2012 Cadet Wing Open

The annual Air Force Academy Cadet Wing Open was held last night in Clune Arena. Nine bouts were held with the winners claiming the number one varsity spot for the Academy's boxing team. They will travel and compete around the nation before returning to the Academy for the NCBA National Championships April 5-7.

Results:
112 lbs: Drew Pineda
119 lbs: Justin Zahn
125 lbs: Roy Taylor def. Stephen Bittner
132 lbs: Andrew Munoz def. Will Peterson
139 lbs: Dan Starr def. Ethan Salgado
147 lbs: Glenn Miltenberg def. Craig Spranger
156 lbs: Tyrus Korecki def. Blaze Dunn
165 lbs: Casey Habluetzel def. Chris Nelson
175 lbs: Mike McLain def. Denis Vorobyov
185 lbs: Zac Spranger
195 lbs: Logan Brandt def. Brian Corcoran
Heavy:  Olawale Lawal def. Joseph Okai

(You can click on an image to get a larger view and scroll through each of them)

Bittner tries to block a punch by Taylor.

Roy Taylor lands a shot on Stephen Bittner

Taylor lands another punch

Munoz (Blue) and Peterson trade jabs

Munoz lands a shot

Glenn Miltenberg and Craig Spranger
trade blows on the ropes

Boxer Chris Nelson

Blaze Dunn gets his nose plugged after his bout

Vorobyov stares down McLain

McLain dodges Vorobyov's shot

Mike McLain lands one on Denis Vorobyov

Vorobyov recoils from the hit

McLain connects with a solid left hook

McLain gets knocked off balance by Vorobyo

Joseph Okai prepares himself for his bout

Olawale Lawal connects with his right

Boxing Round 2

Tonight was the last Friday Night Fights of the season. I got a couple of good shots. I also think I have a problem with black and white photos because I'm becoming addicted to them. Anyways, here are a couple of my favorites.

Boxing

My favorite sport to photograph is perhaps also the most difficult.

I'm talking about boxing. The thrill of being in the ring (as every freshman male can attest to) can be scary but also exhilarating. Out of the ring, it is exciting and breathtaking to watch as two boxers dance around and try to score punches on one another. Photographing boxing is especially breathtaking as you capture the intensity and struggles throughout the bouts.

Perhaps the most difficult part about photographing boxing is the high shutter speed required to capture the moment clearly while working with low light. The photo above was taken at 1/200 sec f2.8 iso 1600. From the high iso, you can see how grainy the photo is. Without the use of a strobe or flash, the limited available life makes capturing crisp photos very difficult. Nonetheless, several pictures came out very nice.

As the Wing Open draws closer, I hope to work on getting crisper, brighter shots. Hopefully during those matches, I can use a strobe, which would make it much easier to get good shots. I hope you enjoyed the photos! If you would like to see more, email me.

-K