Seven athletes from Wushu Taekwon-Do Academy (WTA) were selected to be part of Taekwon-Do Team USA and will represent the United States at the ITF World Championship 2025 in Barcelona, Spain, in July. Four of those black belts were also selected to be part of the seven person team that will compete in team events at this international competition against strong countries like Argentina, South Korea, Italy, the UK and many others.
Nolan Leyesa (16), a sophomore at Voorhees High School, qualified to compete individually in patterns, sparring and specialty breaking. He was also selected to be part of the prestigious junior boys seven-person team that will compete in team events (patterns, sparring, power breaking and specialty breaking). Also selected to be part of the junior boys seven-person team, the student at Hunterdon Central High School Oakley Weisshaupt (14) qualified to compete individually in sparring.
In the adult division, two athletes from Wushu Taekwon-Do Academy were selected to be part of the men’s seven-person team: Lieutenant Justin Nebel (27), a former Team USA member, and Scott Raff (33), a 5th Degree Black Belt that trained under Master Christopher Leyesa for over 20 years. They both were also selected to compete individually in sparring.
Another junior athlete from Hunterdon that will fight for a spot at the podium representing the USA is Madelyn Kingsland (15). She will be sparring in the junior girls division.
In the senior division (40+), Alice Lobo (47) qualified to represent the United States in patterns and Matt Kingsland (44) was selected to compete in sparring and patterns.
“I never thought pursuing my dreams and goals would inspire others to do the same. I’m grateful that I have students, especially my own children, who want to follow my path”, said Master Christopher Leyesa, head instructor of the Wushu Taekwon-Do Academy and ITF World Champion at the ITF World Championships 2022 (ITFWC ’22), in the 6th Degree Senior Male Patterns Division, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The journey of these athletes from Hunterdon County to the World Championship 2025 in Barcelona can be followed at their Instagram accounts @wushutkdacademy, @theredhive, and @aliceonthego.
