November 2025 NAC, Day 1 Recap: Warrior Paths, Big Adjustments and Breakthrough Wins in Fort Worth

FORT WORTH, Texas — After dropping two bouts in his pool round, William Morrill (Scarsdale Fencing Center, Columbia University & Fencers Club Inc.) faced what his fellow Senior Team teammate Colin Heathcock OLY likes to call “a warrior’s path.” 

In other words, his route to the podium just got significantly tougher.

“I was able to stay focused throughout my DEs — a lot of hard matches, a lot of hard opponents, all the way to the finals,” Morrill says. “After each win, I started to gain a little more confidence. I started to feel my timing a little bit more, feel how physically I was able to get my rhythm down. And then I kept fencing better and better.”

That “warrior’s path” proved to be the perfect challenge. Morrill completed his run with a victory in Division I Men’s Saber on Friday, the opening day of the November 2025 North American Cup in Fort Worth. 

“I think honestly, most of my best tournaments are when I drop some in the beginning,” he says. “So, luckily, this was one of those good tournaments.”

In Division I Men’s Epee, Oleg Knysh (Alliance Fencing Academy) found himself in a similar situation after dropping a pool bout — something he chalks up to a fleeting lapse in focus.

“I lost concentration,” he says, “and it happens very often in epee. So yeah, I know my mistakes, and I'll try to do better next time.”

From that point on, Knysh didn’t lose again. And as for a detailed battle plan heading into the final? He kept it simple.

“In the final, I cannot say I wanted to do something special,” he says. “No, I just wanted to win.”

In Y-14 Women’s Saber, Isabella Heath (DC Fencers Club & Nazlymov Fencing Foundation) also navigated a challenging draw. After a solid 4–2 pool result, she met top seed Joy Gong in the table of 16 — a bout where Heath needed to adjust quickly.

“That was a very tough bout,” Heath says. “She just has a very fast attack. With a lot of these people, because they're a little bit older than myself and a little bit taller, I had to kind of adjust to not always having the fastest attack or the fastest blade.”

Her adaptability paid off. Heath went on to win the event — the biggest result of her season so far.

“This is my best result in any tournament this season — SYC, regional, local,” she says. “I really wasn't expecting this, but I really enjoyed it.”

And those were just three of the six champions crowned on Friday, with plenty of stories left to unfold as the November NAC continues in Fort Worth.

Gold: Oleg Knysh (Alliance Fencing Academy)

Coaches: Andrey Geva and Dorian Jimenez

Silver: Nathaniel Wimmer (Elite Fencing Academy & EFA)

Bronze: Elijah Imrek (University of Notre Dame & Alliance Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Daniel Gao (Cavalier Fencing Club & Boston College)

5th: Cooper Schumacher (Fencers Club Inc.)

6th: Ryan Griffiths (New York Athletic Club)

7th: Tristan Szapary (Fencers Club Inc.)

8th: Alex Wolfe (Fencers Club Inc. & Savage Fencing Club)

Gold: William Morrill (Scarsdale Fencing Center, Columbia University & Fencers Club Inc.)

Coach: Achiko Lortkipanidze

Silver: Darii Lukashenko (Manhattan Fencing Center)

Bronze: Neil Lilov (Lilov Fencing Academy & Pennsylvania State University)

Bronze: Daniel Holz (Premier Fencing Academy)

5th: Jaden Callahan (Columbia University & Boston Fencing Club)

6th: Junhyeong Kim (Korea)

7th: Heonjun Cheong (Sabio Fencing Academy)

8th: Kamar Skeete (Nellya Fencers & Manhattan Fencing Center)

Gold: Serena Xu (Bida Fencing Academy & Cavalier Fencing Club)

Coaches: Zhanna Bikkina, Violetta Bida, Sergey Bida, Sergey Tikhonov

Silver: Sophia Habek (East Bay Fencers Gym)

Bronze: Julieanne Qi (Guanyi Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Zahra Aneziokoro (Windy City Fencing–Chicago)

5th: Michelle Wu (New York Fencing Academy)

6th: Yvette Xu (China)

7th: Anika Adyanthaya (Medeo Fencing Club)

8th: Tai Yang Xu (Canada)

Gold: Isabella Heath (DC Fencers Club & Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)

Coaches: Norbert Jaskot, Tom Strzalkowski, Byron Neslund, Liza Koroleva

Silver: Kai Yin Aria Liu (Southern California Fencing Academy (SOCALFA))

Bronze: Yiyun Xu (Scarsdale Fencing Center)

Bronze: Jessie Long (West Coast Fencing Academy)

5th: Korina Leou (Manhattan Fencing Center)

6th: Yixuan Wang (Canada)

7th: Elaine Lin (West Coast Fencing Academy)

8th: Olivia Sung (Globus Fencing Academy)

Gold: Hanson Chen (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

Coaches: Stas Gutkovskiy, Stepan Simonov

Silver: Nuo Chen (Future Stars Fencing)

Bronze: Ethan Doell (Fencing Sports Academy, Inc.)

Bronze: Marcus Zheng (Renaissance Fencing Club)

5th: Tyler Rodriguez (Massialas Foundation (M Team))

6th: Chenqiao Zhou (Canada)

7th: Shawn Zhou (SoCAL Fencing Center & LA International Fencing)

8th: Andy Lu (Canada)

Gold: Wangs Upon a Time (Carol Wang, Dina Wang, and Joanna Wang)

Silver: Dynamic Divas (Lola Brown, Nia Orbe-Austin, and Maya Orbé-Austin)

Bronze: LAIFC Girls (Phoebe Kensicki, Doreen Wang, Hanli Yang, and Ivy Zhang)

Find the complete gallery of Serge Timacheff photos on Facebook.