Flames senior team captain Ericson Lehmann placed third in both sparring (left) and forms (right) Saturday at UNC at Chapel Hill. (Photos by Katrina McMillen)
All 10 taekwondo team competitors capture medals to lead Liberty to second-place showing at UNC
10/13/2026 6:46:00 PM | Taekwondo
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The seven Flames and three Lady Flames held their own in both the forms and sparring divisions at their first of four ACATA tournaments this season.
Competing against four other teams at the season's first Atlantic Collegiate Alliance of Taekwondo (ACATA) tournament, Liberty University's men's and women's teams combined for a second-place showing to host University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Saturday.
The Tar Heels — who featured more than 20 competitors compared to 10 for the Flames and Lady Flames — also beat out teams from rival North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) in the first of four tournaments that will count toward a season-long ACATA conference championship.
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Emily Sloane won the women's intermediate heavyweight forms and sparring divisions.
"Everybody did so well," Liberty Head Coach Tom Childress said. "We love the fact that three (team members) got to take home double gold medals. We had a few young people that came to the team with experience, and all of them did very well, and we have one (freshman Jocelyn Naro) who is brand new to the sport — who had never done martial arts in her life — and she placed in fighting in her very first competition after just six weeks of training."
Senior Matthew Knowles captured both the men's intermediate lightweight Poomsae (forms) and sparring titles and graduate Emily Sloane won the women's intermediate heavyweight forms and sparring divisions while graduate David Varner finished first in both beginner middleweight forms and sparring.
Other medal performances for top-three showings included freshman Luke Price who finished second in forms and third in sparring in the men's beginner heavyweight division while sophomore Xavier Zumba came in second in sparring and third in forms in that same class.
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Lady Flames graduate Sophia Varrati (in blue, left, and red, right) finished second in women's elite middleweight sparring Saturday at UNC.
Senior captain Ericson Lehmann placed third in both men's elite (black belt) lightweight forms and sparring while senior Paul Bearchell and graduate Sophia Varrati finished second in men's and women's elite middleweight sparring, respectively.
Naro claimed second place in the women's beginner middleweight sparring division while freshman Nathan Novak took third in the men's beginner middleweight sparring competition. Â
"We're down in numbers due to injuries and other factors and now have only 16 (student-athletes) on the roster," Childress said, noting the Lady Flames only entered three team members — Sloane, Varrati, and Naro. "All 10 members of the team that competed medaled in sparring and six also medaled in poomsae, which was really good to see, and why we were able to finish second overall. They all did a terrific job."
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Graduate David Varner finished first in both beginner middleweight forms and sparring.
Liberty will travel to its next ACATA tournament at Villanova (Pa.) University on Nov. 7 before traveling to Princeton (N.J.) University and UMBC in the spring semester. Â
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"This first one was an individual tournament, but the second at Villanova and third at Princeton likely will be best of 3 versus 3, most likely," Childress said, noting that is how most East Coast Taekwondo Conference (ECTC) tournaments are run due to the size of the events. "That will put us at a bit of a disadvantage, being a smaller team, as most of our entries will be two-person teams rather than three."
Liberty has put in a bid to host the National Collegiate Taekwondo Association (NCTA) Championships, which UNC Chapel Hill hosted last spring.
"It is scheduled to be in the Midwest this year, but last year's nationals should have been on the West Coast, so it is possible it could be held on the East Coast for a third year in a row, depending on who else puts in bids," Childress said. "We have started the process."
