Five athletes, a whole lot of hardware for Team Bushido

Five athletes. Thirty-three medals. And, somehow, an eighth-place finish among the clubs represented at an international competition with more than 3,200 starts.

That is what five athletes from Bushido Karate Center are bringing home from the World Martial Arts Committee World Games.

Dani Auberger, Elyse Webster, Gracyn Webster, Adrian Cojocaru, and Jaxon Matthews represented the Sparta dojo during four days of competition Sept. 17-20, going up against martial artists from 35 countries. By the time the final points were tallied, Bushido had collected 11 gold, six silver, and 16 bronze medals.

And those medals added up.

Team Bushido finished eighth in the overall club standings despite having just five athletes on its roster. It was a result the team hadn't gone to the World Games expecting — or even really thinking about.

“Our goal in going was to give these kids an opportunity to see where they stood against some of the top martial artists from around the world,” coaches said. “We weren't thinking about club standings. So to get to the end of the weekend and realize that five athletes had put enough points on the board to finish eighth as a club was a pretty nice bonus.”

Two of those five also worked their way into the top 10 in the individual standings.

Elyse Webster finished fourth overall with 76 points after earning three gold, two silver, and six bronze medals. Her sister, Gracyn, wasn't far behind. Gracyn finished eighth with 68 points, bringing home four gold, one silver, and four bronze medals.

Jaxon Matthews added six medals of his own with two gold, one silver, and three bronze, while Adrian Cojocaru earned two silver and three bronze.

Dani Auberger returned to competition after a nearly two-year break and won gold in her first event back on the floor. She would add another before the World Games were over, finishing her return with two gold medals to add to the team's total.

“It was nice having Dani back out there, even with a much smaller workload than we've been used to seeing her carry in the past,” coaches said. “The younger athletes look up to her as one of the leaders of this team. Having her out there setting the stage for what was to come for them was good to see.”

Team Bushido had been preparing for the World Games for nearly a year. Every practice and every local, regional, and national tournament along the way was part of getting the team ready for this week.

“Everything we've done since the beginning of the year has been with this tournament in mind,” coaches said. “They put in the work, and when they finally got the chance to see where they stood against this level of competition, that work paid off.”

Five athletes will now make the trip back to Sparta with 33 medals between them — 11 gold, six silver, and 16 bronze.

“That's a lot of hardware for one small team to bring home.”