USA Fencing

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Even after Julie T. Seal (Valkyrie Fencing Club) secured an exciting victory to win the 2022 national championship in Vet-50 women’s saber, the event’s drama wasn’t done. 

The competition in Minneapolis offered the final opportunity for veteran fencers to earn qualifying points toward a place at the 2022 Veteran World Championships this October in Croatia. When the final points were tallied, there was a tie for the fourth and final spot on the team between Leigh Altman (Atlantic Fencing Academy) and Jasmina Denner (Scarsdale Fencing Center) — each of whom earned a bronze medal on Thursday.

A tie for fourth place requires a 10-touch fence-off to be held on the same day, so the women put their fencing gear back on and returned to the strip about three hours after their semifinal bouts had ended.

In a 10-8 finish, Denner won and found herself on the squad headed to Croatia this fall. To meet the full squad, check out the team page.

Seal’s gold medal, which secured her own place on the Veteran World Team, was one of 18 medals awarded on the sixth day of the 2022 USA Fencing National Championships and July Challenge, or Summer Nationals.

In Division IA, with national titles on the line, Ethan I. Gassner (Golden State Fencing Academy) won in men’s foil and Victoria M. Gorman (Zeta Fencing) in women’s saber.

Tyler Lowe-Thorpe (Golden Gate Fencing Center) emerged victorious in Division II men’s epee — the day’s largest event — while Yukari Takamizawa (Golden State Fencing Academy) won in Division III women’s foil.

Thursday saw the start of the Y14 events, with Nazir Primus (Peter Westbrook Foundation / Fencers Club Inc.) winning the national championship in men’s saber and Jolie Korfonta (Penta Olympic Fencing Club)winning in women’s epee.

And in the team events, veteran women’s foil gold was earned by Julie Seal’s Team, while NYAC Immortals took home the crown in veteran men’s epee.

Vet-40 Women’s Saber

Gold and National Champion: Yelena Kalkina (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

Silver: Laura S. Johnson (DC Fencers Club)

Bronze: Elisabet Chiarelli (Manhattan Fencing Center)

Bronze: Kate Sierra (Atlantic Fencing Academy)

5th: Inga Cho (Renaissance Fencing Club)

6th: Blanca E. Marentes (Salle Auriol Seattle)

7th: Clare L. Deming (Lilov Fencing Academy)

8th: Lynn Y. Zhang (PDX Fencing)

 

Vet-50 Women’s Saber

Gold and National Champion: Julie T. Seal (Valkyrie Fencing Club)

Silver: Frauke Berman (Manhattan Fencing Center)

Bronze: Leigh Altman (Atlantic Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Jasmina Denner (Scarsdale Fencing Center)

5th: Natalia Oblonsky (Manhattan Fencing Center)

6th: Barbara Shinn-Cunningham (Corsair Fencing Club)

7th: Myriam Gluck (Columbus International Fencing Academy / Advance Fencing and Fitness Academy)

8th: Emmanuelle C. Jean (Texas Fencing Academy)

 

Vet-60 Women’s Saber

Gold and National Champion: Robin J. Pernice (Dynamo Fencing Center Inc.)

Silver: Chaz V. Smith (Hangtown Saber Club)

Bronze: Lydia L. Fabry (South Bay Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Jayne A. Jerkins (Capital Fencing Academy)

5th: Heidi Runyan (Spartak)

6th: Nam Heui Kim (Cambridge Fencing Center)

7th: Jane E. Eyre (Infinity Fencing Alliance)

8th: Beth S. Vance (Renaissance Fencing Club)

 

Vet-70 Women’s Saber

Gold and National Champion: Linda J. J. Dunn (IndySabre / Indianapolis Fencing Club)

Silver: Gemin Channing (Rockville Fencing Academy / Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)

Bronze: Claire M. Hanamoto (Hangtown Saber Club)

Bronze: Judith (Jude) A. Offerle (RedStar Fencing Club Chicago / University of Notre Dame)

5th: Erica Julien (Cape Fear Fencing Association)

6th: Anna (Annie) C. Mannino (San Francisco Sabre School)

7th: Lynne E Olson (Columbus Fencing and Fitness LLC)

8th: Ellen O'Leary (Western Washington)

 

Vet-80 Women’s Saber

Not contested

 

Vet-40 Men’s Foil

Gold and National Champion: Nathan T. Anderson (Denver Fencing Center)

Silver: Thomas Cheng (Stoccata Fencing Academy & Club / Penta Olympic Fencing Club)

Bronze: Peter Habala (RedStar Fencing Club Chicago)

Bronze: David S. Lee (Bay Area Fencing Club)

5th: Jesse Mones (Lotus Fencing Academy)

6th: Jason Brown (Ludus Fencing Studio)

7th: Oleg Rusanov (Royal Fencing Academy)

8th: John Tomasi (Rockville Fencing Academy)

 

Vet-50 Men’s Foil

Gold and National Champion: Rafael A. Suarez (Masters Fencing Club)

Silver: Oliver K. Foellmer (LA International Fencing)

Bronze: Frets G. Olivares (Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: Marek B. Wyszynski (Fencers Club Inc.)

5th: Ken Chilton (LA International Fencing)

6th: Adam Feldman (Zeljkovic Fencing Academy)

7th: Peter R. Grandbois (Denison University Fencing / Columbus Fencing and Fitness LLC)

8th: Tobias (Toby) T. Lee (Metro Tacoma Fencing Club)

 

Vet-60 Men’s Foil

Gold and National Champion: Paul Epply-Schmidt (Bucks County Academy Of Fencing / Sebastiani Fencing Academy)

Silver: John W. Lawrence (Durkan Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Oscar M. Estell (Bay Area Fencing Club)

Bronze: Gerald (Jerry) A. Leblanc (Elite Fencing Club / LA International Fencing)

5th: Johannes Klein (Rain City Fencing Center)

6th: Henri J. Darricau (Denver Fencing Center)

7th: Philippe Bennett (Fencers Club Inc.)

8th: Thomas (Tom) W. Lutton (Denver Fencing Center / LE CLUB TOUCHE)

 

Vet-70 Men’s Foil

Gold and National Champion: Daniel (Dan) W. Mccarthy (The Phoenix Center)

Silver: Marek W. Piatkowski-Nazarro (Elite Fencing Club)

Bronze: Jan (Janmon) M. Patterson (Salle Auriol Seattle)

Bronze: Adrian Sessions (The Fencing Center / Massialas Foundation (M Team))

5th: Joseph S. Streb (Royal Arts Fencing Academy)

6th: Paul B. Kazimiroff (Beverly Hills Fencers' Club)

7th: James L. Newsome (Tidewater Fencing Club)

8th: James V. Brykczynski (Bucks County Academy of Fencing)

 

Vet-80 Men’s Foil

Gold and National Champion: Davis W. Carvey (Rain City Fencing Center / Salle Auriol Seattle)

Silver: Tung-Shan (Fritz) Chang (NEMA Fencing Center)

 

Division IA Men’s Foil

Gold and National Champion: Ethan I. Gassner (Golden State Fencing Academy)

Silver: Castor T. Kao (Star Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Alexander Wu (Star Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Lucas H. Zeng (Maximum Fencing Club)

5th: Bryce C. Mcclain (Brooklyn Bridge Fencing Club)

6th: Aidan Lee (Fencing Sports Academy Inc. / Invicta Sports)

7th: Charles Bing (Star Fencing Academy)

8th: Phillip W. Nunnink (Heartland Fencing Academy)

 

Division IA Women’s Saber

Gold and National Champion: Victoria M. Gorman (Zeta Fencing)

Silver: Irene Jung (Premier Fencing Academy LLC)

Bronze: Zara A. Fearns (Halberstadt Fencers' Club)

Bronze: Megumi Oishi (PDX Fencing)

5th: Charlotte S. Scalamoni-Goldstein (Advance Fencing And Fitness Academy)

6th: Victoria J. Li (Globus Fencing Academy / The Hockaday School)

7th: Nisha Hild (Zeta Fencing)

8th: Nevaeh L. Ulibarri (Phoenix Fencing Academy)

 

Division II Men’s Epee

Gold and National Champion: Tyler Lowe-Thorpe (Golden Gate Fencing Center)

Silver: Alexei Novojilov (Medeo Fencing Club)

Bronze: Hayden Trebon (Premier Fencing Alliance)

Bronze: Braeden Langenderfer (Central Florida)

5th: Elijah S. Imrek (Alliance Fencing Academy)

6th: Daniel Chirashnya (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

7th: Tristan Wang (Elite Fencing Academy (VA))

8th: Alexander Ulinich (Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

 

Division III Women’s Foil

Gold and National Champion: Yukari Takamizawa (Golden State Fencing Academy)

Silver: Eunice Zhang (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

Bronze: Crystal Han (Rain City Fencing Center)

Bronze: Molly Kettelle (Massialas Foundation (M Team) / Still Point Fencing)

5th: Rebecca Hsieh (AIC Fencing Club)

6th: Mahala Lambert (Northwest Fencing Center)

7th: Sophia Liu (Gutkovskiy Fencing Academy)

8th: Keira Castaneda (Rain City Fencing Center / Academy of Fencing Masters (AFM))

 

Y-14 Men’s Saber

Gold and National Champion: Nazir Primus (Peter Westbrook Foundation / Fencers Club Inc.)

Silver: Oliver Sturn (Oregon Fencing Alliance)

Bronze: Emilio A. Gonzalez (Scarsdale Fencing Center / 

Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: Shaun M. Kim (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)

5th: Silas Choi (Globus Fencing Academy)

6th: Daniel Holz (Premier Fencing Academy LLC)

7th: Heonjun Cheong (Texas Sabre Academy / Texas International Fencing Center)

8th: Oleksandr Shirpal (Dynamo Fencing Center Inc.)

 

Y-14 Women’s Epee

Gold and National Champion: Jolie Korfonta (Penta Olympic Fencing Club)

Silver: Melinda Yao (Alliance Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Alexandra Rakhovski (New York Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Sierra Springer (Olympia Fencing Center)

5th: Ge Feng (Cavalier Fencing Club)

6th: Elizabeth Zigalo (New York Fencing Academy)

7th: Victoria R. Zhang (Alliance Fencing Academy)

8th: Teresa Randleman (Arena Fencing Academy LLC)

 

Veteran Women’s Foil — Team

Gold: Julie Seal’s Team (Celine de la Foscade-Condon, Maria Panyi, Kathryn S. Pierrynowski and Julie T. Seal)

Silver: Team FeNCe (Judith M. Bassik, Jane P. Carter, Margaret E. Kerr and Darby A. Lytle)

Bronze: Brooklyn College & friends (Sharone A. Huey, Georgina Love, Jennette Starks-Faulkner and Anne-Marie Walters)

Veteran Men’s Epee — Team

Gold: NYAC Immortals (Alexander E. Tsinis, Chris S. O'Loughlin, Rick Watrall and Jonathan R. Bartlett)

Silver: Bad Boys (Eric Hansen, Carl E. Loeffler, Iliya Mechkov and Mark Nixon)

Bronze: East Bay Fencers Gym (Graham Allen, Joel H. Kaufman, Keith H. Lichten and Mehmet Tepedelenlioglu)