May 2025 SJCC Recap, Day 2: Music-Fueled Focus, Locked-In Epee, and a “Wild” Foil Run Lead to Four More Titles in Reno

RENO, Nev. — The five minutes or so before a critical fencing match can be almost as important as the bout itself. That’s when fencers mentally and physically prepare to face the opponent across from them.

Delilah Huai (Premier Fencing Academy) has been perfecting her pre-bout routine, and judging by her win in Cadet Women’s Saber on Saturday — one of four titles awarded on Day 2 of the May 2025 Super Junior & Cadet Circuit tournament — she’s found a formula that works.

“Before, I wasn’t really doing anything specific. I was just trying to get focused,” she says. “Recently I’ve been listening to music, trying to relax, and going into every bout to have fun instead of stressing about it.”

Her current soundtrack? “Unlock It” by Charli XCX — the song that helps her dial in and shrug off any mid-bout distractions, including referee calls that don’t go her way.

“I just shake it off, because everyone’s human and I can’t change it,” she says. “Instead, I focus on executing the action the way the referee will see it.”

Cadet Men’s Epee gold medalist Boden Lai (Marx Fencing Academy & Cavalier Fencing Club) had to shake off nerves of his own when he stepped onto the finals strip.

“I was super nervous the entire day,” he says. “But I felt that if I really locked it in — if I did everything right — I could shut this down.”

Trusting his coach’s advice to “slow the bout down but take it to 15,” Boden stayed proactive: “I don’t want to just sit back. I want to be attacking without giving touches away.”

Cadet Men’s Foil champion Sage Rasmussen (Massialas Foundation) describes his Saturday with a single word: “wild.”

In those tense moments, he tries not to overthink. 

“Today, especially, I was able to not think about anything, which really helped me just fence,” he says. “I did that instead of worrying about the points.”

Gold: Delilah Huai (Premier Fencing Academy)

Silver: Meya Lei (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona)

Bronze: Layla Dhar (Capital Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Evelyn Jiang (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona)

5th: Sasha Gay (Premier Fencing Academy)

6th: Bethany Bush (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)

7th: Aria Brown (Manhattan Fencing Center)

8th: Hannah Liu (Sigma Fencing Academy)

Gold: Boden Lai (Marx Fencing Academy & Cavalier Fencing Club)

Silver: Samuel Robinson (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

Bronze: Tudor Hamza (Olympic Epee Masters)

Bronze: Christopher Davoodian (Swords Fencing Studio)

5th: Zachary Choi (Maximum Fencing Club)

6th: Sangwook Park (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

7th: Adrian Erlikhman (LA International Fencing)

8th: Rain Li (Davis Fencing Academy)

Gold: Sage Rasmussen (Massialas Foundation (M Team))

Silver: Martin Nguyen (LA International Fencing)

Bronze: Derek Liu (Star Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Kyle Chen (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

5th: Aidan Tan (Star Fencing Academy)

6th: Eddie Ling (Massialas Foundation (M Team))

7th: Diego Fukuda (Massialas Foundation (M Team))

8th: Alexander Tang (OnTarget Fencing Club)

Gold: Luxi Guo (Yang Fencing Club)

Silver: Zoe Kim (Swords Fencing Studio)

Bronze: Chelsea Chi (DC Fencers Club)

Bronze: Ayah Ilyas (Elite Fencing Academy (VA) & Elite Fencing Academy (GA))

5th: Catherine Witter (Elite Fencing Academy (VA))

6th: Yvette Xu (Orange Coast)

7th: Jessica Wu (Yang Fencing Club)

8th: Michelle Wu (New York Fencing Academy)

Find the Day 2 photo gallery on Facebook.