USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Two-time Olympian Soren Thompson (New York City, N.Y.) finished 20^th at the Berne Epee Grand Prix in Switzerland on Sunday.

As the only American to earn an exemption into the second day of competition, Thompson was seeded 10^th in the table of 64 where he took a 5-1 lead over Michelle Niggeler (SUI) at the end of the first period. By the final minute of the third period, however, Niggeler pulled within a touch of Thompson at 13-12. Thompson scored singles on his final two touches in the last seven seconds of the bout to take the win, 15-12.  

In the table of 32, Thompson led throughout the bout, but Richard Schmidt (GER) tied the score at 13 with 11 seconds remaining in the second period. Schmidt picked up two singles to end the bout, 15-13.

Thompson was one of four U.S. fencers to compete in the table of 64 – the most for the U.S. men’s epee program at a European senior tournament since the 2011 World Championships. All four athletes competed in the Paris World Cup last weekend and trained in France prior to the Berne event.

After posting a 4-2 result in pools, Nicholas Vomero (Centerport, N.Y.) earned a bye into the preliminary table of 64 on Saturday where he defeated Nikolaus Hofer (AUT), 9-8, in overtime. On Sunday, Vomero lost to Hugues Boisvert-Simard (CAN), 15-6, in the table of 64 and finished 42^nd.

Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.) went 3-3 in the pools on Saturday and doubled his final touch of the preliminary table of 64 to defeat Bahtiyer Ganniev (UZB), 15-14. Pryor drew five-time Senior World Team Champion Gauthier Grumier (FRA) in the table of 64 and lost the bout, 15-11. Pryor placed 46^th overall.

Like Pryor, Alexander Tsinis (Little Neck, N.Y.) was working to finalize his position on his first Senior World Team with the Berne Grand Prix serving as the second to last qualifying event. A 3-2 pool result meant Tsinis would fence in two direct elimination bouts on Saturday to qualify for the table of 64. After a 15-10 victory over Wolfgang Mejias (VEN), Tsinis defeated Falk Spautz (GER) in overtime by a score of 15-14. On Sunday, Tsinis finished 50^th after a 15-4 loss to 2011 Senior World silver medalist Bas Verwijlen (NED).

Visit www.fencingworldwide.com for complete results.

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

Berne Epee Grand Prix
1. Max Heinzer (SUI)
2. Bogdan Nikishin (UKR)
3. Silvio Fernandez (VEN)
3. Fabian Kauter (SUI)
5. Ruben Limardo (VEN)
6. Gabor Boczko (HUN)
7. Elmir Alimzhanov (KAZ)
8. Vincent Pelletier (CAN)

20. Soren Thompson (New York City, N.Y.)
42. Nicholas Vomero (Centerport, N.Y.)
46. Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
50. Alexander Tsinis (Little Neck, N.Y.)
66. Teddy Sherrill (New York City, N.Y.)
134. Adam Watson (Richford, Vt.)
142. Jonathan Yergler (Princeton, N.J.)