Sussex youngsters win medals at Taekwondo tourney

SUSSEX - John Smith and Matthew Tracy, two students from Universal Taekwondo in Sussex, journeyed to the Second U.S. Open Masters Tournament in September to compete in the all-day event held at Clifton High School. The two were accompanied by Master Chris Fricke, head instructor at Universal. Open to children ages five to17, as well as adults, the competition drew more than 500 contestants from the tri-state area and featured three events for each belt rank and age/weight group: sparring, open form, and free style breaking competitions. Smith, a junior black belt at Universal, took second place in open form and third place in sparring in the 10-12 year old division. Tracy, an orange belt, captured second place in the breaking competition in his division of 6-7 year olds. “The thing that makes me most proud is the extra effort these students showed - not only by adding extra training on Saturday mornings for this event, but by demonstrating what we call ‘black belt attitude’,” said Fricke. “The life lessons the students learn every day are the true reward,” he added, “but winning medals in competition is great too.” Universal Taekwondo is located at 63 Main St., Sussex. For information, call 973-702-8591.