posted Mar 25th, 2026 - The story of the Golden Knights 4-way team has much in common with the U.S. Army’s 8-way team, which began its period of dominance between 2012 and 2018 when Brian Krause became team captain. He set out to lead the Golden Knights into a new “Golden Decade,” reminiscent of the period between 1987 and 1997, when they won six FAI World Championship gold medals for the U.S. delegation.

Brian Krause was a member of the Golden Knights 4-way team from 2004 to 2008 before becoming the 8-way team captain in 2009. He witnessed a time when the U.S. delegation did not have a well-trained 8-way team for the World Championship in Maubeuge 2008. As a result, a combined team of Golden Knights (John Hoover, Matt Davidson, Eric Heinsheimer, Kurt Isenbarger, Sean Sweeney, with Larry Miller on camera) and top civilian 4-way competitors (Doug Park, Thomas Hughes) traveled to France, where they finished in second place behind the host team.

Current Golden Knights team captain Jesse Stahler found himself in a similar situation when the U.S. Army’s 8-way team was more or less discontinued after winning its last FAI 8-way gold medal in Australia 2018. Together with team captain Andrew Starr, he instead began building a new and competitive Golden Knights 4-way team in 2019. The lineup changed several times before the current team came together in 2022 and attended its first competition at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2023.

FAI World Championship 2008			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		17,P,4	H,13,7	6,M,1	9,22,C	16,J,8	K,F,G,18	O,Q,5,12	Total	Avg
1	Maubeuge	FR	23	18	26	22	22	24	16	151	21.6
2	USA	US	18	18	26	21	22	19	16	140	20.0
3	Ex3mo	IT	20	16	22	17	18	18	15	126	18.0
4	EADS	DE	21	14	20	15	16	14	14	114	16.3
5	Connextion	UK	15	12	15	13	14	13	12	94	13.4
6	Belgium	BE	14	11	16	11	14	14	12	92	13.1
7	South Africa	ZA	14	9	16	12	13	11	-	75	12.5
8	Spain	ES	13	6	13	10	13	13	-	68	11.3
9	Australia	AU	11	5	10	9	9	7	-	51	8.5

Golden Knights 8-way team story between 2009 and 2012

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Back in 2009, four of the Golden Knights who had competed in Maubeuge 2008 (Brian Krause, Matt Davidson, Sean Sweeney, and Larry Miller) followed Brian Krause’s call to return to 8-way competition. He also recruited Justin Blewitt, Joshua Coleman, Matt Accord and Michael LaRoche to complete the new lineup, with Andrew Starr now on camera.

The new 8-way lineup did not achieve immediate success the following year in Menzelinsk 2010. The French 8-way team remained too strong, and Mathieu Bernier secured his remarkable double gold in both 4-way and 8-way Open.

However, Brian Krause had a long-term plan. It took only two more years for the same lineup to claim their first FAI gold medals in Dubai 2012. The Golden Knights 8-way team then successfully defended their world championship title in 2014, 2016, and 2018, with Jesse Stahler now part of the active lineup. Jesse Stahler provided the NSL News with video footage of the 2009 lineup to honor the efforts of the former team members and his past 8-way teammates. However, there is likely more to his story and the documented journey of the Golden Knights from 2009 to 2012.

FAI Dubai Mondial 2012			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open Top 6		N,21,B,5	14,C,13	22,M,20	17,H,16	J,E,12,4	7,19,15	G,K,8,2	O,L,F,P,A	10,11,18	9,Q,D,1	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	21	19	27	26	26	18	20	28	19	25	229	22.9
2	Aerodyne Maubeuge	FR	22	19	22	23	27	20	20	28	19	25	225	22.5
3	Barkli 8	RU	19	18	22	22	21	15	15	24	16	20	192	19.2
4	EADS 8	DE	14	13	15	15	18	14	14	16	13	16	148	14.8
5	VIVA 8	CH	13	13	15	15	14	11	12	17	13	13	136	13.6
6	Dubai Asaar 8	AE	11	11	12	11	10	10	10	12	12	12	111	11.1

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Golden Knights 8-way team at the FAI Dubai Mondial 2012

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Jesse Stahler’s current lineup qualified for their own outdoor world championship at the USPA Nationals 2025. Brian Krause’s Golden Knights 8-way team, by comparison, faced a very strong French opponent whom they could not defeat in their second year in Menselinsk 2010. They achieved their goal already at the FAI World Cup a year later and defeated the French team by a single point (186–185). Brian Krause needed one more year before the Golden Knights finally captured the 8-way title in Dubai 2012.

The Golden Knights 8-way team launched their gold-medal comeback in 2012 at the Shamrock Showdown, where they faced the Russian 8-way team. The competition also included the friendship ceremony reported by the NSL News on 19 March 2012. Arizona Airspeed won the 4-way competition at Skydive DeLand in 2012 and then went on to claim FAI gold in Dubai as well, edging NMP PCH HayaBusa by a single point (279–278). Meanwhile, the Golden Knights outscored the French 8-way team by four points (229–225).

Jesse Stahler’s 4-way team will open the 2026 world championship season at the Shamrock Showdown 2026 - 1st Bob Hallett Memorial. They will once again face a strong French opponent, who will compete in DeLand shortly after the FAI Indoor World Cup 2026. The Aethers, joined by Arizona Airspeed, will provide the Golden Knights 4-way team with a highly competitive opportunity to establish their outdoor starting point on the road to the world championship in Eloy this October. A few team slots are still available for those who want to witness this promising showdown in DeLand.