Z’s Martial Arts in Huntley took five athletes to the World Association of Kickboxing Organizations North American Championships on July 10 and 11 in Las Vegas and came back with five medals.

Getting gold were Meryl Swidler from Gilberts in the adult women, 115 pounds, K1 division; Amanda Zbilski from Lake in the Hills in the adult women, 123 pounds, Low Kick division and Amanda Ginski from Pingree Grove in the adult women, 154 pounds, K1 division.

Brad Zbilski from Lake in the Hills got a silver medal in the junior men, 145 pounds, low kick division and

Myranda Anderson from Huntley won a bronze medal in the junior women, 132 pounds, K1 division.

The competition took place during the UFC Fan Expo which brought in thousands of spectators.

Rob Zbilski, owner of Z’s, said the fans were there for UFC but came away with an appreciation for kickboxing.

“More people were watching us than any other sport,” Rob Zbilski said. “[UFC was] very excited about having us there.”

What UFC fans found was that the most exciting part of mixed martial arts is the standup portion, which is very similar to kickboxing.

Rob Zbilski also is the president of WAKO USA and organized the tournament. He looked at it as a chance for a quality competition and the chance to gain some exposure for the sport.

His ultimate goal is to get kickboxing into the Olympics. Rob Zbilski said WAKO is the only organization to have an Olympic application in and the only organization representing kickboxing in the World Games in 2017 in Poland.

“Here in the United States we’re not very big,” Rob Zbilski said. “I’ve been trying to turn that around. Partnering up with the UFC brought us a lot of credibility.”

He’s already looking ahead to next year’s tournament and UFC Fan Expo.

“We’re going to be asked back next year. We’re excited about that,” Rob Zbilski said. “I have plans to bring in all the other countries. It’s going to be really big for kickboxing.”

Swidler normally competes in the full contact division but went in K1 because it had more competitors. The different style wasn’t an easy change.

“This time I felt like I was the underdog,” Swidler said. “I had to transition from fighting above the waist to throwing knees.”

That made for a very tense opening round bout.

“[Rob Zbilski] just saw my face and he was making fun of me,” Swidler said. “My face was completely in shock.”

That shock went away as soon as she got on the mat.

“I literally came out guns a blazing,” Swidler said. “I made the fight my fight.”

She said the UFC Expo made the atmosphere surrounding the kickboxing into something she had never experienced before.

“It was insane,” Swidler said. “We would have so many people surrounding the ring watching and cheering us.”

Amanda Zbilski will be a junior at the University of Dubuque in Iowa and competes in track and field in pole vault, sprints and javelin. After getting done with track at the end of May, she went directly to training in kickboxing, a sport she grew up with.

The training was a nice change from the repetitive nature of track workouts.

“With workouts for track we do the same thing every day,” Amanda Zbilski said. “With kickboxing we do something different every day.”

And a nice break from a school year of studying, training and competing.

“Kickboxing is a stress relief for me,” Amanda Zbilski said. “Getting done with school and hitting something is the best feeling.”

• Rob Smith is a sports writer for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at rsmith@shawmedia.com.