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www.insidehalton.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, September 15, 2017 | 26 Oakville teen Punongbayan top bantam at taekwondo Pan Ams Carl Adrian Punongbayan of Oakville, representing Canada at the Pan Am Taekwondo cadet and junior championships in Costa Rica, dominated his American opponent in the gold-medal match. Punongbayan, 14, took a 10-4 decision over Gabriel Bonsol of the U.S. to win the male bantam weight division. "It was with great honour when they played the Canadian national anthem on my behalf at the awarding ceremony," Punongbayan said. "I could not describe the feeling when I was at the podium. This has been my greatest achievement so far as a delegate of Team Canada." To get to the championship match, Punongbayan had to manoeuvre through eight matches, defeating Alejandro Vega from Panama 32-23 in the quarter-finals and Luis Gonzalez Campos of Puerto Rico 10-4 in the semifinals. He also fought competitors from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru. Punongbayan was one of nine Canadian gold medallists as Team Canada came home from the meet, held Aug. 29-31, with 41 medals overall. His coach is seventh-degree black belt Master In Kyung Kim, a four-time world taekwondo champion representing Korea. Punongbayan trains two hours at least four times a week at Sport-TKD dojang, or taekwondo school, in Toronto. He started taekwondo as an eight-yearold, gaining his black belt at age 10. A bronze medal followed at his first international competition in 2013, the Canadian Open championships. At the 2015 Cadet world taekwondo Follow Halton sports on Twitter: @postbeaversport (Kevin Nagel, Burlington Post and Oakville Beaver sports editor) @miltononsports (Steve Leblanc, Milton Canadian Champion sports editor) @herbgarbutt (Post, Beaver, Champion sports reporter) Carl Adrian Punongbayan of Oakville holds up the Canadian flag on the podium after defeating Gabriel Bonsol (left) of the U.S. in the gold-medal match in the bantam boys division at the Pan Am taekwondo championships in Costa Rica Aug. 29-31.| photo submitted championship in South Korea, Punongbayan was Team Canada's youngest delegate at 12. He has won silver medals at the 2015 Pan American Cadet & Junior Taekwondo Championships in Mexico, the U.S. Open and Pan Am Open in Mexico. Punongbayan's next goal is to compete at the 2018 world junior championships in Tunisia. He also has Olympic aspirations, hoping to compete as early as 2020 in Tokyo. Bria wins first game as Sheridan's rugby head coach Jad Hamade scored a pair of tries as the Sheridan Bruins opened the Ontario college rugby season with a record-setting 38-7 win over Conestoga on Tuesday. Sheridan established team records for most points in a game, most tries (six), and biggest margin of victory (31). It also gave Rick Bria a win in his debut as the Bruins' head coach. "I'm incredibly happy with the way the boys have been practising and developing," said Bria, an assistant coach with Sheridan since the program was established six years ago. Owen Schimpl scored a try and connected on four converts for Sheridan, which finished last season with a 2-4 record. Justin Tota, Matt DaCosta and Tristian Hylton also had tries for the Bruins. Sheridan will play Seneca in its Ontario Colleges Athletic Association home opener Sunday, Sept. 17 at 1 p.m. at the Trafalgar Road campus. "We need to get better on our lineouts," Bria said. "Our running lines in the backs need to get a little better, and even though we played fairly good defence, we need to work on that as well." Please join us for a spectacular evening showcasing the talents of people who have a developmental disability. BURLINGTON PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE SEPTEMBER 23rd, 2017 TO BUY TICKETS: www.clburlington.ca/YESWEDO CONTACT: Emily Huang 905-336-2225 x320 DINNER & SHOW (VIP) Doors open 5:00pm Show starts 7:30pm To our Generous Sponsors From the Oakville Angels Mite Girls Softball Team! SHOW ONLY Doors open 7:00pm Show starts 7:30pm Hosts: Rainer Noack & Joseph El-Khoury In Support of: For more information, please visit www.clburlington.ca