COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO., Feb. 18-20—The U.S. junior men’s epee and foil teams competed in Winterthur, Switzerland and Sabadell, Spain, scoring three medals in World Cup events.
Winterthur, Switzerland Junior Men’s Epee World Cup
Three Team USA junior fencers made the top eight in individual competition at the U20 Men’s Epee World Cup of Switzerland in Winterthur, including a bronze medal for Justin Haddad (DC Fencers Club). In all, 156 fencers participated with 17 teams at the event, which took place at the city’s Eulachhallen venue.
Haddad faced teammate Henry Lawson (7, Fencers Club Inc.) in the quarterfinals, advancing to the semifinals with a 15-9 win and giving Haddad a bronze medal. Italy’s Simone Mencarelli took the win against Haddad in the semis, 15-9, then fencing the finals and winning gold against his own teammate, Enrico Piatti. Nicholas Lawson (5, Fencers Club Inc.) also lost to Mencarelli in the quarterfinals, 15-7.
Other Team USA individual results included Ethan Kushnerik (17T, New York Athletic Club), Thomas Whelan (21, Olympia Fencing Center), Skyler Liverant (26, New York Fencing Academy), Allen Marakov (30, Medeo Fencing Club), Miles Weiss (38, Alliance Fencing Academy), Noah Silvers (46, Windy City Fencing-Chicago) and Nicholas Candela (68, Battle Born Fencing Club).
In men’s team epee, the U.S. team (Nicholas Lawson, Valentin Matveev (Battle Born Fencing Club), Tristan Szapary (Fencers Club Inc.), Devin Tafoya (Pennsylvania State Univ. NCAA)) took fourth place, defeating Czech Republic in the quarterfinals, 45-25, then being overtaken by Spain in the semifinals, 45-41. Ukraine then edged-out the U.S. for the bronze medal, 45-41.
Sabadell, Spain Junior Men’s Foil World Cup
Team USA fencers scored two individual foil medals at the Sabadell, Spain Men’s Foil World Cup, including a silver for Brandon Li (Marx Fencing Academy) and a bronze for Bryce Louie (LA International Fencing). The event took place at the Pavello Municipal d’Esports de Sabadell with 175 fencers and 19 teams.
Li beat France’s Paul Antoine De Belval in the semifinals, 15-10, to make the finals where he faced Hungary’s Gergo Szemes, who won the gold with a 15-8 score. Louie beat Hong Kong China’s Tit Nam Cheng in the quarterfinals, 15-8, and then lost to Szemes in the semifinals, 15-7, to take bronze. Chase Emmer (V Fencing Club) came in just behind the two medalists, taking fifth place after losing to teammate Li in the quarterfinals, 15-10.
Other Team USA individual foil results included James Chen (9T, Harvard Univ. NCAA), John Griffin (9T, unattached), Daniel Zhang (17, Star Fencing Academy), Edriss Ndiaye (26, Fencing Sports Academy, Inc.), Eric Yu (34, Univ. of Pennsylvania NCAA), Jun Heng Liao (35, Fencers Club Inc.), Enoch Xiao (41, Birmingham Fencing Club), Sanjay Kasi (46, Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy) and William Kelly (74, LA International Fencing).
In team competition in Sabadell, Team USA (James Chen, Chase Emmer, Brandon Li, Daniel Zhang) took fifth place, after beating Hong Kong China 44-37 in the 16, but then losing to Germany in the quarterfinals, 45-42.
