By Taylor J. Hale  
Staff Writer

STEVENS POINT – A local martial arts studio is making ripples in the national scene.

Five Rings sent five students to the USA Taekwondo National Championships in Minneapolis, held June 28 – July 4. All five students brought home a medal from the tournament.

While landing an entire team of medal-recipients is an impressive feat alone, Five Rings also made state Taekwondo history this year, as Stephon Freeman, 28, became Wisconsin’s first athlete to medal in the adult male black belt division.

“Freeman is the first home-coached, homegrown Wisconsin athlete to ever medal in nationals in the black belt division,” said Steve Decker, Five Rings owner. “There have been other Wisconsin athletes that have trained out of state and medaled. But for institutional knowledge from the state, being able to self-sustain, that’s a big step.”

Freeman brought home a bronze medal. But just months before the contest, the Portage County athlete was unsure if he could even compete.

“I tore my ACL last year in November, so I had surgery right before Christmas,” Freeman said. “They were like ‘it looks like a six-month recovery. I said, ‘so I can compete again in six months?’”

The ambitious competitor made a quick recovery and brought his skills to the tournament, which draws in over 3,000 contestants annually. But Freeman wasn’t the only athlete pushing his limits at nationals. Shawna Feist was Five Ring’s first blind athlete to make it to the tournament, winning a silver medal in Poomsae.

“This was her first nationals,” Decker explained. “It was stressful, and she was anxious about putting herself in front of thousands of people. But I think it gave her perspective. It made things real and gave her a purpose for the things that we do.” Three younger athletes from the studio also brought home medals. Cheyenne Kinney, 14, won silver; Lili Rolands, 18, won gold; and Benjamin Dore, 16, brought home a bronze medal.

Five Rings opened in 2013 and has attended nationals every year since 2014. The studio’s reputation is continuing to grow throughout the Taekwondo community.

“We have been making ripples around the area,” Freeman said. “We have people stopping through Stevens Point from out of state to train. We built it up to a point where we were asking people to train with us; now they are asking us to come and train.”

For more information on Five Rings, visit www.facebook.com/FiveRingsMA or call 715-347-5994.