ATA Martial Arts District Champions 2023
Members of Triumph Martial Arts in Pella traveled across the state to compete for District Champ titles this past weekend. As the 2022-2023 tournament season wraps up, the top competitors from Iowa, Minnesota and North and South Dakota met on Saturday, June 3 in Sioux City, Iowa to vie for North District Campion titles.
Triumph members Chase Swenson, Pam Van Vyk, Austin Orr and Makenna Lewin each earned the right to compete for this prestigious title by earning points for victories throughout the Taekwondo tournament season.
“We are so proud of everyone at Triumph who steps into a competition ring,” said Matt White, Owner and Chief Instructor at Triumph. “It takes a lot of courage to put yourself in front of others and have them judge your performance. Win or lose, competing in tournaments builds tremendous character in everyone who chooses to take that step.”
ATA Martial Arts competitions provide opportunities to earn Champion titles at the State (50), District (9) and World (1) levels. State Champ title winners automatically advance to District competitions, and Black Belts who earn District Champ titles are invited to compete for World Champion in the Tournament of Champions at the ATA World Championships each year. Squaring up against competitors from Iowa, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota this past weekend, three of Triumph’s members earned District Champion titles.
“There is so much more to competition than the hour or so you are in a ring,” adds Chris White, Co-Owner and Instructor. “Once a member decides to compete, they put in a tremendous amount of time and effort practicing both in and out of our martial arts school. We provide one-on-one feedback and coaching for members to help them improve their technique, flow, power, speed and overall presentation for competition.”
“We’ve had several ‘new to competition’ members decide to attend tournaments this year and they’ve had a TON of fun!” Matt added, “We love seeing more of our members decide to compete and are especially proud of the way they represent both of our school locations – in Pella and in Clive.”
Triumph competitors earned several State and District Champ titles earned to date this season, and it’s not the end for some. Chase and his family are planning to travel to the ATA World Championships competition this year in Phoenix, AZ in July.
2023 STATE CHAMP TITLES:
- Makenna Lewin – State Champ in Forms competition
- Austin Orr – State Champ in Forms competition
- Chase Swenson – State Champ in Sparring competition
2023 DISTRICT CHAMP TITLES:
- Chase Swenson – District Champ in Sparring and Combat Weapons competition
- Austin Orr – District Champ in Forms competition
Triumph is proud to celebrate it’s 20th year teaching martial arts and self-defense to families in Marion, Mahaska, Jasper, and Polk counties, and has been honored with multiple awards for their programs and instructors.
Triumph Martial Arts is a martial arts and self-defense school with locations in Pella, IA and Clive, IA. We specialize in Carlos Machado Jiu-Jitsu, KMF-AC Krav Maga, and ATA Martial Arts. We feature award winning programs for kids and adults under the direction of internationally-certified instructors.