Four tournaments ago, everybody started at zero.
Now there is one tournament left.
The Showdown started the season. The Mommament shook things up. The Summer Challenge turned the standings into real races. The Championship tightened those races even more.
And now we have the Vermont Classic.
Saturday (10/10/26) is it.
No next tournament to make up ground. No later event to defend a lead. No second chance if somebody catches you.
For some competitors, Saturday is about finishing a remarkable season.
For others, it is one final chance to steal a spot on the podium.
And in a few divisions, calling these races "close" doesn't really do them justice.
165 Points Separate First and Second Overall
We've been following the combined individual points throughout the season. This isn't an official League award category, but it's become one of my favorite ways to look at what's happening.
And heading into the final event, we have a legitimate race.
Emmaline Poland — 8,990 points
Jayden Currin — 8,825 points
Adam Beckley — 8,425 points
Emmaline leads Jayden by 165 points.
That's it.
One hundred sixty-five points after four tournaments.
Adam is only 565 points behind.
For context, a single division win is worth 1,000.
So this is basically the martial arts equivalent of heading into the final weekend of the season with three teams still able to win the division.
Nobody can coast.
Nobody has clinched anything.
And Saturday is going to settle it.
Behind those three are Corbin Baker at 7,835, Logan Delaware at 7,675, Murphy Tucker at 7,350, Raymond Stone at 7,300, Michael Marro at 7,225, and Jessica Roberts at 7,150.
One big day can move somebody several places.
That's exactly what we wanted when we built this League.
Emmaline Poland Is One Tournament Away From Perfection
There's another story inside Emmaline's season.
After four tournaments, one division has a competitor sitting on a perfect 4,000 points.
Girls 13–15 Black Belt Forms.
Emmaline Poland.
Four tournaments.
Four wins.
Four thousand points.
Now she has one more tournament between her and something nobody else has done this season: winning the same division at all five events.
That gets harder every time.
Different competitors show up. People improve. Judges change. Somebody has a great day. You have a bad moment. One mistake can cost you a division.
She's made it through four times.
Now everybody in that division gets one last shot at her.
That's a pretty good storyline for Saturday.
We Have a 25-Point Race
This might be my favorite one.
Boys 9–10 Intermediate Sparring:
Max Mullen — 1,725
Vincent Celata — 1,700
Twenty-five points.
That's not a lead.
That's a rounding error.
After an entire season, these two go into the final tournament separated by less than the difference between many finishing positions at a single event.
Whoever has the better Saturday wins.
Simple as that.
And Two More Races Are Separated by 50
Boys 13–14 Advanced Sparring:
Corbin Baker — 3,000
Jayden Currin — 2,950
Fifty points.
Then:
Weapons 15–17 Co-ed Black Belt:
Murphy Tucker — 1,700
Charles Melia — 1,650
Another fifty.
And in Men 18–34 Black Belt Forms, Jayden Dimacali holds a 2,000–1,925 lead over Michael Marro.
Seventy-five points.
These competitors don't need help from three other people. They don't need some bizarre series of results.
They need to beat the person they're chasing.
That's about as clean as competition gets.
Plenty of Other Leads Can Disappear Saturday
Some gaps are a little larger, but still well within one tournament result.
Chloe Strohl leads Charlotte Strohl by 350 points in Girls 9–10 Intermediate Sparring.
Jayden Currin leads Corbin Baker by 390 in Weapons 12–14 Co-ed Under Black Belt.
Simon Scher leads Adam Beckley by 500 in Men 35+ Black Belt Sparring.
Jayden Currin leads Corbin Baker by 650 in Boys 13–14 Advanced Forms.
Michael Marro leads Jayden Dimacali by 650 in Weapons 18–34 Co-ed Black Belt.
Cody Strohl leads Logan Delaware by 700 in Men 35+ Intermediate/Advanced Forms.
Adam Beckley leads Simon Scher by 900 in Men 35+ Black Belt Forms.
Every one of those leads can disappear in Manchester.
Every one of those competitors chasing first place still has a completely realistic path.
And Don't Forget Third Place
We recognize the top three eligible League competitors in each division.
So this isn't just about who's sitting first.
In Girls 13–15 Black Belt Sparring, for example:
Emmaline Poland is out front.
Behind her, Teagan Tebo has 1,650 points.
Leyla Ibrahim has 1,500.
Baillee Gonzalez has 1,350.
Second to third: 150 points.
Third to fourth: 150 points.
That podium is still moving.
Weapons 15–17 Co-ed Black Belt has the same kind of traffic. Murphy Tucker and Charles Melia are fighting at the top while Emmaline Poland and Baillee Gonzalez remain right there behind them.
Saturday isn't an awards ceremony disguised as a tournament.
There are still places to win.
Eleven Competitors Are Trying to Go Five-for-Five
Earlier in the year, we started tracking the competitors who had earned points at every tournament.
Eleven made it through the first three.
All eleven survived the Championship.
Adam Beckley. Aurla Lumsden. Baillee Gonzalez. Ben Giufre. Cody Strohl. Emmaline Poland. Jayden Currin. Leyla Ibrahim. Logan Delaware. Lyla Erickson. Noor Ibrahim.
Four events down.
Four appearances with points.
Saturday gives all eleven a chance to finish the entire WMAL season five-for-five.
I love this statistic because it gets at something we've said from the beginning.
You don't have to win every time.
You do have to show up.
A league rewards consistency in a way a single tournament never can.
The School Podium Isn't Locked Either
The school standings tell two different stories.
If we count points earned by every competitor, Northampton Martial Arts has been a machine. They sit at 48,805 total points, ahead of House of the Samurai at 36,710 and GM Rotta BBA at 36,150.
But the League school awards are based on points contributed by League members.
That race currently looks like this:
1. House of the Samurai — 28,760
2. Northampton Martial Arts — 24,305
3. 603 Karate — 18,850
4. GM Rotta BBA — 17,580
House of the Samurai has built themselves some breathing room.
But third?
Not so much.
603 Karate leads GM Rotta BBA by 1,270 points.
That sounds like a lot until you remember what a handful of successful competitors can score in one tournament.
Third place is absolutely in play.
And this is one of the reasons we've continued pushing League membership all season.
Your membership isn't only about your award.
Your points count toward your school.
One person can matter.
Three or four people can swing an entire race.
This Is What We Were Hoping Would Happen
When we started this thing in March, we had no idea what the standings would look like in October.
We didn't know who would make all five tournaments.
We didn't know which competitors would start strong and fade, or start slowly and come roaring back.
We didn't know which schools would bring depth.
We didn't know we'd end up with races separated by 25 points.
But this is exactly why we wanted a League.
One tournament tells you what happened on one Saturday.
A season tells a story.
It remembers the second-place finish in March.
It remembers the day you didn't perform as well as you wanted.
It remembers that you came back anyway.
It remembers the 275 points that didn't seem particularly important at the time and suddenly matter a whole lot in October.
It rewards improvement.
It rewards consistency.
And yes, it rewards winning.
Now all of those results get added together one last time.
Saturday Is the Finale
The Vermont Classic is the fifth and final Whistlekick Martial Arts League tournament of 2026.
Some competitors arrive trying to protect first place.
Others arrive hunting it.
Some are fighting to stay on the podium.
Some are trying to complete all five tournaments.
One competitor is trying to finish a perfect five-win division season.
Schools are trying to move up the standings.
And everybody who competes gets one final chance to change the 2026 record book.
After Saturday, there are no more projections.
There are no more "if the season ended today" standings.
The season will have ended.
Then we find out who won.
The Vermont Classic is Saturday, October 10.
Come finish the season.
Come change the standings.
Come make somebody earn it.
Find the full live results here.
~jeremy
League Commissioner