s collegiate taekwondo community. Athletes competed in nine divisions across poomsae, women’s sparring, and men’s sparring, showcasing the depth of talent developing within MCTC programs. A huge congratulations and thank you to all who were involved, from athletes, coaches, volunteers, and referees!

New and Old Faces

The Spring event saw the return of familiar MCTC rivals bidding for their spots in the final standings. MCTC veterans included Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Purdue University, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan State University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, all who have participated in several consecutive tournaments. 

“Amazing to see so many returning schools,” remarked MCTC President David Lee. “But we also had a lot of new schools who brought teams for the first time and showed they can be contenders!”

Newcomers included Iowa State University, Purdue University in Indianapolis, University of Iowa, and University of Arkansas (who won the Poomsae C League as first time competitors). Other new but returning teams included Washington University in St. Louis, who fields a small but competitive team. The smallest team at the event, University of Missouri Kansas City, perfectly represented what the league is about. Even through competition, other teams helped coach UMKC’s lone athlete and provided camaraderie throughout the day. “I’ll definitely be back in the fall, and with more athletes to field more teams for UMKC!” said Abrar Ali Khan.

“I am hopeful that the format of 3v3 competition encourages teams to invest in recruiting and competition,” said David Lee. “It’s a great experience whether you have 1 or 30 athletes on your team, and I am excited for the reputation of our league to continue to draw athletes every year.”

A Dramatic Finish

The final matches of the day provided one of the most exciting moments of the season. “The excitement of the day reached a crescendo with the very last sparring match, which was the highlight of the event,” said Tournament Committee member Nick Bayhi. “Underdog A-Teams from Michigan State University and University of Iowa knocked off host school University of Chicago and powerhouse Ohio State University to meet in the finals, where they split Heavy and Middleweight wins. With a win from their Lightweight athlete, Jogi Katende not only brought home victory for MSU A1, he rocketed MSU from 7th place overall to 2nd with the win and earning him MCTC MVP. These are the moments 3v3 was made for!”

The dramatic conclusion highlighted the intensity and team spirit that define collegiate taekwondo competition.

Looking Ahead

The 2025–2026 season proved to be one of the strongest yet for the conference, with broad participation and growing enthusiasm from programs across the region.

“It was a very fun season,” MCTC President David Lee reflected on the successful season. “We had 27 schools represented between our Fall and Spring events. We’re very excited for the next season!”

With continued growth and competitive balance across the conference, the MCTC looks forward to building on the momentum when teams return for the 2026–2027 season.

MCTC Spring 2026 Championship Results

Division Results

Division 1
Ohio State University 628 pts
Michigan State University 284 pts
Northwestern University 276 pts

Division 2
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign 256 pts
University of Chicago 248 pts
Iowa State University 188 pts

Division 3
University of Wisconsin Madison 156 pts
University of Illinois Chicago 140 pts
Washington University in St. Louis 136 pts
University of Arkansas 128 pts
University of Minnesota 120 pts
Purdue University in Lafayette 120 pts
University of Iowa 80 pts
Purdue University in Indianapolis 56 pts
University of Missouri Kansas City 32 pts

Poomsae Team Results

A Team (Advanced)
 Ohio State University – PA2 Jed Jung, Abigail Schwarz, Aaron Hsieh

 Michigan State University – PA1 Thomas Martin, Sky Kim, Connor Ball

 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – PA2 Nitin Krishna, Eva Kim, Reginald Chen

 Michigan State University – PA2 Hannah Oberski, Claire Medema

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B Team (Intermediate)

 Ohio State University – PB1 (tie) Portia Thompson, Ryan Smith, Sophia Weiss

 Ohio State University – PB2 (tie) Avery Temple, Kyle Smith, Owen Mikulski

 University of Chicago – PB1 (tie) Jocelyn Hsu, Grace Yao, Morgan Kim

 Ohio State University – PB3 (tie) Yang Yang, Theodore Anderson, Abhinav Devulapalli

 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – PB1 (tie) Peggy Lee, Yusuf Ahmed, Lauren Smilie

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C Team (Beginner)
 University of Arkansas – PC1 Faith Sumrow, Kyra White, Amanda Sparshott

 University of Wisconsin–Madison – PC1 Jeddahleen Abing, Kate Alcorn, Simon Richter

 Iowa State University – PC3 Gavin Macanip, Henry Cierebiej, Landon Taylor

 Iowa State University – PC2 Angona Biswas, Michael Till, Nicholas Collins

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Sparring Team Results

Women’s A Team
 Ohio State University – Women’s A1 Maya Chen-Randall, Kathleen Duffey

 Washington University in St. Louis – Women’s A1 Arwyn Sullivan, Sara Alfarhan

 Northwestern University – Women’s A1 Kelia Noranjo-Champion, Alicia Li, Angela Zhang

 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – Women’s A1 Alana Heinrichs, Rachel Su, Ashley Gomez

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Women’s B Team
 Ohio State University – Women’s B1 Portia Thompson, Yang Yang, Sophia Weiss

 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – Women’s B1 Peggy Lee, Rong Wei

 Purdue University in Indianapolis – Women’s B1 Jiya Patel, Samiya Balu

 University of Illinois Chicago – Women’s B1 Gabija Gricius, Deone Lesley

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Women’s C Team
 University of Chicago – Women’s C1 Skye Freeman, Sophie Ovcharenko, Morgan Strickland

 Iowa State University – Women’s C1 Lauren Nielsen, Marleigh Ace

 University of Wisconsin–Madison – Women’s C1 Jeddahleen Abing, Kate Alcorn

 Northwestern University – Women’s C1 Jackeline Maya, Adele Wilson, Dalila Hmelidze

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Men’s A Team
 Michigan State University – Men’s A1 Stavros Moustakeas, Mitch Shin, Jogi Katende

 University of Iowa – Men’s A1 Andrew Lee, Damien Garrett, William Dang

 University of Chicago – Men’s A1 Danyal Osman, Joon Kim, Isaac Estrada, Rahul Tudmilla

 Ohio State University – Men’s A1 Aaron Hsieh, Varun Pillai, Alexandru Papadopol

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Men’s B Team
 Ohio State University – Men’s B1 Kyle Smith, Ryan Smith, Owen Mikulski

 Northwestern University – Men’s B1 Tapiwa Gwapedza, Tyler Lau, Grant Putnam

 Michigan State University – Men’s B1 Billy Lor, Aldus Yun, Alex Foufopoulos

 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – Men’s B1 Dhruv Kapadia, David Cox, Nick Christner

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Men’s C Team
 University of Chicago – Men’s C1 Leo Liang, Noah Michel, Wedan Emmanuel Gnibga

 Iowa State University – Men’s C1 Gavin Macanip, Landon Taylor, Michael Till

 University of Chicago – Men’s C2 Chase Grosso, Ik Cho, Nicholas Cartagena

 Northwestern University – Men’s C1 Ty Wilson, Sam Jung