Carlos Villa from the World Tae Kwon Do Center in Lake Worth defeated Joshua Hwang of Virginia during overtime to become the 2016 AAU Taekwondo National Champion in their division on Thursday, July 7 at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center.
Competing in advanced belt division for 12 to 14 year old boys, under 81.6 lbs., in Olympic TKD sparring, the final standings were Villa in first place, Hwang in second place, and Nicholas Baiz of New Mexico and Ryan Carnes of Florida tied for third place.
Villa, 11, shares winning a medal at the AAU TKD National Championship with his coach, Master Luciano Cesario. Cesario won bronze in the black belt division for men over age 43, between 150.0 to 176.4 lbs., in Olympic Sparring.
Villa will test for promotion to red belt in TKD in August and will compete next at the International Martial Arts Festival in October at Orlando.
The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is one of the largest, nonprofit, volunteer sports organizations in the United States, dedicated to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs.
The World Tae Kwon Do Center is located 6680 Lantana Road in Lake Worth. Owned and operated since 1997 by Master Gina Anacleto, a 5th dan black belt, the center teaches taekwondo sparring and self-defense classes.
For more information, visit www.mytaekwondocenter.com or call (561) 434-9700.
ABOVE: Gold medalist Carlos Villa (center) stands with his teammates Lily Landstrom (left) and Nicolas Maldonado (right) at the AAU National Championship in Fort Lauderdale on July 7.
