State taekwondo on Saturday at Flathead

Big Sky Martial Arts will host the Montana Taekwondo State Championships on Saturday at Flathead High School.

Eleven teams, nine from Montana, and close to 175 athletes will be competing in the one-day event.

Action starts at 9:30 a.m. The championships should finish at 5 p.m.

Admission is $5 for adults and children.

Big Sky Martial Arts has dominated this event in past years with individual winners and team titles. The defending champions, however, expect a stiff challenge from Championship Training of Missoula for the team trophy this year.

“They certainly will be in the running for it,” Big Sky Martial Arts coach John Paul Noyes said.

“It’s a big goal for them. They want to beat us, but it’s always good competition. We have a friendly relationship with them.”

Big Sky Martial Arts will have the most entrants with 57. Championship Training has 53.

The smallest schools are Livingston Taekwondo Academy and Lone Wolf Taekwondo from Red Lodge. Both have just one entrant.

Individuals will be tested in forms and Olympic style free sparring. Age divisions range from 5-6 to 32-and-over.

Also competing are: Northwest Taekwondo (Tacoma, Washington), Big Sky Taekwondo (Great Falls), Dynasty Taekwondo (Sandpoint, Idaho), Rocky Mountain Martial Arts (Butte), Missoula Taekwondo Center, Montana Taekwondo Academy (Missoula) and Kootenai Taekwondo (Libby).

“It’s a coveted spot, as in any sport” Noyes said of being a state champion.

“From there it opens the possibility of going on to nationals as you feel comfortable and good about the success you had at state.”

This is the final event before nationals, which are held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in July. Big Sky Martial Arts won the national title last year and finished second the year before that.

Big Sky Martial Arts will have 47 competitors in Florida for nationals. Those athletes qualified in Kalispell on April 18.