USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Seventeen-year-old Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass.) won not only his first Junior World Cup title on Sunday, but ascended to the #3 ranking in the world in junior men’s saber.

Dershwitz’s ranking makes him the top-ranked U.S. junior fencer in the world – male or female.

The 2012 Junior World silver medalist opened the event in Chandler on Sunday with an undefeated record in the pools and a second seed that gave him a bye into the table of 32.

Dershwitz won his first direct elimination bout over Pascal Lambert (CAN), 15-12, to advance to the table of 16 where he faced Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.) – Dershwitz’s teammate at Zeta Fencing Studio and a silver medalist at the 2012 Cadet Worlds.

In a rematch of last year’s quarter-final where Mackiewicz defeated Dershwitz before going on to win bronze, Dershwitz outscored his teammate, 15-12.

Dershwitz defeated Juan Pablo Velasquez Mazo (COL), 15-7, in the quarter-finals and advanced to the medal rounds as the only American in contention for a podium finish.

After a 15-9 victory over Canadian Fares Arfa in the semifinals, Dershwitz advanced to the gold medal bout against Shaul Gordon – the reigning Arizona Junior World Cup Champion and a freshman at Penn State.

Competing in a Junior World Cup final for the first time, Dershwitz won the bout, 15-10.

Click here to view complete results.

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

Arizona Junior World Cup
1. Eli Dershwitz (Sherborn, Mass.)
2. Shaul Gordon (CAN)
3. Fares Arfa (CAN)
3. Pascual Maria Di Tella (ARG)
5. Leonard Alexander Walker (Atlanta, Ga.)
6. Juan Pablo Velasquez Mazo (COL)
7. Christopher Monti (Cary, Ill.)
8. Ian Jones (Ladera Ranch, Calif.)

9. Jonah Shainberg (Rye, N.Y.)
10. Kaito Streets (Redwood City, Calif.)
11. Vincent Argenzio (Revere, Mass.)
13. Andrew Mackiewicz (Westwood, Mass.)
15. Jonathan Fitzgerald (East Brunswick, N.J.)
16. Evan Philpot (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
17. Calvin Liang (Phoenix, Ariz.)
19. Alistair Delchamps (Helena, Ala.)
20. Gabriel Armijo (San Diego, Calif.)
21. Jason Meng (Newton, Mass.)
22. Ameen Borojerdi (Plantation, Fla.)
25. Benjamin Marcus (Overland Park, Kans.)
29. Samuel Kwong (Los Altos Hills, Calif.)
31. Marc Mendoza (Escondido, Calif.)
32. Walter Musgrave (Escondido, Calif.)
35. Amir Ameli (Wellesley, Mass.)
36. Rui Li (Chandler, Ariz.)
39. Benjamin Natanzon (Manalapan, N.J.)
41. David Akrami (Plano, Texas)
44. Jeffrey Dalli (San Carlos, Calif.)
45. Naveen Borojerdi (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)
47. Mason Erb (Durham, N.C.)
51. Blake Murphy (Atlanta, Ga.)
55. Marty Janzen (Maricopa, Ariz.)
56. Brayden Slagowski (Chandler, Ariz.)