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Boise, ID, Nov. 23 – The Northwest Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (NWCTC) reached a milestone this past weekend by hosting its first-ever tournament at Boise State University (BSU). A total of 24 athletes from three schools participated in this historic event, marking a significant step forward for collegiate taekwondo in the Northwest region.

“The BSU Open was the first time the NWCTC officially met for a collegiate tournament,” said Catherine Tong, NWCTC Director. “As the inaugural event for the conference, it was fantastic to see participation from both established programs and newly formed clubs. For many athletes, it was their first time competing, and for some, it was their first opportunity to represent their university in a collegiate event. Despite its modest size, the tournament showcased exciting, nail-biting matches in both poomsae and sparring, with athletes cheering passionately for their teammates throughout the day.”

This tournament also served as a qualifier for the newly introduced NCTA Cup Division, set to debut at the 2025 NCTA National Collegiate Championships. “The NCTA Regional Initiative is organizing six regional conferences across the U.S.,” said Dan Chuang, President of the NCTA. “These events are creating more opportunities for college athletes to grow and compete. Participation in regional conferences will qualify teams for the NCTA Team Championships, where athletes will contend for the prestigious traveling NCTA Cup.”

The tournament introduced many “firsts” for the region, including WT poomsae scoring, TrueScore electronic scoring, and the 3v3 team formats for both poomsae and sparring. “This tournament was a great opportunity for all of our athletes,” said BSU Coach Joseph Wilbert. His colleague, Coach Nick Chapa, added, “Electronic scoring was a game-changer. It allowed us to see scores and timing in real-time, which is a big improvement from the paper scoring systems we’ve used in the past. I hope we can keep using these tools.”

For the University of Oregon (UO), the event was particularly special as it marked the club’s return to competition after decades. “We restarted the club this year, and the last time we competed was in the 1990s,” said UO Coach Dana Yu. “It felt amazing to be here.” UO athlete Cole De Zoeten added, “This really was a dream come true.”

The competition also offered opportunities for athletes to take on new roles, such as refereeing. “This was my first time refereeing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it,” said UO’s Brighid Johnston. “I appreciated how present I needed to be throughout the matches.”

The event exclusively featured a single-elimination 3v3 team format, with teams of up to three members from the same school. Divisions were organized by belt level for mixed-gender poomsae and by gender for sparring.

Poomsae Results:

• A Team Division (Black Belts):
  1st: UW PA3 [Ria Aggarwal, Shawn Canonizado]
  2nd: UW PA2 [Sammy Otis, Manyi Zhao]
  3rd (tie): BSU PA1 [Joseph Wilbert, Nick Chapa] and UW PA1 [Ivan Xu, Sabrina Fisher]
• B Team Division (Blue/Red Belts):
  1st: UW PB1 [Jamison Canonizado, Lalipat Phinanhasin]
  2nd: UW PB2 [Brian Dahlberg, Ellen Dean]
  3rd: BSU PB1 [Emalee Flores-Olsen, Mayahuel Godinez-Gonzal]
• C Team Division (White/Yellow/Green Belts):
  1st: UO PC1 [Ayame Eliason]
  2nd: BSU PC1 [Tyla Martin]

Sparring Results:

• Men’s A Team Division:
  1st: UO A1 [Cole De Zoeten, Kyle Lam]
  2nd: BSU A1 [Joseph Wilbert]
  3rd (tie): UW A1 [Jamison Canonizado, Clive Johnson] and BSU A2 [Nick Chapa]
• Women’s A Team Division:
  1st: UW A1 [Lalipat Phinanhasin]
  2nd: BSU A1 [Sabrina Fisher]
• Women’s B Team Division:
  1st: UO B1 [Audrey Bederka, Piper Ahren]
  2nd: BSU B2 [Emalee Flores-Olsen]
  3rd (tie): BSU B1 [Mayahuel Godinez-Gonzal, Tyla Martin] and UW B1 [Ellen Dean]

As the competition concluded, overall team trophies were awarded based on cumulative results: UW claimed first place, BSU took second, and UO earned third.

“The energy and effort from all the athletes were incredible,” said Jason Dahlberg, NCTA National Poomsae Team Member and Referee Chair for the event. “It was exciting to see everyone put their best foot forward.”

“This was a successful start to the NWCTC season,” said Tong. “I look forward to seeing the conference grow as we host more events throughout the year.” The next NWCTC tournament is scheduled to take place at the University of Washington this winter.

Photos from the event can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xsjZDNktAIbEjfycGv8sUBv5PbCIOo0_