Boxing academy to send foursome to Alberta in search of provincial team slots

GRAND HAVEN, B.C. — Coaches at Fivestar Boxing Academy are hoping for immediate success from a foursome of local fighters at a pair of tournaments in Alberta as the month progresses.

The gym’s head coach, Justin Donally, will be heading to a pair of upcoming tournaments, starting with this weekend’s Western Canadian Boxing Championships, which begin Friday in Cochrane, Alberta.

Donally told Energeticcity.ca four fighters, Max Kraeleman, Mason Tetreault, Marshall Krafczyk and Landon Beasley, may don the colours of team B.C. at March’s Canada Cup and National Championships in Calgary if all are successful this weekend.

“[We will have] four going, barring any real poor performances at Western Canadians,” said Donally. “This might be the most [number of fighters] I have ever had in a nationals. The previous record was three.”

As the senior coach of Fivestar, Donally says Fivestar has been “slowly building back” its crop of local fighting talent since the Covid-19 pandemic, and has also hired a new coach to help him fill out his staff for his young fighters.

Formerly of Iron Forge Fight and Fitness in Fort St. John, Brandon Sponagle joined Fivestar near the end of 2025. 

He joins a staff with Donally and fellow coach Lane Harris, training the fighters anywhere from three to five days a week at Fivestar, with bettering the team’s footwork being his specialty. 

“[I] started over here about the middle of November,” said Sponagle. “[I am] getting to know everybody, get in a routine and work with these guys.

“I’m pretty big on my foot movement. Working angles and in and out. I feel a lot of guys have really advanced quite a bit with a little bit of the knowledge that I have. There are a few guys that show some promise.”

One of those promising youngsters is Tetreault, a 21-year-old fighter with an amateur record of seven wins against three losses, with four of those victories by knockout, according to BoxRec.

Having fought at Fivestar since he was a teenager, he described the chance to head to the Western Canadian Boxing Championships as a “next level” experience.

“I’ve been [outside of B.C.] fighting before,” said Tetreault. “But doing the Canadian western championship and nationals is definitely next level than some of the other stuff I have done. I’m looking forward to it.”

Meanwhile, the youngest competitor going to Cochrane is the 14-year-old Kraeleman. 

He has travelled to Edmonton and Calgary for tournaments, and hopes success will come with the work he has put in come fight time.

“I’m very excited. I love boxing,” said Kraeleman. “[I] love everything about it. Everything about boxing, everything in my life, has to do with boxing.

“Everybody in the gym helps me. Lane, Brandon, and Justin. Everybody in the gym has contributed to who I am now as a boxer.”

Donally, who also promotes local cards in Fort St. John under the Fivestar Fight League banner, also confirmed another show would be coming in 2026.

The Western Canadian Boxing Championships take place in Cochrane, Alberta from Friday, February 13th to Sunday, February 15th and the 2026 Canada Cup and National Championships from Wednesday, March 18th to Sunday, March 22nd in Calgary.