Soma wins black-belt sparring title at national championship

AUSTIN, Texas --- Jordan Soma of Kiffmann Taekwondo won a 10-11 black-belt sparring title on Tuesday at the USA Taekwondo national championships.

Two other Kiffmann athletes claimed gold medals on Wednesday --- Brandon Yoshikawa and Joshua Kepler.

Soma competed at 66.4-76.4 pounds.

''I wanted to do my best, try my hardest and win the gold,'' he said.

Soma went 4-0 in the tournament, allowing only one point --- in his 2-1 victory in the title match, which was scoreless going into the third and final period.

''I just got it in my mind that I wasn't going to let him take the gold away from me,'' Soma said.

Yoshikawa was the sparring champion in the 8-9 blue-belt division at 55.2-66.1 pounds, and took third in forms.

Kepler won sparring gold in the 8-9 green-belt division at 66.4-76.4 pounds, and took third in forms.

William Kepler was the runner-up in the 6-7 yellow-belt division in forms.