Lawrenceville School Karate Brings Home the Gold

Lawrenceville Karate brought home the gold – and more – from the Region 8 Fall Tournament, held last month at the Kalahari Resort in Pocono Manor, PA. More than 600 competitors were on hand for the fall World Tang Soo Do tournament.

The Lawrenceville squad boasted current students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Coach (and Language teacher) Eli Montes (a second degree black belt) won gold in both weapon and empty hand form competing against both second and third degree black belts. Tyler Durso-Finley ’13 (Bunn Library circulation desk and outreach assistant) won gold in all his events (weapon form, empty-hand form, and sparring). As a result, Durso-Finley (competing as a Cho Dan or candidate for a black belt) won his third Adult Gup Male Division championship, the highest award possible for a non-black belt.

Brown belt Sarah Fernandes ’26 won gold in weapons form and empty hands form. White belts Shreshta Agrawal ‘28, Sara Chander ‘27, and Lily Truong ‘26 each won two medals (all empty hand), the most possible at their level. Agrawal earned gold for forms and bronze for sparring, Chander took silver for forms and bronze for sparring, and Truong brought home silver for sparring and bronze for forms.

“The tournament was a great opportunity for the students to meet with and compete against our larger Tang Soo Do family. Our success reflects not only the hard work and dedication of those who were able to compete, but also the support and encouragement of everyone who participated in Lawrenceville Karate this fall,” said Montes. “The biggest win was that our students were willing to step out of their comfort zone and into competition rings.  Even better, they had fun when doing so!  They had a fantastic experience and I’m tremendously proud of all of our students and their achievements this term.”

For more information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.