Xander Eddy's Norwin High School friends can't believe him when he tells them he holds eight national and world titles in kickboxing.
Eddie, 15, a sophomore at Norwin University, started kickboxing when he was four years old. He spends his 15 to 20 hours a week training with teammates, conditioning in the gym, and coaching young athletes.
Eddie won the 2017 North American Kickboxing Open and became the youngest American athlete to win a gold medal at the 2018 Pan American Kickboxing Games in Mexico. Competing on the international stage is an out-of-body experience, he said.
“Not many people would believe this because I graduated from a public school in Western Pennsylvania. None of my friends believe it,” said Eddie, a North Huntingdon resident. “There's nothing to compare it to.”
But Eddie isn't resting on his laurels. He and teammates Carter Griffith, 12, Gabby Viola, 13, and Riley Evans, 17, will compete in the Junior World Kickboxing Championships in Budapest, Hungary this fall. Participate as a representative.
Coach Bill Viola Jr., Gabby Viola's father, said this is the first time a Western Pennsylvania player has competed in the championship.
“It's not common at all,” said Viola, 46, of North Huntingdon. “That’s why it’s so exciting.”
Viola coaches athletes at Allegheny Shotokan Viola Karate in Western Pennsylvania. He says he teaches karate, kickboxing, self-defense, jiu-jitsu and “all kinds of martial arts.”
His father, William Viola Sr., started Viola Karate as a martial arts program in the East Allegheny School District in the 1960s and transitioned to North Huntingdon Dojo in the '70s. The business has been in his family ever since.
The athletes qualified for the Junior World Championships, sponsored by the World Kickboxing Association, through a team trial tournament held in Orlando, Florida in February. It was the first time Griffs, a Year 6 student at Trafford Junior High School, had competed in kickboxing.
“I ended up falling in love with it.”
Griffith, who lives in Penn Township, started karate about seven years ago. He earned his purple belt in this sport. He is just two steps away from the coveted black belt certification.
“I just wanted to try karate, but I ended up liking it,” he says.
He started learning kickboxing two years ago, drawing on his experience sparring with opponents in karate competitions.
“I wanted to try making Team USA. I was pretty skeptical. I didn't know if it would be successful,” Griffith said. “All the work and training we had to do for that, the preparation was hard, but it was worth it. And now I get to go to Hungary for another great experience. I am.”
The World Championship will be his first international tournament. He is aiming for a gold medal in his weight class.
Griffith's schedule is packed with training, including private lessons from teammate Eddie. Griffith himself also coaches beginner and intermediate athletes two days a week.
“He has a passion for helping young children,” said Griffith's mother, Sarah Griffith. “He doesn't have to teach. It's not required at his belt level, but Carter is above it.”
Consistency and focus in training over the next few months will be key to a successful performance at the Junior World Championships, Viola said.
“I can’t take my foot off the pedal anymore,” he said. “You have to remain intensely focused on the goal at hand.”
Viola said each player is responsible for raising thousands of dollars to travel to Budapest for the championship. Travel can easily cost $10,000, and even more if the athlete wants to travel with their parents.
Although athletes may be able to compete in higher weight classes in some events, most events require them to remain in the weight class in which they qualified for the Junior World Championships, which can be quite difficult for growing children. Sarah Griffiths said it was a difficult challenge.
“It seems very strange to want a 12-year-old not to gain weight,” says Griffiths. “But at the end of the summer, Dr. Bill will be working to make sure everyone is filling their weight.”
“It's a privilege.”
Evans, a sophomore at Westmoreland Christian Academy in South Greensburg, is most concerned with maintaining his stamina and endurance in preparation for the multiple matches he will face in the championship.
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Evans first competed in kickboxing in 2018 and won silver and bronze medals at the 2022 World Karate Commission Tournament in Killarney, Ireland.
Evans, of Irwin, is nervous about the Junior World Championships but excited about the new challenge.
“It’s an honor to be able to do something like this,” she said.
No matter how the players perform in competition, Viola will be most proud of their hard work in training.
“We might win. We might lose,” he said. “But there is no one more prepared to step into the ring than us.”
coach and father
For Viola, it was a special honor to coach her daughter, who won three gold medals at the 2023 World Karate Commission Tournament.
Gabby Viola, a seventh-grader at Norwin Middle School, grew up at the dojo. She has been competing in her martial arts since she was about 3 years old.
“It's definitely something special. This was my life. I followed the same path that Gabby is following now, so I was attending dojo training as soon as I could walk.” Bill Viola said. “I have her unique perspective and relationship with her girlfriend…I get to mentor her girlfriend and be her father in that same role.”
Quincey Reese is a TribLive reporter covering the Greensburg and Hempfield areas. She also reports for the Penn-Trafford Star. The Penn Township native joined the tribe in 2023 after working two summers with the company as a Jim Bowden Scholarship intern. Contact her at qreese@triblive.com.
