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ELKHART — Elkhart Martial Arts went south to mine for AAU gold and brought back the biggest haul of the modern era.
The competition team sent 13 athletes to two national tournaments, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, competing in 58 individual events.
As a team, they brought home 29 gold medal national championships, 18 silver medals, and nine bronze medals.
While everyone shared the bounty, a few athletes’ performances stuck out, beginning with Zachary Herban. Zach went a perfect 7-7, earning seven national championships. He also earned Grand Champion honors with his performance. Of the 3,000-plus athletes this year, only 22 earned this prestigious prize.
AAU National Grand Championships are beginning to be a regular occurrence for Elkhart Martial Arts. Walker Brigham (2023), Apolo Mosier (2024) and now Zach Herban (2026) have each claimed the prize. They are the only three in the history of Elkhart Martial Arts to do so.
Head coach Lorrin Smith’s assistant coaches came out swinging at nationals this year. After smashing his way through 15 boards and winning gold with a power hand technique, assistant coach and competitor Mark Davis took a silver medal in sparring to earn an invite to the AAU National team trials.
A second assistant coach and competitor, Amelia Wright, also earned a silver medal in sparring to earn her invite to the trials. Known more as a forms competitor, Amelia earned a second National team trial invite for the forms team after winning a gold and two bronze medals in separate forms events.
A third assistant coach and competitor, Delilah Wright, took the Charlotte path and attended the USA Taekwondo national championships where she earned a silver medal. Delilah is now the top ranked female Olympic sparring competitor in the country for her age and weight class. Wright should secure her invite to the USA Taekwondo National Team trials later this summer.
“Coach Smith is an absolute mastermind of martial arts,” assistant coach Jarrod Brigham said. “No gym our size in a town as small as Elkhart has coaches [Smith, Davis, Wright, and Wright] this proficient. The students are extremely blessed to have competitors of this caliber training them.”
Two first-time national competitors, Lilly Kinzel and Aiden Pace, also brought home two and three national championships respectively.
Head coach Lorrin Smith was impressed by these two young ladies throughout the season, saying of Lilly, “there’s no denying her commitment to training, and she has come a long way because of it.” On Aiden, Smith said, “it’s rare for me to see someone approach their training with as much insight as she does.”
Like every year, the AAU National Championships was a family affair this season. The Herban family dominated the scene. In additional to Zach’s seven gold medals, sisters Elizabeth and Molly added five and two championships to bring the Herban family haul to 14 national championships.
The Dziubek family, from Michigan, sent three competitors to their first AAU National Championship, and they represented the Wolverine state well. Jan Sr., his son Jan Jr., and daughter Anna all earned at least one gold medal on their way to a total of seven championships.
The Dziubek children were part of the dominant speed breaking team sent by Elkhart Martial Arts. The hometown team rolled this event again. Eight members competed in “buzzsaw” breaking, where competitors break 10 boards as fast as they can. Six team members won gold, including Walker Brigham, who successfully defended his 2025 buzzsaw crown.
Walker and his sister, Jessica, earned one gold, four silver medals and a bronze for the Brigham family this year. Jessica was a few hundredths of a second from winning gold in her buzzsaw event.
Related or not, the whole team comes together as a family and supports everyone all the way, backers say.
“We have a lot of families this year that have had parents and kids participate, and also siblings,” team mom Ariel Wright said. “People think taekwondo is a solo sport, but there’s plenty of opportunities to build friendships and have a team.”
Continue reading...
The competition team sent 13 athletes to two national tournaments, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, competing in 58 individual events.
As a team, they brought home 29 gold medal national championships, 18 silver medals, and nine bronze medals.
While everyone shared the bounty, a few athletes’ performances stuck out, beginning with Zachary Herban. Zach went a perfect 7-7, earning seven national championships. He also earned Grand Champion honors with his performance. Of the 3,000-plus athletes this year, only 22 earned this prestigious prize.
AAU National Grand Championships are beginning to be a regular occurrence for Elkhart Martial Arts. Walker Brigham (2023), Apolo Mosier (2024) and now Zach Herban (2026) have each claimed the prize. They are the only three in the history of Elkhart Martial Arts to do so.
Head coach Lorrin Smith’s assistant coaches came out swinging at nationals this year. After smashing his way through 15 boards and winning gold with a power hand technique, assistant coach and competitor Mark Davis took a silver medal in sparring to earn an invite to the AAU National team trials.
A second assistant coach and competitor, Amelia Wright, also earned a silver medal in sparring to earn her invite to the trials. Known more as a forms competitor, Amelia earned a second National team trial invite for the forms team after winning a gold and two bronze medals in separate forms events.
A third assistant coach and competitor, Delilah Wright, took the Charlotte path and attended the USA Taekwondo national championships where she earned a silver medal. Delilah is now the top ranked female Olympic sparring competitor in the country for her age and weight class. Wright should secure her invite to the USA Taekwondo National Team trials later this summer.
“Coach Smith is an absolute mastermind of martial arts,” assistant coach Jarrod Brigham said. “No gym our size in a town as small as Elkhart has coaches [Smith, Davis, Wright, and Wright] this proficient. The students are extremely blessed to have competitors of this caliber training them.”
Two first-time national competitors, Lilly Kinzel and Aiden Pace, also brought home two and three national championships respectively.
Head coach Lorrin Smith was impressed by these two young ladies throughout the season, saying of Lilly, “there’s no denying her commitment to training, and she has come a long way because of it.” On Aiden, Smith said, “it’s rare for me to see someone approach their training with as much insight as she does.”
Like every year, the AAU National Championships was a family affair this season. The Herban family dominated the scene. In additional to Zach’s seven gold medals, sisters Elizabeth and Molly added five and two championships to bring the Herban family haul to 14 national championships.
The Dziubek family, from Michigan, sent three competitors to their first AAU National Championship, and they represented the Wolverine state well. Jan Sr., his son Jan Jr., and daughter Anna all earned at least one gold medal on their way to a total of seven championships.
The Dziubek children were part of the dominant speed breaking team sent by Elkhart Martial Arts. The hometown team rolled this event again. Eight members competed in “buzzsaw” breaking, where competitors break 10 boards as fast as they can. Six team members won gold, including Walker Brigham, who successfully defended his 2025 buzzsaw crown.
Walker and his sister, Jessica, earned one gold, four silver medals and a bronze for the Brigham family this year. Jessica was a few hundredths of a second from winning gold in her buzzsaw event.
Related or not, the whole team comes together as a family and supports everyone all the way, backers say.
“We have a lot of families this year that have had parents and kids participate, and also siblings,” team mom Ariel Wright said. “People think taekwondo is a solo sport, but there’s plenty of opportunities to build friendships and have a team.”
Continue reading...
