USA Fencing

(Dallas, Texas) – London Olympic medalist Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) won her fourth individual gold medal in just over a year on Friday in Dallas when the two-time Olympian claimed the December North American Cup title in Division I women’s epee.

Seeded second out of the pools, Hurley defeated Tatijana Stewart (Ogden, Utah), 15-4, in the table of 64.

Hurley won her next two bouts by 15-12 and 15-9 scores, respectively, over Amy Zhao (Cambridge, Mass.) and Kay Sze (CAN).

Hurley’s toughest challenge of the day came from 2012 Cadet World medalist Jessie Radanovich (Tollhouse, Calif.) who took Hurley to overtime before dropping the bout, 9-8.

The two met again in the quarters, but Hurley controlled the bout for a 15-10 win.

Fencing two-time Junior World medalist Ashley Severson (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) in the semifinals, Hurley won the bout, 15-7.

The gold medal final was a rematch of the Division I National Championship final bout in April as Hurley took on Isabel Ford (Salem, Ore.)

Although Ford lost to Severson in earlier rounds, she fought her way through the repechage and medal rounds to fence for gold.

Ford kept the score within a touch early in the second period, but Hurley went on a 5-1 run to take the score to 14-8 by the third period.

In the third period, Hurley’s first touch was a double to take the bout, 15-9.

“I like fencing lefties, so I was happy to get Isabel in the final. But, also, I was really low and empty on energy. I was totally pooped and I’m happy that was my last match because I used everything up out there,” Hurley said.

Since the London Games, Hurley has been balancing fencing with grad school and has had less time to train than she did during her Olympic preparation.

“I feel pretty good. I haven’t been training that much, so I got pretty tired towards the end, but fencing’s like riding a bike. It comes back pretty quick. The only thing that was really sad is that my sister lost her first match and I’m used to having her fence alongside of me,” she said of her younger sister and 2012 Olympic teammate, Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas).  

A silver medalist at the July North American Cup, Jarred Gou (Saratoga, Calif.) won his first cadet NAC title in the men’s foil competition.

Gou came from behind to defeat 2013 July NAC Champion Matthew Branman (Villanova, Pa.), 15-13, in the semifinals, and was tied with George Haglund (Califon, N.J.) at one early in the first period of the gold medal bout before calling for an injury timeout.

“I started playing with the blade a little bit and, when he would attack and he would parry, trying to hold onto the foil a little bit tighter was causing my hand to cramp a lot and I didn’t want to continue with it hurting,” Gou said.

After the timeout, Haglund scored six straight touches to take a 6-1 lead, but Gou cut the lead to 6-4 and then tied the bout at seven. He went on to take the win, 15-13, in the second period.

In the veteran events, the December NAC marks the start of the 2012-2013 domestic season for the 50+ age categories.

Former Veteran World Champion Walter Dragonetti (Elyria, Ohio) and Doug Thistlethwaite (Norco, Calif.) took a stalling penalty after the first minute of their gold medal bout for not scoring a touch and a second penalty at the start of the next period for not making blade comment in the first 15 seconds. With the bout coming down to a one-minute overtime period, Dragonetti outscored his opponent, 4-1.

Thomas Henzler (Houston, Texas) held a 6-2 lead over two-time Veteran World medalist Bob Cochrane (Lake Worth, Fla.) in the veteran men’s 60-69 epee final, but Cochrane fought back to tie the bout at nine with five seconds remaining in the first period. After the break, Cochrane scored the first single to win the bout, 10-9.

A new face in the +70 men’s epee competition, Jonathan Jefferies (Alameda, Calif.) moved up from the 60-69 age group and won his first event as a +70 after a 10-6 final victory over 1998 Veteran World Champion Kaz Campe (Edgewater, Md.)

In the veteran women’s 50-59 foil competition, Ursula Szpak has traveled around the world to fence on the last two Veteran World teams, but she had less than a 45 minute drive to make it to the NAC from her home in Trophy Club. Szpak won her second veteran title of the year when she defeated Nora Gutkovskaya (Fair Lawn, N.J.), 9-3, in the gold medal final.

Former Brooklyn College teammates Anne-Marie Walters (Parkland, Fla.) and Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Middletown, Conn.) won six individual Veteran World medals between them in the 50-59 women’s foil events, and showed that they plan on being contenders in the 60-69 event as well on Friday when they advanced to the gold medal round in their first event in the new category. Walters won the bout, 10-8, to take gold.

In the veteran women’s +70 foil competition, two-time Veteran World individual medalist Patricia Bedrosian (Malibu, Calif.) defeated 2011 Veteran World medalist Bettie Graham (Washington, D.C.), 10-8, in the gold medal final.

Four veteran events were held in categories that are not contested at the Veteran World Championships.

Velizar Iliev (San Antonio, Texas), a 2000 Olympian in modern pentathlon, defeated Gregory Ripple (Grand Rapids, Mich.), 10-3, in the finals of the veteran men’s 40-49 epee competition.

Diane Ferguson (Rockville, Md.) defeated Canadian Ida Choy, 9-8, in the veteran women’s 40-49 foil event.

In the veteran open competitions, Donna Pepe (Oxford, Conn.) won gold over Dawn Wilson (Louisville, Ky.), 10-5, on the women’s side and 2012 Veteran World Champion Will Milne (Redwood City, Calif.) won the final bout over his former Vet World teammate, Dmitri Kopylov (Roseland, N.J.), 10-5.

Click here to view complete results.

Top eight results are as follows:

Division I Women’s Epee
1. Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
2. Isabel Ford (Salem, Ore.)
3. Anna Van Brummen (Houston, Texas)
3. Ashley Severson (Franklin, N.J.)
5. Kasia Nixon (Los Angeles, Calif.)
6. Jessie Radanovich (Tollhouse, Calif)
7. Kat Holmes (Washington, D.C.)
8. Dina Bazarbayeva (Houston, Texas)

Cadet Men’s Foil
1. Jarred Gou (Saratoga, Calif.)
2. George Haglund (Califon, N.J.)
3. Matthew Branman (Villanova, Pa.)
3. Geoffrey Tourette (Cupertino, Calif.)
5. Umar Masood (Pittsford, N.Y.)
6. Albert Zhang (Anandale, N.J.)
7. Jonathan Schwartzman (Beverly Hills, Calif.)
8. Jordan Griffith (Naples, Fla.)

Veteran Open Men’s Saber
1. Will Milne (Redwood City, Calif.)
2. Dmitri Kopylov (Roseland, N.J.)
3. Aleksey Dyakov (Auburndale, Mass.)
3. Mario Martinez (Freemont, Calif.)
5. Stephen Dashnaw (Wayne, N.J.)
6. Carlton Badger (Durham, N.C.)
7. Paul Hicha (Mesa, Ariz.)
8. Stephen Andrews (Bloomington, Ind.)

Veteran Open Women’s Saber
1. Donna Pepe (Oxford, Conn.)
2. Dawn Wilson (Louisville, Ky.)
3. Kate Sierra (North Richland, Texas
3. Delia Turner (Philadelphia, Pa.)
5. Mary Wilkerson (Denver, Colo.)
6. Jonglak Poomikograk (Chicago, Ill.)
7. Margaret Arnecke (Sulpher Springs, Texas)
8. Nam Heui Kim (Brookline, Mass.)

Veteran 40-49 Men’s Epee
1. Velizar Iliev (San Antonio, Texas)
2. Gregory Ripple (Grand Rapids, Mich.)
3. Charngshiou Way (Manchester, Conn.)
3. Paul Geraci (West Lafayette, Ind.)
5. Keith Amann (Westminster, Colo.)
6. Michael Mehall (Garden City, Ind.)
7. Creston Bailey (Escondido, Calif.)
8. Joseph Deucher (Las Vegas, Nev.)

Veteran 40-49 Women’s Foil
1. Diane Ferguson (Rockville, Md.)
2. Ida Choy (CAN)
3. Ursula Kopij (St. Louis, Mo.)
3. Rachel Brown (Chicago, Ill.)
5. Margaret Fagan (New York City, N.Y.)
6. Vittoria Tomich (San Diego, Calif.)
7. Suparna Vashisht (Los Gatos, Calif.)
8. Bonnie Hennig (Simsbury, Conn.)

Veteran 50-59 Men’s Epee
1. Walter Dragonetti (Elyria, Ohio)
2. Doug Thistlethwaite (Norco, Calif.)
3. John Varney (Issaquah, Wash.)
3. Daniel Rees (Denver, Colo.)
5. Carl Loeffler (Santa Monica, Calif.)
6. Andrew O’Dowd (Philadelphia, Pa.)
7. Mark Pohl (Walnut Creek, Calif.)
8. Darrell Eldridge (Denver, Colo.)

Veteran 50-59 Women’s Foil
1. Ursula Szpak (Trophy Club, Calif.)
2. Nora Gutkovskaya (Fair Lawn, N.J.)
3. Viveka Fox (Vergennes, Vt.)
3. Kristin Vines (Hixson, Tenn.)
5. Lynn Botelho (Indiana, Pa.)
6. Catherine Mallet (Cedar Park, Texas)
7. Elizabeth Merritt (Washington, D.C.)
8. Cynthia Derdeyn (Atlanta, Ga.)

Veteran 60-69 Men’s Epee
1. Bob Cochrane Jr. (Lake Worth, Fla.)
2. Thomas Henzler (Houston, Texas)
3. Drew Ridge (Warminster, Pa.)
3. Charles Alexander (Escondido, Calif.)
5. Arnold Messing (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
6. Edward Mullarkey (Middleton, Mass.)
7. William Gelnaw (Fullerton, Calif.)
8. Jere Bothelio (San Jose, Calif.)

Veteran 60-69 Women’s Foil
1. Anne-Marie Walters (Parkland, Fla.)
2. Jennette Starks-Faulkner (Middletown, Conn.)
3. Agota Balot (AUT)
3. Judith Offerle (Winnetka, Ill.)
5. Joanne Stevens (New York City, N.Y.)
6. Lynnette Whitt (Owens, Md.)
7. Marsha Reichman (Bethesda, Md.)
8. Madelon Rosenfeld (New York City, N.Y.)

Veteran +70 Men’s Epee
1. Jonathan Jefferies (Alameda, Calif.)
2. Kaz Campe (Edgewater, Md.)
3. Jim Adams (Rockville, Md.)
3. Bob Baldwin (Palatine, Ill.)
5. Ray Sexton III (Round Rock, Texas)
6. Mark Henry (Potomac, Md.)
7. Donald Penner (Vaughn, Wash.)
8. John McGrew (San Ramos, Calif.)

Veteran +70 Women’s Foil
1. Patricia Bedrosian (Malibu, Calif.)
2. Diane Reckling (White Plains, N.Y.)
3. Ruth Dodge (Casa Grande, Ariz.)
3. Bettie Graham (Washington, D.C.)
5. Catherine Radle (Atlanta, Ga.)
6. Judith Evans (Greenwich, Conn.)