By Nila Harris
FALMOUTH — Pendleton County High School junior Logan Hayslette has “earned the opportunity of a lifetime,” said his mother, Beekee Hayslette. The 16-year-old recently qualified for the 2025 World Karate and Kickboxing Championships.
The competition will take place Oct. 25 to 31 in Niagara Falls, New York.
“Logan began training in 2021 at McClendon Martial Arts (Alexandria), where his dedication and hard work have already earned him the rank of first-degree black belt,” Beekee said.
Over the past four years, he has taken part in skills competitions throughout Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan, enabling him to gain the experience and discipline essential for competing internationally, she said.
To qualify for the WKC, Logan had to compete at local, state, regional and national levels of competition. This demanding journey required numerous hours of training, plus determination, drive and talent, she said.
“His perseverance paid off,” Beekee said. “Now he will represent his dojo and community on an international platform.”
Thirty countries will be represented at the WKC, whose stated mission is “to promote martial arts excellence by providing a vehicle for the top martial arts competitors from around the world to test their skills against the best of the best.”
Logan said he is nervous about that competition but is training hard.
“I train three to four times a week doing drills, sparring and working out, and all that normally takes at least two hours, often more,” he said.
At WKC, he will compete in both point sparring and continuous sparring categories that will “showcase not only physical ability but also mental focus and strategy,” Beekee said.
In March, he was promoted to assistant instructor at McClendon Martial Arts.
Along with extensive training, Logan maintains his studies as a freshman at Northern Kentucky University through the Young Scholars Academy, a dual-credit, early college experience for high school juniors and seniors.
Logan is the son of Shawn and Beekee Hayslette of Falmouth.