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2026 National Collegiate Taekwondo Team Departs for FISU America Games
2 weeks
by NCTA Admin
in Team
Lima, Peru, July 21, 2026 – Today, members of the US National Collegiate Taekwondo Team will be traveling to Lima, Peru to represent the United States and the National Collegiate Taekwondo Association at the 4th FISU America Games. The FISU America Games feature 14 sports with over 3,000 participants from 19 countries across the Pan American region.
These 32 taekwondo athletes from the United States will compete in both poomsae and sparring sub-disciplines and hail from 30 different colleges and universities across the United States. Each team member is a student athlete that has split their time between their studies and their preparation for the Games.
NCTA President Dan Chuang said, “Each year, the FISU America Games become more and more competitive, and these student athletes have been working hard to represent USA at a high level. We look forward to seeing strong athletes across the board from the Pan American Region. Thank you to our generous hosts here in Peru for putting on a Games of this scale. We look forward to enjoying the athlete village and the competition venue.”
Best of luck to all athletes! The competition will take place from July 24-26. The official event website is http://fagames2026.fisuamerica.com/
Men’s Individual Recognized Poomsae
Bomin Kim – Duke University
Nathan Kim – San Jose State University
Women’s Individual Recognized Poomsae
Yuri Kim – University of California, Merced
Aahana Mulchandani – Smith College
Men’s Individual Freestyle Poomsae
Landon Her – University of California, Irvine
Matthew Ra – Monroe Community College
Women’s Individual Freestyle Poomsae
Allison DeGuzman – California State University, Fullerton
Gian Legaspi – Bakersfield College
Mixed Pair Freestyle Poomsae
Gian Legaspi – Bakersfield College & Landon Her – University of California, Irvine
Mens’ -54kg
Arian Canete – University of California, Los Angeles
David Yehe-Nara – University of Connecticut, Stamford
Women’s -46kg Sparring
Caliana Fonseca – California State University, Northridge
Yusleny Rangel – Edmonds Community College
Men’s -58kg Sparring
Melvy Alvarez – University of Connecticut
Prahchomvong Thay – California State University, Fresno
Women’s -49kg Sparring
Maggie Shiba – University of Utah
Monique Villasenor – San Antonio College
Men’s -63gSparring
Donovan James Eugenio – University of Washington
Cole Noretto – Seattle University
Women’s -53kg Sparring
Gaia Castillo – University of California, Riverside
Audrey Kohlman – Cornell University
Men’s -68kg Sparring
Justin Fredricks – State University of New York, Old Westbury
Jordan Panotes – South Puget Sound Community College
Women’s -57kg Sparring
Grace Shiba – Weber State University
Men’s -74kg Sparring
Edwind Gabriel Torres – University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Women’s -62kg Sparring
Christina Chimal – University of California, Riverside
Kayla Shanahan – Stony Brook University
Men’s -80kg Sparring
Barron Mosteller – Diablo Valley College
Devin Cornell – California State University, Fresno
Men’s -87kg Sparring
William Smith – University of California, Los Angeles
Women’s -73kg Sparring
Sydney Merrill – Brown University
Men’s +87kg Sparring
Abou Sow – University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Marlon Perez – Lebanon Valley College
Women’s +73kg Sparring
Alena Viana – University of North Carolina, Charlotte
Staff:
Daniel Chuang – Head of Team
Joseph Van – Head Coach
David Lee – Deputy Head Coach
Steve Rosbarsky – Coach/Manager
Kevin Lee Gambill – Coach
Jung Hwan Jin – Coach
Hyejin Jung – Coach
Sungwon Kang – Coach
Long Nguyen – Coach
Fabricio Rodriguez – Coach
Damian Villa – Coach
2026 NCTA National Collegiate and High School Championships to be held in Chapel Hill, NC on April 24-26
7 months
NCTA is pleased to announce that the 2026 National Collegiate and High School Taekwondo Championships will be held on Friday, April 24 through Sunday, April 26 at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at Woollen Gymnasium, hosted by the Carolina Taekwondo Club. This event is planned to be a 10.0 USATKD sanctioned event for the collegiate championship divisions, with those collegiate championship divisions also serving as a qualifier for the USATKD National Championships analogous to the USATKD State Championships.
The tournament will begin with all collegiate and high school poomsae, breaking and demo team competition on Friday, all collegiate and high school championship individual sparring on Saturday, and the 3 v. 3 format NCTA Cup event on Sunday. As in past years, collegiate taekwondo clubs will vie for the chance to become national champions in the Overall (Brown & UT Austin defending champions), Black Belt (MIT & UC Davis defending champions) and Color belt (UT Austin defending champions) divisions. Those participating on Sunday will be competing to win the newly minted traveling NCTA Cup (Northeastern University defending champions).
Said NCTA President Dan Chuang, “NCTA has been consistently setting records for attendance each year for the past several years at our national events, and I expect these championships to be no different. In particular, NCTA now sanctions well over 10 collegiate tournaments per year, so we expect that momentum to carry through to our national championships. I can’t wait to see all of the athletes competing with pride representing their colleges.”
As announced earlier, the 2026 NCTA Team Trials for the FISU America Games will be a separate event held on April 3 in conjunction with the CUTA California State Championships, and should not be confused with the 2026 National Collegiate and High School Championships.
Information will be posted as it becomes available on the NCTA Championships page.
2026 NCTA Team Trials to be held in Fresno, CA on Friday, April 3
7 months
NCTA is pleased to announce that the team trials to represent USA at the 2026 FISU America Games (collegiate Pan American multi-sport Games) will be held on Friday, April 3 in Fresno, CA at the Fresno Convention Center. The 2026 FISU America Games will be held July 20 to August 1, 2026 in Lima, Peru, with taekwondo events taking place July 23-26 (the taekwondo team for USA would likely arrive one to two days earlier and depart on July 27).
The event will be held in conjunction with the California Unified Taekwondo Association (CUTA) state championships. but will have its own separate registration. Said NCTA President Dan Chuang, “The NCTA is grateful to President Yong Choi and CUTA for their gracious support of the collegiate athletes. I am so excited to see these amazing collegiate student athletes vie for the opportunity to represent USA at these unique continental multi-sport Games.”
The divisions being contested at the trials will be:
1) Individual Kyorugi (sparring) (eight male and eight female senior weight classes)
2) Individual Recognized Poomsae (separate male and female)
3) Individual Freestyle Poomsae (separate male and female)
4) Mixed Pair Freestyle Poomsae (one male and one female)
5) Mixed Team Freestyle Poomsae (five athletes, at least two males and at least two females)
The FISU America Games will allow more than one player in each individual discipline to enter. Therefore, NCTA will select two athletes for each individual division to represent the USA.
More information, including selection procedures, will be available soon on the 2026 Team Trials page.
National Collegiate Taekwondo Association Celebrates Historic Performance at 2025 Summer World University Games
1 year
Photo credit: Perfect Imperfection
Rhine-Ruhr, Germany – July 24, 2025 – The National Collegiate Taekwondo Association (NCTA) is proud to announce a groundbreaking performance by the USA National Collegiate Taekwondo Team at the 2025 Summer World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany. The team achieved its highest-ever medal count, surpassing the previous record of 6 medals set in 2003.
This year marks the 10th Summer World University Games (SWUG) in which Taekwondo has been featured. Taekwondo was first introduced as an optional sport in 2003 in Daegu and became a compulsory event in 2017. The 2025 Games also held significant weight as a G4 status event, contributing valuable ranking points for athletes.
“This team of 22 athletes and 14 staff really came together in a short period of time to achieve this amazing result,” said NCTA President Dan Chuang. “NCTA promotes a mutually supportive and positive dynamic, and the team members really pushed each other each day to have their best performances in the ring through training, ringside cheering and shared purpose. It was truly a team result, and each and every member of the team can be proud of the medals earned.”
Team Leadership and Coaching Staff:
Photo credit: Perfect Imperfection
Our team was guided by an experienced coaching and staff roster, including:
- NCTA President: Dan Chuang
- Head of Team: Rex Hatfield
- Director: Sung Kim
- Head Coach: Joe Van
- Doctor: Sherri Lashomb
The staff was rounded out by Giduk Gun, Joe Harris, Sungwon Kang, Sungjin Kim, David Lee, Sang Jae Lee, Cheyenne Lewis, Philip Vincent Ripepi, Fabricio Rodriguez, and William Young, Jr..
The NCTA is pleased to announce the appointment of our esteemed team captains for the 2025 Summer World University Games:
- Team Captain: Sung Hyun Eric Gun (Rutgers University)
- Team Captain: Hannah Keck (Austin CC)
- Team Captain: Isaiah Young (UNC-Charlotte)
NCTA Athlete Sponsorship
The NCTA is committed to supporting its athletes. This year, the sponsorship program was updated to offer more to those athletes who showed prior success in the 2024 and 2025 competition year based on ranking and podium results. For the 2025 Games, top ranked athletes received full funding, and numerous other athletes who demonstrated success in 2025 G-ranked events were siginificantly sponsored, highlighting our dedication to fostering top collegiate talent.
Poomsae Medals:
Photo credit: UniUSA
The USA team showcased remarkable talent in the Poomsae discipline:
- Kaitlyn Reclusado (Menlo College) and Sung Hyun Eric Gun (Rutgers University) secured the first GOLD medal of the Games for USA Team, winning GOLD in Mixed Pair Poomsae. This also marked the first GOLD medal of the Games for USA.
- Female Team Poomsae – Gahui Kim (Georgia State), Lana Moraleda (UC Berkeley), Kaitlyn Reclusado (Menlo College) earned a BRONZE medal, marking the first medal for USA in Female Team Poomsae at the Summer World University Games.
- Kaitlyn Reclusado (Menlo College) earned a BRONZE in Female Individual Poomsae, which was also the first medal of the Games for USA.
- Sung Hyun Eric Gun (Rutgers University) also achieved a BRONZE in Male Individual Poomsae.
- The USA finished with a national record of 4 medals out of 5 possible Poomsae divisions.
This marks the first women’s team poomsae medal at SWUG. Reflecting on the experience, Team Captain Sung Hyun Eric Gun commented, “It was an honor to represent the USA at the Summer World University Games. The team atmosphere was incredible, and it was so special to see us all come together in a very short period of time and be supportive of each other through all the tough and exciting moments.”
Sparring Medals:
Photo credit: UniUSA
The USA team also delivered a strong performance in the Sparring events:
- Michael Rodriguez (Houston CC) secured a BRONZE medal in -87kg Sparring.
- Youngsuk Ethan Gun (CC Morris) earned a SILVER medal in -54kg Sparring.
- Hannah Keck (Austin CC) won a BRONZE medal in +73kg Sparring.
Youngsuk Ethan Gun, a silver medalist in sparring, added, “SWUG was unlike any other event I’ve been to, and my first time at a multi-sport games. Being able to represent my country and travel as a team, creating bonds with sparring teammates, made the experience truly special.”
Bronze medalist Hannah Keck said, “Representing the United States at SWUG felt very different from other competitions. While there is always an element of pressure to perform at any tournament, the environment this time was incredibly positive and encouraging. When one won, we all did.”
This year’s performance marks a significant milestone for USA Taekwondo. The last individual female sparring medal was in 2011, and the last male individual sparring medal was in 2017. The last time both male and female individual sparring medals were achieved was in 2005. Furthermore, the last male middleweight medal was in 2000. These results represent the best performance ever for USA Collegiate Taekwondo at the Summer World University Games.
Overall Team Standing:
The US team finished an impressive 7th overall in the Taekwondo medal count, placing ahead of Uzbekistan. Korea led the medal count.
Participating Universities:
Athletes from a diverse range of prestigious universities and colleges represented the USA, including:
- Kaitlyn Reclusado – Menlo College
- Sung Hyun Eric Gun – Rutgers University
- Bomin Kim – Duke University
- Anthony Do – University of California, Los Angeles
- Gahui Kim – Georgia State University
- Lana Moraleda – University of California, Berkeley
- Hazel Della – George Mason
- Dahin Song – University of Pennsylvania
- Johnson County Community College
- Montana Miller – Edmonds College
- Jessica Gniedziejko – City College of New York
- Chloe Chua – California State University, Fresno
- Brianne Usserman – George Mason University
- Hannah Keck – Austin Community College
- Young Suk Ethan Gun – County College of Morris
- Erick Chaparro – University of Texas, El Paso
- Cole Noretto – Seattle University
- Justin Fredricks – SUNY Old Westbury
- Noah Shanafelt – Kent State University
- Isaiah Young – University of North Carolina, Charlotte
- Michael C. Rodriguez – Houston Community College
- Brian Choi – Rutgers University
Brianne Usserman, a sparring athlete from George Mason University, concluded, “It was, without a doubt, the best trip I’ve ever been on, and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.”
Photo credit: Perfect Imperfection
The NCTA congratulates all the athletes on their exceptional achievements and looks forward to continued success in future international competitions.
Contact:
Catherine Tong, NCTA Secretary General
ncta.sg@gmail.com
2025 Summer World University Games Kicks Off in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany
1 year
July 16, 2025 – Essen, Germany. The 2025 NCTA National Colllegiate Taekwondo Team representing UniUSA kicks off competition tomrrow at the World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr region, Germany on July 17, 2025. 22 athletes and 15 staff will represent the USA at these games over 7 days and 24 medal events. 558 atheltes from over 35 countries are represented at the Taekwondo event, the second largest event of the Games. Best of luck to all USA athletes and staff!
