USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – At just 14-years-old, Stefani Deschner (Mechanicsville, Va.) was the youngest fencer on the podium at the Tauberbischofsheim Foil Cadet European Cup on Sunday where she won her first international gold medal.

Competition began on Saturday when Deschner won 10 of her 11 pool bouts to earn the 18^th seed in the table of 128.

After a 15-7 win over Ivett Tomka (HUN), Deschner edged Mirgul Kadyrova (RUS), 15-14, in the table of 64, to advance to the second day of the tournament.

In the table of 32, Deschner fenced Adrianna Frackowiak (POL), a medalist on the circuit last season, and dominated the bout to take a 15-5 win.

Deschner’s next opponent was expected to be her teammate, Iman Blow (Brooklyn, N.Y.), but Blow lost to Honorine Millepied (FRA), 15-14, in the table of 32.

Millepied defeated Deschner, 12-11, in the next round, but Deschner remained eligible for the medal rounds as she fenced her way through the repechage.

Deschner advanced to the quarter-finals after three straight repechage wins over Sarah Pak (Upper Saddle River, N.J.), 15-12; 2013 Cadet European Team Champion Kata Kondricz (HUN), 15-14; and Dinara Daminova (RUS), 15-7.

Deschner controlled her next two bouts as she defeated Victoria Yusova (RUS), 15-8, in the quarters and 2013 Cadet European Team Champion Flora Pasztor (HUN), 15-6, in the semis.

In the final bout, Deschner fenced Leonie Ebert (GER) in front of 1,000 fans cheering for Ebert in her hometown.

Deschner kept her composure and held on to score the final touch, 14-13, to win gold.

In addition to claiming her first international title, Deschner also moved up to No. 6 in the Cadet European rankings and No. 2 in the U.S. standings.

Click here for complete results.

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

Tauberbischofsheim Foil Cadet European Cup
1. Stefani Deschner (Mechanicsville, Va.)
2. Leonie Ebert (GER)
3. Flora Pasztor (HUN)
3. Anna Szymczak (POL)
5. Victoria Yusova (RUS)
6. Maria Melnikova (RUS)
7. Sabrina Mueller (GER)
8. Honorine Millepied (FRA)

17. Iman Blow (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
20. Samantha Viqueira (Maplewood, N.J.)
21. Sarah Pak (Upper Saddle River, N.J.)
23. Nicole Vaiani (Belmar, N.J.)
37. Quinn Crum (Providence, R.I.)
40. Shani Edwards (Lexington, Ky.)
43. Naomi Popkin (Ridgewood, N.J.)
46. Isabella Chung (Greenwich, Conn.)
52. Sharon Chen (Diamond Bar, Calif.)
58. Grace Ding (Bolton, Mass.)
63. Xiao-Qing Tsai (Salt Lake City, Utah)
67. Morgan Partridge (Swansea, Mass.)
74. Liana Henderson-Semel (Carmel, N.Y.)
79. Elyssa Kleiner (San Francisco, Calif.)
92. Simone Unwalla (Great Falls, Va.)
97. Julia Thompson (Montclair, N.J.)
108. Wei Chee Chen (Birmingham, Ala.)
129. Samantha Viqueira (Maplewood, N.J.)