Total Taekwondo’s Izabella Ross and Ritisha Rashmil battle for the overall Point Sparring championship at the AAU Taekwondo Nationals in Las Vegas.
Submitted photo
Total Taekwondo sent its first athlete to the AAU Team Trials last year, when Tatum Downing made it.
This year, Total Taekwondo has tripled that output. The Columbus gym will be sending three athletes to the Team Trials, which will be July 31 through Aug. 3 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“It’s really a pretty prestigious thing,” Master Robert Kelley said. “We almost had four or five, but to go from one to three is amazing. Olympic Sparring, getting an invitation to go and compete at Team Trials, that’s the pinnacle. Anybody who goes to nationals, that’s what they’re looking for. They’re looking to qualify in Olympic fighting for Team Trials.”
In all, Total Taekwondo won 19 gold, 18 silver and 23 bronze medals at the 2022 AAU Taekwondo Nationals earlier this month in Las Vegas. Ethan Steinrock, Skyelar Ross and Rendy Zhong qualified for the Team Trials, and four athletes — Steinrock, Tatum Downing, Ratisha Rashmil and Izabella Ross — won spots on the AAU National Point Sparring team.
“This is probably actually the best year that we’ve had,” Kelley said. “We had a lot of people who medaled in forms, and we had a lot of people who medaled in Point Sparring.”
Total Taekwondo’s Ethan Steinrock scores a kick to the body during Olympic Sparring at the AAU Taekwondo Nationals in Las Vegas.
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Steinrock, 20, took one of the two Adult (18-32) Male Division Black Belt spots for the AAU Point Sparring team. The Columbus East graduate and Purdue junior also qualified for the Team Trials for Olympic Sparring.
“Last year was my first year competing in the Black Belt Division, so I learned a lot and kind of gave myself a chance to realize that I could compete at that high level,” Steinrock said. “This year, I definitely pushed it really hard, and I’m really happy with how I’m doing, and I’m really excited to compete at Team Trials and hopefully take that team spot. I’m stoked.”
Total Taekwondo’s Skyelar Ross is all smiles after winning the Junior 15-17 female black belt division at the AAU Taekwondo Nationals in Las Vegas.
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Skyelar Ross won the national championship in the Junior (15-17) Female Black Belt Divison. The incoming sophomore at East established herself as the favorite at the Team Trials.
“It felt pretty good,” she said. “I felt like my training paid off. It’s pretty much the biggest deal ever.”
Total Taekwondo’s Rendy Zhong scores a kick to the head during Olympic Sparring at the AAU Taekwondo Nationals in Las Vegas.
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Zhong finished second in the Cadet (12-14) Female Girls Black Belt Division in Olympic Sparring.
“I was really excited,” Zhong said. “I’m really proud because Black Belt Division is really tough, and this was my first year competing as a black belt. So I was really happy.”
Total Taekwondo’s Point Sparring team of, from left, Izabella Ross, Ritisha Rashmil, Tatum Downing and Ethan Steinrock pose for a photo at the AAU Taekwondo Nationals in Las Vegas.
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Downing, an East graduate who is going into her final semester at IUPUC, made last year’s Team Trials, where she finished second in Olympic Sparring. She took one ofthe two Adult Female Black Belt team spots for this year’s Point Sparring team.
“I was excited,” Downing said. “That was my goal for point sparring because I won it last year and wanted to win it again this year. It was a little tougher this year. There were some people that were a little more experience, but I did better than I thought I would.”
Rashmil and Izabella Ross each claimed one of the two team spots for the 16-17 Female Black Belt Point Sparring Team.
“I was really happy with how point sparring turned out,” Rashmil said. “I wasn’t exactly pleased with how Olympic Sparring turned out, but I’m happy that I made the national team, and I’m looking at the positive side. It was a pretty cool experience, and I’m really happy that it turned out the way it did.”
“I’m very happy because it was my second nationals, and that’s the first time I competed in Point Sparring, and I got first,” Izabella Ross added. “That was amazing because I’ve been doing Taekwondo for a long time and to win is great. It’s like all your work comes together, and you did it.”
Point Sparring is light contact and is very controlled. Winners from the at nationals in Point Sparring automatically make the national team.
Olympic fighting is full contact. The Adult Division allows full contact to the head and knockouts.
“That’s a little bit more intimidating,” Kelley said. “It’s much tougher.”
The Team Trials will consist of the top four in the nation in each event, plus national team members. They will compete in round-robin fights to see who will represent AAU Taekwondo in international competitions.
Only one per age group and weight division will be those representatives.
“Schools from all over the country are vying for those top placings, and for a small school in Columbus to get a Team Trials invitation — just one, let alone three — to me it’s incredible,” Kelley said. “It just goes to show all the hard work the kids did this year has really paid off, so I’m pretty impressed with them.”
