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Dagmara Wozniak and Yeisser Ramirez Win Division I November NAC Titles

11/11/2013, 1:45am CST
By Nicole Jomantas

Dagmara Wozniak won gold in the Division I women's saber event.

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – In a field of young women’s saber fencers with their eyes on the Rio Olympic Games, many of the athletes at the November NAC had only seen London Olympian Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.) fence on television.

Wozniak, a three-time Senior World Team medalist, has focused exclusively on international events since winning the silver medal at the 2011 National Championships.

But that changed on Sunday when Wozniak returned to the domestic circuit at the November North American Cup in Cleveland, Ohio.

Wozniak finished her pool undefeated to take the fourth seed in the Division I women’s saber table of 128.

After a bye into the table of 64 and quick wins over Annabel Sharahy (Wayne, N.J.), 15-5, and Cordelia Avery (New York City, N.Y.), 15-4, Wozniak met 2013 Junior World Team Champion Francesca Russo (Wayne, N.J.) in the table of 16.

Following her gold medal win in the junior event on Friday, Russo was up to the challenge of fencing one of the top 16 fencers in the world and nearly produced an upset, but Wozniak scored the final touch to take the bout, 15-14.

In the quarter-finals, Wozniak defeated top-ranked cadet fencer Riya Dave (Ardsley, N.Y.), 15-12.

Wozniak’s next opponent, 2013 Cadet World Team member Lena Johnson (Peachtree City, Ga.), entered the semis after several key wins in the earlier rounds. In the table of 64, Johnson outscored 2013 Senior World team bronze medalist Eliza Stone (Chicago, Ill.), 15-13, in a come-from-behind victory and defeated 2009 Pan Am medalist Eileen Grench (PAN), 15-12, in the quarters.

Johnson kept the semifinal score close, but Wozniak won the bout, 15-13.

Sophie Keehan (Chandler, Ariz.), the reigning Division IA National Champion, advanced to her first Division I gold medal final after 15-13 wins over 2009 Senior World Team member Monica Aksamit (Matawan, N.J.) in the quarters and 2013 Senior World Team Champion Sage Palmedo (Portland, Ore.) in the semis.

Wozniak controlled the final bout against Keehan and took the win, 15-7.

Yeisser Ramirez (Bronx, N.Y.) broke through the Division I men’s epee ranks at the January NAC in 2012 where he took silver and the 27-year-old returned to the finals on Sunday.

Seeded 22nd out of the pools, Ramirez earned a bye into the table of 128 where he defeated Richard Duval (Los Angeles, Calif.), 15-11.

Ramirez won his next bout over Charles Horowitz (Los Angeles, Calif.), 15-13, and upset 2013 Senior World Team member Alexander Tsinis (Little Neck, N.Y.), 15-10, in the table of 32.

Ramirez secured his position in the quarters after a 15-13 win over Keith Lichten (Oakland, Calif.) and a 15-11 victory against 2012 NCAA Champion Jonathan Yergler (Long Island City, N.Y.)

Ramirez defeated three-time Senior World Team member Andras Horanyi (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 15-8, in the quarters and Kevin Mo (Irvine, Calif.), 15-11, in the semis.

The gold medal came down to the final touch with Ramirez prevailing over Peregrine Badger (Providence, R.I.), 14-13.

A silver medalist at the Cadet Worlds in April, Sabrina Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.) won her first junior title in the women’s foil competition.

Massialas was seeded first out of the pools and opened with a 15-2 win over Ariane Bilodeau (CAN) in the table of 64 and defeated 2013 Junior Olympic Champion Iman Blow (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 15-13, in the 32.

Massialas won her table of 16 bout against Isabella Chung (New York City, N.Y.), 15-5, and defeated Canadian Jerrica Gu, 14-9, in the quarters.

Her next two wins in the medal rounds came by one-touch margins as Massialas outscored Columbia freshman Jessie Laffey (Glen Ridge, N.J.), 5-4, in the semis and defeated Canadian Senior World Team member Eleanor Harvey, 11-10, in the finals.

Following his bronze medal win in the Division I men’s saber competition, 2012 Olympian Jeff Spear (Wynantskill, N.Y.) anchored the NYAC to a gold medal in the senior men’s saber team competition.

Spear and teammates Daniel Bak (Franklin Lakes, N.J.), Andrew Fischl (Huntington, N.Y.) and Ben Igoe (Staten Island, N.Y.) defeated Capital Fencing Academy, 45-19, in the quarters and won their semifinal match against Canada 1, 45-27.

In the gold medal final, the Fencer’s Club of Arizona team of Gabe Armijo (San Diego, Calif.), Donovan Deans (Chandler, Ariz.), Calvin Liang (Chandler, Ariz.) and Jose Gonzalez (PUR) won or tied six of the nine bouts, but could catch their opponents as the NYAC took the match by 10 touches and a score of 45-35.

Canada 1 defeated SON 1, 45-27, in the bronze medal final.

Click here to view complete results.

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

Division I Men’s Individual Epee
1. Yeisser Ramirez (Bronx, N.Y.)
2. Peregrine Badger (Providence, R.I.)
3. Jimmy Moody (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
3. Kevin Mo (Irvine, Calif.)
5. Alexander Tsinis (Little Neck, N.Y.)
6. Andras Horanyi (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
7. Maciek Zmyslowski (Des Plaines, Ill.)
8. Marc-Andre Leblanc (CAN)

Division I Women’s Individual Saber
1. Dagmara Wozniak (Avenel, N.J.)
2. Sophie Keehan (Chandler, Ariz.)
3. Lena Johnson (Peachtree City, Ga.)
3. Sage Palmedo (Portland, Ore.)
5. Monica Aksamit (Matawan, N.J.)
6. Daria Schneider (New York City, N.Y.)
7. Eileen Grench (PAN)
8. Riya Dave (Ardsley, N.Y.)

Senior Men’s Team Saber
1. NYAC
2. Fencer’s Club of Arizona
3. Canada 1
4. SON 1
5. SoCal Fencers
6. RIFAC Green
7. SON 2
8. Capital Fencing Academy

Junior Women’s Individual Foil
1. Sabrina Massialas (San Francisco, Calif.)
2. Eleanor Harvey (CAN)
3. Jessie Laffey (Glen Ridge, N.J.)
3. Jennifer Yamin (Allendale, N.J.)
5. Alanna Goldie (CAN)
6. Morgan Partridge (Swansea, Mass.)
7. Samantha Viqueira (Maplewood, N.J.)
8. Jerrica Gu (CAN)

Tag(s): News  Ben Igoe  Dagmara Wozniak