Regional Leagues

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

Providence, RI, November 3rd – The Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (ECTC) held its second tournament of the season at Brown University, a staple in the ECTC’s five-tournament lineup.

“It is an honor to host a league tournament each year,” said Sung Park, Brown University Head Coach and ECTC Board Member. “Thinking back to my first tournament over 30 years ago, I have such fond memories of attending these events. It’s incredible that the friends I made then are still part of my life and the league. Being in a position to give back, especially now that my own children are participating in collegiate Taekwondo, is truly special. I couldn’t ask for a better place for them to learn competitiveness and camaraderie as part of their college experience.”

This season, the ECTC joins the recently launched National Collegiate Taekwondo Association (NCTA) Regional Initiative, which is organizing six regional conferences across the United States. “This initiative creates more opportunities than ever for college students to grow as athletes and leaders,” said Chuang. “Participation in these regional conferences will qualify collegiate athletes for a new division at the NCTA Championships—the NCTA Team Championships. Teams will compete for the newly introduced traveling trophy, the NCTA Cup, which will reside with the winning school each year.”

Jennifer Li, President of the Brown Taekwondo Club, reflected on the event’s significance. “As a senior, it’s especially heartwarming to see the Brown tournament come together and even more rewarding to watch everyone enjoy it,” she said. “ECTC tournaments have a unique sense of familiarity—you meet people as a first-year competitor, and over the years, those connections grow stronger. It’s something I’ll always value about being part of this community.”

The tournament brought together 452 athletes from 21 schools, all competing for medals and team trophies. True to ECTC tradition, the event followed the 3v3 team format. Teams of up to three members from the same school faced off in single-elimination brackets for both Poomsae and Sparring.

In the Mixed-Gender Poomsae Divisions, athletes competed across three brackets:

• A-Team (Black Belts): Northeastern A1 (Brian Meagher, Sam Walker, Sarah Rescsanski) took gold.
• B-Team (Blue and Red Belts): MIT B1 (Grace Jau, Yuying Lin, Ricardo Carrillo) took gold.
• C-Team (White, Yellow, and Green Belts): Northeastern C1 (Cameron Nguyen, Conrad Wu, Kinolee Kumarasinghe) took gold.

The Sparring Divisions included men’s and women’s teams at the A, B, and C levels:

• Men’s A-Team: NYU A1 (Bryan Kwon, Jay Lin, Mitchell Toomey) claimed gold.
• Women’s A-Team: West Point A1 (Grace Kim, Megan Cho, Yudam Jeong) took gold.
• Men’s B-Team: Northeastern B1 (Alexander Lei, Steven Dong, Jan Heinz, Daniel Li (alternate)) earned gold.
• Women’s B-Team: Cortland B1 (Alicea Cianfrogna, Adriane Bifolco) won gold.
• Men’s C-Team: Brown C1 (Christopher Lee, Jacob Schmidman, Jerome Jacobs) captured gold.
• Women’s C-Team: Liberty C1 (Katrina McMillen, Khara Pastean, Hannah Wharton) secured gold.

Overall team trophies were awarded based on results across all brackets:

• Division 1: 1st – Northeastern, 2nd – MIT, 3rd – Cornell.
• Division 2: 1st – NYU, 2nd – West Point, 3rd – Cortland.
• Division 3: 1st – Liberty, 2nd – Ohio State, 3rd – Duke.

Full results are available on the ECTC website.

The next ECTC event will take place at Cornell University, where teams are eagerly preparing for another thrilling competition. With sights set on the coveted ECTC Cup, the season’s energy continues to build toward its exciting conclusion.