Steele teams clean up at state tourney

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard (McMinnville, Tenn.)

It’s not uncommon to see students from Gary Steele Karate Studio carry home plenty of trophies from their various competitions throughout the year.

But the group turned in its most impressive performance ever recently, breaking the all-time school record with 11 state championships at the 28th Annual Tennessee State Karate Championship tournament.

A total of 43 awards were brought back from the Cookeville event in various divisions of fighting and forms, as well as team fighting competition, against martial arts competitors from across the southeast.

The students competed as two separate teams, Team Legacy and Team Steele.

In team fighting competition, the trio of Ken Sydenstricker, Michael Caldwell and Bob Croyle came away with a first-place finish, while Josh Powers, Michael Thrower and Lindsey Thompson were second in their division. Three other teams took third in their competitions. They included: Aaron Thomas, Kim Dockum and Bonnie Higgins; Josh Davenport, Kristy Pugh and J.T. Mitchell; and the black belt team of James Morgan, Richard Bennett and John Thompson.

In individual competition, Sydenstricker, Roy Tucker and Bonnie Higgins all came away with first place in both fighting and forms. Other first-place winners in fighting included Bennett, Pugh, Davenport and Tammy Lockhart, who was also second in forms.

Dockum, Lindsey Thompson and Debbie Cameron all took second infighting, while Doug Thomas and Oscar Mariquez both finished second in fighting and third in forms.

Aaron Thomas finished third in fighting and second in forms in his division, while John Cosminsky was third in fighting and took fourth in forms. Other fourth-place finishes in fighting went to Eric Davidson, Croyle and Caldwell, and Morgan rounded out the team’s record-setting performance with a fourth-place trophy in forms.

PHOTO INFO:
Record-setting performance: Students and instructors from Gary Steele Karate Studio pose together with several of the 43 trophies they captured at the recent Tennessee State Karate Championships. Pictured are, front row, from left, Lindsey Thompson, Bonnie Higgins and Michael Thrower. Second row, head instructor Paul Byars, Oscar Mariquez, Roy Tucker, Debbie Cameron and Bob Croyle. Back row, John Thompson, Joshua Davenport, Ken Sydenstricker, Richard Bennett, and director Gary Steele. (Rob Nunley photo)