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USA Fencing Announces 2013 Wheelchair World Championship Team

07/24/2013, 5:30pm CDT
By Nicole Jomantas

Paralympian Ryan Estep (left) will fence at his third Wheelchair Worlds in Budapest. Photo Credit: Ginny Boydston

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – USA Fencing is pleased to announce the roster of athletes who will represent Team USA at the Wheelchair World Championships in Budapest, Hungary from Aug. 7-12.

The Wheelchair Worlds will be held in conjunction with the Senior World Championships which begin on Aug. 5 and conclude on Aug. 12.

Team USA is headlined by four members of the 2012 Paralympic Team: Ryan Estep (Florence, Miss.), Catherine Bouwkamp (Fishers, Ind.), Gerard Moreno (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Joseph Brinson (Florence, Miss.)

Estep, who was ranked third in the world in Category B men’s epee in 2012, earned his second career World Cup medal – silver in Warsaw – two weeks ago and will be fencing in both the epee and saber events in Budapest. At the 2011 Wheelchair Worlds, Estep finished seventh – just one bout away from becoming the first U.S. wheelchair fencer to win a World Championship medal in a Category B event.

Brinson, Estep’s teammate at Methodist Rehab, made his Paralympic debut in London as a saber fencer and will join Estep in the Category B epee saber competition.

At just 16-years-old, Bouwkamp became the youngest U.S. athlete ever to compete in wheelchair fencing at the Paralympic Games in London. The reigning Category A epee Junior World bronze medalist will fence at her third Wheelchair Worlds where she will compete in epee and saber.

A four-time Paralympian, Moreno was named captain of the squad in London and will fence in the Category B foil and saber events at his seventh Wheelchair Worlds.

Sydney Paralympian Curtis Lovejoy (College Park, Md.) will be returning to his first Wheelchair Worlds since winning gold in the Category C men’s foil event in 2006. Although Category C events are not contested at the Paralympic Games in wheelchair fencing, Lovejoy remains one of the best fencers in the world in his event and his bronze medal finish at the Warsaw Wheelchair World Cup two weeks ago showed that he is poised for another trip to the podium.

Five-time Paralympic Coach Les Stawicki (Louisville, Ky.) will serve as the head coach for Team USA and will be assisted by Julio Diaz (Lilburn, Ga.) London Team Leader Ginny Boydston (Jackson, Miss.) will return to her position in Budapest. Raluca Duma (Whittier, Calif.) will serve as the team’s athletic trainer.

Competition schedule is as follows:

Wednesday, Aug. 7
Men’s Individual Saber A, B
Women’s Individual Foil A, B

Thursday, Aug. 8
Women’s Individual Epee A, B
Men’s Individual Epee A, B, C

Friday, Aug. 9
Men’s Individual Foil A, B, C
Women’s Individual Saber A, B

Saturday, Aug. 10
Men’s Team Saber
Women’s Team Foil

Sunday, Aug. 11
Men’s Team Epee
Women’s Team Epee

Monday, Aug. 12
Men’s Team Foil
Women’s Team Saber

Team USA’s athlete roster is as follows:

Men’s Category A Epee
Russell Oswalt (Von Ormy, Texas)

Men’s Category B Epee
Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.)
Ryan Estep (Florence, Miss.)
Josh Russell (Mendenhall, Miss.)

Men’s Category C Epee
Curtis Lovejoy (College Park, Ga.)

Men’s Team Epee
Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.)
Ryan Estep (Florence, Miss.)
Josh Russell (Mendenhall, Miss.)
Curtis Lovejoy (College Park, Ga.)

Women’s Category A Epee
Catherine Bouwkamp (Fishers, Ind.)

Women’s Category B Epee
Ellen Geddes (Johnston, S.C.)
Mia Ives-Rublee (Durham, N.C.)

Women’s Team Epee
Catherine Bouwkamp (Fishers, Ind.)
Ellen Geddes (Johnston, S.C.)
Mia Ives-Rublee (Durham, N.C.)

Men’s Category A Foil
Dennis Aspy (Woodstock, Ga.)
Russell Oswalt (Von Ormy, Texas)

Men’s Category B Foil
Gerard Moreno (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Josh Russell (Mendenhall, Miss.)

Men’s Category C Foil
Curtis Lovejoy (College Park, Ga.)

Men’s Team Foil
Dennis Aspy (Woodstock, Ga.)
Gerard Moreno (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Josh Russell (Mendenhall, Miss.)

Women’s Category B Foil
Ellen Geddes (Johnston, S.C.)
Mia Ives-Rublee (Durham, N.C.)

Men’s Category A Saber
Dennis Aspy (Woodstock, Ga.)
Leo Curtis (Rainier, Ore.)

Men’s Category B Saber
Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.)
Ryan Estep (Florence, Miss.)
Gerard Moreno (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Men’s Team Saber
Dennis Aspy (Woodstock, Ga.)
Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.)
Ryan Estep (Florence, Miss.)
Gerard Moreno (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Women’s Category A Saber
Catherine Bouwkamp (Fishers, Ind.)

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