{"id":4201,"date":"2024-10-30T09:21:54","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T17:21:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncta-usa.com\/wordpress\/?p=4201"},"modified":"2026-02-08T10:04:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T18:04:55","slug":"mctc-hosts-first-annual-central-championships-at-northwestern-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncta-usa.com\/wordpress\/2024\/10\/30\/mctc-hosts-first-annual-central-championships-at-northwestern-university\/","title":{"rendered":"MCTC Hosts First Annual Central Championships at Northwestern University"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Evanston, IL, October 26<\/strong> \u2013 The Midwest Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (MCTC) held its first annual Central Championships at Northwestern University this past weekend, where 104 collegiate athletes from seven schools competed in an unforgettable tournament. The event marked major firsts for MCTC, including the debut of 3v3 team formats, true bracketing, and Collegiate National qualifications. \u201cThis was a historic event where MCTC made firsts happen, including 3v3 [team poomsae and sparring], true bracketing, and Collegiate National qualifications,\u201d said David Lee, MCTC League Director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the NCTA Regional Initiative, this tournament also served as a qualifier for the new NCTA Cup Division, to be held at the NCTA National Collegiate Championships in 2025. \u201cSix regional conferences are being recognized and organized around the United States and will provide more opportunities than ever before for college students to compete and grow as athletes and leaders,\u201d said Dan Chuang, President of the NCTA. \u201cParticipation in the regional conferences will qualify collegiate athletes for a new additional division at the NCTA Championships, the NCTA Team Championships. This division will see athletes competing to take home a traveling cup, the new NCTA Cup, which will reside with the winning Team Division school each year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the athletes, from seasoned to first-time competitors, were beaming throughout the day. \u201cThis tournament is the first time many of my athletes have ever competed, and I am beyond impressed by the opportunity this tournament gave them,\u201d said Humza Qazi, Head Coach at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). \u201c[This tournament] was a great opportunity for everyone to come together and compete,\u201d added Jon Price, Head Coach of Northwestern University. \u201cI have athletes who are shy who have been really coming out of their shell today to cheer for one another. They\u2019re all really excited for the next tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The competition exclusively featured a 3v3 team format, with teams of up to three members from the same school competing in single-elimination brackets in both Poomsae and Sparring. Mixed-Gender Poomsae Divisions included an A-Team bracket for Black Belts, a B-Team bracket for Blue and Red Belts, and a C-Team bracket for White, Yellow, and Green Belts. Similarly, six Sparring Divisions were contested, with three each for men and women across A, B, and C teams. The 3v3 format was a resounding success and introduced a fresh dynamic to the Midwest athletes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really like the random 3v3 format for poomsae,\u201d said Jason Dahlberg, athlete from UIUC and seasoned USATKD competitor. \u201cIt makes poomsae feel more like a sport instead of just a performance.\u201d Miles Jackson, President of the Northwestern Sport Taekwondo Club, shared, \u201cThe 3v3 format really adds that team element to everything, and it makes you feel less alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Poomsae Divisions, Ohio State University (OSU) PA1 (Manami Fukuda, Abby Schwarz, Jed Jung) took gold in the A Team Division, UIUC PB1 (Alice Lua, Angelina Yan, Edward Guo) won in the B Team Division, and Northwestern PC1 (Iris Hernandez, Jillian Tabak, Bianca Diaz) took first place in the C Team Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sparring Divisions saw OSU Men\u2019s A1 (Shagnik Sarkar, Saketh Balakumar, Alex Papadopol) take gold in the Men\u2019s A Team Division, while UIUC Women\u2019s A1 (Ashley Chen, Rui Su) won the Women\u2019s A Team Division. OSU Men\u2019s B1 (Sirojiddin Aripov, Maxton Colby, Brayden Mikulski) took first in the Men\u2019s B Team Division, and OSU Women\u2019s B1 (Manami Fukuda, Sophia Weiss, Sara Sun) won in the Women\u2019s B Team Division. In the C Team Division, University of Chicago Men\u2019s C2 (Noah Michel, Anthony Chiu) claimed gold in the Men\u2019s Division, while Northwestern Women\u2019s C1 (Lacey Thompson, Jillian Tabak, Bianca Diaz) secured first place in the Women\u2019s Division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the event concluded, overall team trophies were awarded based on cumulative results. OSU captured first place, Northwestern took second, and UIUC came in third. \u201cThe energy of the event was amazing,\u201d David Lee said. \u201cAll of these different universities only had a few weeks to prepare, and they showed up to this event anyway. In the end, these athletes left with an experience of a lifetime that will propel them into purposeful training, recruiting, and pursuing of their club\u2019s missions. I had so many athletes, coaches, and parents come up to me with gratitude and excitement for another event. We will have a third MCTC event sometime in the spring, and we\u2019ll be accepting requests for bids at mctc.tkd@gmail.com.\u201d

Photos from the event can be found here: https:\/\/drive.google.com\/drive\/folders\/1Zt-AAY1SgjQ2InS17WOpxAhf3401FtrC<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Evanston, IL, October 26 \u2013 The Midwest Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (MCTC) held its first annual Central Championships at Northwestern University this past weekend, where 104 collegiate athletes from seven schools competed in an unforgettable tournament. The event marked major firsts for MCTC, including the debut of 3v3 team formats, true bracketing, and Collegiate National qualifications. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-regional-leagues","count-0","even alt","author-aroutray","last"],"yoast_head":"\nMCTC Hosts First Annual Central Championships at Northwestern University - NCTA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ncta-usa.com\/wordpress\/2024\/10\/30\/mctc-hosts-first-annual-central-championships-at-northwestern-university\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MCTC Hosts First Annual Central Championships at Northwestern University - NCTA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Evanston, IL, October 26 \u2013 The Midwest Collegiate Taekwondo Conference (MCTC) held its first annual Central Championships at Northwestern University this past weekend, where 104 collegiate athletes from seven schools competed in an unforgettable tournament. 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