It's undoubtedly a fantastic, and rare feat for any one team or individual in Central New York to win a national championship, but Carlos Tearney's Champion Martial Arts School is smashing that idea here in 2011.
The school placed 5 different martial artists as national champions, and each one has been named to the USA Karate Team for the World Kickboxing Council World Championships in Cadiz, Spain October 31-November 4th.
One step inside the school and you can see why these fighters are on a world level, they perform with such enthusiasm and tenacity that the rest of the world should be on watch for Team USA.
The national champions include:
Eric Wolfe who won three titles in Extreme Weapons, Free Style Weapons, and Traditional Forms.
Chris Collins who captured the title in Traditional Forms, Traditional Weapons, and 16-17 year old Light Heavyweight Fighting.
Jake Wilkinson won in the 16-17 year old Heavyweight Fighting group and in the 16-17 year old Continuous Fighting.
John Esposito won in the 85 kilos (185 lbs.) Fighting
Carlos Tearney took home the crown in 95+ kilos (205 lbs.) Fighting and Continuous Fighting for the same weight class.
There was one other champion in the Syracuse area from a different school, El Java Abdul-Qadir won two titles in fighting and continuous fighting.
We here at CNY Central certainly wish all the athletes the best of luck in their preparations for the World Championships.
