USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Team USA’s cadet European epee season for athletes ages 17 and under began this weekend with sixteen-year-olds Amanda Sirico (Bowie, Md.) and Harrison MacRae (Chicago, Ill.) earning the first two individual medals of the tournament for the United States.

The duo were two of 32 U.S. fencers to compete in the Klagenfurt Cadet European Epee Cup in Austria on Saturday.

Two weeks after winning the U17 event at the October North American Cup, Sirico took to the road where she finished 36^th in the pools after posting a 4-2 result in the round robin. Sirico won her next four bouts and defeated teammate Signe Ferguson (New York City, N.Y.), 15-9, to advance to the quarter-finals.

Fifteen-year-old Madeline Kehl (Valencia, Calif.) went undefeated in the pools and won five straight bouts to advance to the quarter-finals. Kehl lost to Nadine Stahlberg (GER), 15-14, in her next bout to finish in fifth place.

Sirico, meanwhile, defeated Alessandra Bozza (ITA), 15-10, in the quarters and Anna Hornischer (GER), 15-14, in the semifinals to set up a gold medal final against Stahlberg.

Sirico finished the day with a silver medal after the German won their bout, 15-11.

In the men’s event, Harrison MacRae (Chicago, Ill.) finished the pools as the top seeded American when his 6-0 result put him as the third-seeded fencer in the direct elimination tables and one of seven U.S. fencers to go undefeated in the pools.

After a bye into the table of 128, MacRae won four straight bouts to move into the quarter-finals as one of four Americans.

With 20 U.S. men fencing in the tournament, the Americans collided frequently in the tables.

Sixteen-year-olds Gabriel Canaux (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Porter Hesslegrave (Los Angeles, Calif.) battled in the table of 32 with Canaux coming out the victor, 15-9.

Hesslegrave won four straight bouts in the repechage to qualify for the quarter-finals.

After his win over Hesslegrave, Canaux lost to Lukas Knechtl (AUT), 15-11, in the next round and needed three repechage wins to return to medal contention.

Popovici advanced to the quarters after he won his repechage final against Samuel Koch (San Francisco, Calif.), 15-13.

In the quarters, MacRae drew Canaux and defeated his teammate, 15-14, while Hesslegrave and Popovici each lost his bout.

Hesslegrave fell to Toth, 15-13, and placed fifth and Popovici finished sixth after a 15-12 loss to Sergej Horetskiy (UKR).

Canaux placed seventh which gave Team USA more top-eight finishes than any other nation.

MacRae won his first ever international medal – a bronze – after a 15-14 loss to Horetskiy in the semifinals.

Click here to view complete results.

Top eight and U.S. results are as follows:

Women’s Individual Klagenfurt Cadet European Epee Cup
1. Nadine Stahlberg (GER)
2. Amanda Sirico (Bowie, Md.)
3. Vlada Kharkova (UKR)
3. Anna Hornischer (GER)
5. Madeline Kehl (Valencia, Calif.)
6. Alessandra Bozza (ITA)
7. Vanessa Riedmueller (GER)
8. Cezara Constantin (ROU)

9. Signe Ferguson (New York City, N.Y.)
15. Giana Vierheller (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
17. Madeline Antekeier (Houston, Texas)
26. Kasia Nixon (Los Angeles, Calif.)
31. Jennifer Horowitz (Los Angeles, Calif.)
51. Audrey Yun (Los Angeles, Calif.)
57. Claire Dinhut (Los Angeles, Calif.)
58. Sarah Waller (Mckinney, Texas)
65. Saanchi Kukadia (Manhasset, N.Y.)
77. Katie Angen (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Men’s Individual Klagenfurt Cadet European Epee Cup
1. Zsombor Banyai (HUN)
2. Sergej Horetskiy (UKR)
3. Harrison MacRae (Chicago, Ill.)
3. Gergely Toth (HUN)
5. Porter Hesslegrave (Los Angeles, Calif.)
6. Michael Popovici (Katy, Texas)
7. Gabriel Canaux (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
8. Lukas Knechtl (AUT)

10. Jake Raynis (Chatsworth, Calif.)
11. Samuel Koch (San Francisco, Calif.)
13. Anton Piskovatskov (Houston, Texas)
17. Adam Frank (Portland, Ore.)
32. Brendon Yoder (Parker, Colo.)
33. Ariel Simmons (Bellaire, Texas)
36. Joshua Cole (Chappaqua, N.Y.)
37. Matthew Shlimak (Houston, Texas)
38. Jonathan Xu (Prospect, Conn.)
41. Daniel Small (Beaverton, Ore.)
45. Matthias Philippine (Oakland, Calif.)
49. Andrew Kim (Manhasset, N.Y.)
70. Justin Yoo (La Verne, Calif.)
75. Charles Horowitz (Los Angeles, Calif.)
90. Darius Zacharakis (Houston, Texas)
97. Thibault Philippine (Oakland, Calif.)