Big Sky trio kicking their way to the top

Cassidy Meade, 15, Adam Bartlett, 10, and Taylor Reed, 14, all have different stories on how their involvement in taekwondo at Big Sky Martial Arts (BSMA) began.

Their participation, however, has one common theme — national medals.

All three were at the U.S. Open in Las Vegas Feb. 21-24 with Bartlett taking gold and Meade and Reed both claiming bronze.

BSMA also had five other individuals competing at the black-belt only event.

“They did an amazing job,” Master John Paul Noyes, who coaches the BSMA team along with his wife Debbie Noyes, said of his trio.

“They (all seven) did a great job,” he added.

“It’s been nine years since anyone medaled (at this event) from the Northwest Region (Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming).”

And the last team to do that was BSMA. That was in 2003 and they have five medal winners.

Meade, a 10th grader at Seeley-Swan High School, fought in the 14-17 age bracket’s welterweight class (114-121 pounds).

The second-degree black belt won her first three matches before losing to a competitor from Puerto Rico in the single-elimination tournament.

Bartlett, a first-degree black belt, won three overtime matches in the 10-11 heavyweight division (88 pounds and up). The five-foot dynamo is a fifth grader at Edgerton School.

Reed won two overtime matches before losing his next outing by a point in the 14-17 middleweight division (150-159 pounds).

Reed, a freshman at Stillwater Christian School, is a second-degree black belt.

“Adam didn’t have a lot of fear,” Noyes said of being on the national stage for the first time.

“He handled the pressure very well.”

The tournament was held at the Las Vegas Hotel — Paradise Event Center. There were 12 rings for the competition, which ran daily from 9 a.m.-9 p.m.

The sparring bouts consisted of three two-minute rounds.

“It was my first open,” Bartlett said.

“My first match, I thought it would be a lot easier because my kid was small. He had a lot of fight in him. He was going for it.

“The second was just as intense. A huge guy ... taller. Then there was a guy my size (in the final).”

Bartlett knew he had to be the aggressor in the OT finale to win the gold.

“My mom said it would be fun,” Bartlett said of why he got involved in the sport.

“It has been.

“It’s a very inspirational sport.”

Reed started taekwondo with encouragement from his parents.

“They wanted me to be able to defend myself,” he said.

“They thought that was very important.

“It started out that way,” he said.

“Taekwondo is definitely that (defense), but it’s also a sport.”

Reed, competing in his first U.S. Open, has participated in five AAU National events, placing second last year.

He lost to the same athlete at this Open as he did at the last AAU competition.

“A little more intense,” he said of the Open.

“All teams are sending their A teams, and it’s international.”

There were more than 1,800 competitions at the Open from 65-plus countries.

Taylor has been competing for almost nine years. Taekwondo has his complete sports focus.

“I want to make the U.S. National team,” he said.

“Beyond that, I’m not looking at is as a career.

“It’s a great sport and I love it,” he added.

“You have to be in condition all-year round.”

“His nickname is ‘The Beast,’” Noyes said.

“He’s as tough as they get. He has a great work ethic. He’s creative, takes risks, trains hard and listens to his coaches.”

Noyes said the 14-17 age bracket was one of the most difficult to compete in.

Like Taylor, Meade had to contend with division filled with outstanding talent.

“In her weight class, a ton of powerhouse girls from all over the country,” Noyes said.

“To fight as well as she did, it was a testimony to her perseverance and willingness to get in there and do the job. That comes from here at the gym. All the preparation she’s done. She’s one of the most intense players we have. And she brings it to training each time.”

Despite living 60 miles from Kalispell, Meade makes the trip to the BSMA gym two to five times a week. She’s been doing this for 11 years.

“My older sister did taekwondo back in Pennsylvania,” she said.

“We moved here when I was eight.

“She made the U.S. Trials in 2008. She finished third, didn’t make the U.S. National team.”

Only one individual per weight class is on the U.S. squad.

“I just went there to do my best, no matter what I came out with,” Meade said of her goals for the U.S. Open.

“I learned different techniques. I got to fight different countries highest level of competition. It was amazing.

“Sparring (is my favorite taekwondo discipline) ... being on the offensive. I like being in control of the match.”

Meade and Reed both plan to compete at AAU Taekwondo National Championships in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., July 2-7.

“As far as I can,” Meade said of her taekwondo expectations.