(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – The U.S. Men’s Epee Team began the second leg of the World Cup circuit with a sixth place finish at the Heidenheim Epee World Cup in Germany on Sunday.
Seeded second after their gold medal win at the World Championships earlier in the month, the team of Seth Kelsey (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Soren Thompson (New York City, N.Y.), Cody Mattern (Colorado Springs, Colo.) andJimmy Moody (Colorado Springs, Colo.) earned a bye into the table of 16 where Team USA defeated Israel, 14-13.
In the quarter-final match against Switzerland, Team USA led by four (33-29) going into the final bout, but Swiss anchor Max Heinzer scored 13 touches to Kelsey’s six to win the bout, 42-39.
Team USA rebounded to win the next bout in the 5th – 8th place table over Norway, 45-32.
In the match for fifth place, Team USA met France – the team that had won six straight World titles before the Americans defeated them in the gold medal bout of the World Team Championships in Kiev two weeks ago.
Motivated by their finals loss at the Worlds and a 45-44 loss to China in the quarters, France won eight of the nine bouts to win the match, 45-27.
Top eight and U.S. results are as follows:
Heidenheim Epee Team World Cup
1. Switzerland
2. Italy
3. China
4. Russia
5. France
6. USA
7. Ukraine
8. Norway
Tag(s): News
