Gary Steele Karate Studio captures 10 state titles
Local martial arts students from Gary Steele Karate Studio broke a 30-year record, as they captured 10 state championships in Cookeville recently.
The school’s huge success was crowned by karate fighter Michael Grubbs, who brought home another “triple crown” from the state championship, with first-place wins in both fighting, forms and weapons.
Other state champion karate stars included black belt J.T. Mitchelll, who was first in both creative forms and fighting while taking third in weapons, as well as fellow black belt Peyton Webb, who took first place in both fighting and creative forms.
GSKS black belts who also brought home state honors included: Paul Byars, second in both creative and traditional forms; Aaron Thomas, second in team competition and third in fighting; Kyle Jones, second in creative forms; and Bonnie Gutierrez, third in creative forms.
Other big winners included Pascual Esparza, who was first in both creative forms and fighting and took third in weapons, as well as Shawn Green, who was first in creative forms, second in team and third in weapons.
Megan Tate brought home second place in creative and traditional forms, while Mike Pascoe was second in both traditional forms and fighting.
Adara Scott took home the championship in traditional forms, while Edward Lovely was second in that division and Jason Richardson was second in weapons. Leslie Moulton took third in creative forms, and Davida Temple rounded out the record-setting tourney performance with a fourth-place finish in fighting.
The Tennessee State Karate Championship is an open challenge tournament, featuring competitors from across the southeast.