North Huntingdon athletes bring home hardware from international kickboxing competition

Two North Huntingdon athletes ranked internationally at the Junior World Kickboxing Championship in Budapest, Hungary, recently.

Xander Eddy, 15, and Gabby Viola, 14, are the first athletes in the state to receive medals at the tournament, according to Bill Viola Jr. — coach and Gabby Viola’s father.

“To have two world champion-caliber athletes from this little town is really something special,” said coach Viola, who runs Allegheny Shotokan Viola Karate in North Huntingdon. “There’s something in the water here in Westmoreland County.”

His father, William Viola Sr., started the karate school as a martial arts program in the East Allegheny School District in the 1960s, transitioning into the North Huntingdon dojo in the 70s. The business has been in the family ever since.

Gabby Viola earned a bronze medal in point sparring at the Hungary tournament, which ran from Aug. 22 to Sept. 1. Teammate Eddy received a bronze in team sparring and a silver in point sparring.

Two other athletes from the karate school — Carter Griffith, 12, of Penn Township, and Riley Evans, 17, of Irwin — also competed at the tournament, falling short of the medal rounds.

The tournament drew more than 3,000 athletes from across the world — the largest world championship turnout in the league’s 47-year history, according to Black Belt Magazine.

Gabby Viola, an eighth grade student, and Eddy, a high school sophomore, missed their first week of school at Norwin to compete, squeezing in homework between fights.

“It was nerve-racking — the first couple of days especially,” Gabby Viola said, “because I wanted to win. I wanted to try to at least win my first round.”

This was the largest competition yet for the athletes, Eddy said.

“It was definitely the biggest and most important thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “It was definitely an experience that I will never forget.”

Eddy won four fights in point sparring and five fights for team sparring to compete for medals.

Although Eddy was grateful to represent Team USA on the podium, he left Hungary with unfinished business.

“The final round, I feel like, was definitely not my day,” he said. “I did not fight to my full potential, and looking back on it, I left a lot out on the mat, and I feel terrible.”

He looks forward to the next Junior World Kickboxing Championships, where he aims to win gold.

“Just to place so high and me knowing in my own heart I can beat that No. 1-placing kid really makes me feel good about myself,” he said. “I know I can hang with anyone and everybody out there.”

Gabby Viola fought in 10, two-minute rounds to earn her place in the medal rounds.

“It meant a lot,” she said of receiving a medal. “It was really special that I got to do it for my country and my family and the karate school back at home, and it’s just really special to be able to get a bronze and hopefully for this to be in the Olympics someday.”

Olympic dreams

The Olympics is not a far-fetched dream for the athletes, Bill Viola said. Experts predict kickboxing will be an official sport in the 2032 Olympics in Australia, he said.

“Gabby and Xander will be the perfect age,” he said. “They’ll be 22 and 23 at that time, so if all goes well and they continue to keep this pace, then an Olympic birth in Australia is a reality for them.”

Until then, the athletes — and eight of their Allegheny Shotokan teammates — set their sights on the World Karate Commission Championship in Albufeira, Portugal, in late October.

“I do enjoy traveling with it,” Gabby Viola said. “I think it’s really fun to be able to see the world and the United States, and I also just love what I do with (kickboxing).”

All in the family

After having his mom at the sidelines in Hungary, Eddy is excited to have both of his parents and his younger sister supporting him in Portugal.

“I’m very thankful for everything and all that my parents have sacrificed for me,” he said. “I know that not a lot of people get to do that. It was just an experience that I know I’m never going to forget.”

For Bill Viola, watching his athletes — especially his daughter — succeed internationally is greater than his own karate victories growing up.

“For me, I enjoy being a coach even more than my competitive days,” he said. “I loved competing and I did it all over as well, just like (Gabby) is, but just to see them take what I’ve taught them and what my father has taught me, it’s just that family lineage and legacy. To see it carried on through them is definitely special.”