Taekwondo Master on a Mission

For much of the 12 years Trevor Eagleton studied taekwondo, he didn’t like free sparring — the actual act of fighting an opponent. 

“I was scared of fighting. I think a lot of it was I didn’t want to actually lose,” Eagleton said. “Plus, it hurts!”

As a third-degree black belt, and an instructor at Big Sky Martial Arts in Kalispell for the last six years, however, not sparring wasn’t really an option, nor was apprehension a trait he wanted to model for his students. 

“I always told the kids to quit being afraid to free spar,” he said. “Finally I realized I should put my money where my mouth is.”

In July, Eagleton, 44, joined a team of 18 athletes from Big Sky Martial Arts at the AAU National Taekwondo Championships in Las Vegas. The tournament, the biggest in the nation, featured more than 2,800 competitors and took place at the MGM Grand.

The tournament was a mixed bag for the local team — the dojang’s top fighter drew the defending national champion for his first match, leading to a rough opening round. 

On the last day of the tournament, however, Eagleton made it through three rounds of fights in his division — age 43 and over, 150-176.4 pounds — and won the gold medal. 

“I grew up in sports; I knew it was going to be cool if I won because you always want those medals,” Eagleton said. “But I was walking around with blood on my uniform thinking it was pretty cool and I came around the corner and my team was there and they just lit the place up.” 

“I just did it to see if I could, just like climbing a mountain,” he added.  “I didn’t expect the reaction and support from my team that I got.” 

Eagleton first discovered the Kalispell taekwondo studio when his oldest son was enrolled in a class as a 4- or 5-year-old. As a Flathead High School graduate, Eagleton had long been impressed with the Braves wrestling program, a nationally ranked team under Jeff Thompson, and thought his son might take up the same sport he himself had done in high school. 

“I took my son to a match and Flathead rolled over two Helena schools like 62-0 or something,” Eagleton said. “My son thought it was kind of boring, which to be honest it was because there was no competition.”

Instead, his son signed up for a beginner class at the martial arts studio. 

“I was a little disappointed but when I saw the program, I thought, ‘Whoa, this is cool,’” Eagleton said. “It was the first time I’d been exposed to martial arts which was a whole different experience.”

In order to help his son through tournaments, Eagleton decided he should learn more about taekwondo, and decided to join a fall class for parents. He was the only one of the group to become a black belt. 

“After seeing my son just blossom, and the principles they taught, I was sold,” he said. “There are five tenets we teach — courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit. And definitely the first and foremost thing taught is you’ve got to be a good person. Because if you’re not a good person, it’s just violence and violence is wrong.”

Big Sky Martial Arts, founded by Grandmaster John Paul Noyes, has produced a number of national champions out of the Kalispell gym, including Eagleton.

Eagleton had competed in several larger competitions, and had three Montana championship titles to his name, but he was still apprehensive about competing on the national stage. For one, it usually meant a trip down to Florida, where the AAU Championships were routinely held. 

As the AAU National Team Coach, Noyes pointed out that Florida was not a centralized location, and made a bid to relocate the tournament to Las Vegas, a move approved in 2020 before COVID canceled last year’s tournament. Easy flights from Kalispell to Vegas opened up the competition to more members of the gym, including Eagleton. 

“I was 220 pounds last year when I made the decision to do nationals, and I said I wasn’t going to fight the big guys,” Eagleton said. “It’s a different game — they clash and they clench and it’s almost like sumo wrestling. I wanted to fight taekwondo.”

He started a vigorous training regimen, but the tournament was canceled the week he hit weight. 

“I got to relax a bit in training — I started to lift more and got stronger over the last year and the confidence was just there,” Eagleton said, adding that his secret weapon was what he calls his mountain goat strength. “I hiked Mt. Aeneas as fast as I could once a week.”

That strength paid off by the time the 2021 championships rolled around. As the AAU national champion, Eagleton earned a spot on the USA team for the 2022 Masters World Games, an Olympic-like quadrennial multi-sport event, which will be held in Kansai, Japan next May. Eagleton plans to take his mountain goat strength, and the support of his national-caliber martial arts studio, around the world with him. 

“I always thought winning the gold medal would be the best part,” Eagleton reiterated. “But seeing the impact on my students and their parents’ lives has far outshone the shiny medal.”

To support Eagleton’s training and travel to the World Games, visit www.gofundme.com/f/help-mr-eagleton-win-gold-in-japan.