USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – The 2014-2015 international season officially kicks off this weekend with the Gyor Foil Cadet European Cup in Hungary.

Forty fencers (20 men and 20 women) will represent Team USA during the one-day event on Saturday in the first of three Cadet European Cups that will serve as qualifying tournaments for the 2015 Cadet World Championship Team.

The U.S. Women’s Team includes two fencers who previously represented Team USA at the Cadet Worlds – Stefani Deschner (Mechanicsville, Va.) and Morgan Partridge (Swansea, Mass.)

Deschner, a 2014 Cadet World Team member, won her first international title last season at the 2013 Tauberbischofsheim World Cup, and is now ranked No. 2 in the Cadet European Rankings. Partridge, a two-time Cadet World Team member, placed eighth at her first Cadet Worlds as a 14-year-old in 2012.

Natalie Yang (Colts Neck, N.J.) missed qualifying for the 2014 team, but established herself on the international circuit with a gold medal win in Cabries, France last season.

On the men’s side, all three 2014 Cadet World Foil Team members have aged out – making way for a new crop of team hopefuls.

Julian Knodt (Palo Alto, Calif.) won this tournament last year when then event was held in Budapest and is currently positioned 10th in the Cadet European Rankings.

While Knodt is ranked third in the United States, both of the top two fencers in the U.S. standings will be fencing in Gyor as well.

Top-ranked Sam Moelis (Hewlett, N.Y.) only fenced twice on the Cadet European circuit last season, but earned a top-eight result in Cabries.

Geoffrey Tourette (Cupertino, Calif.), ranked No. 2 in the United States, also picked up a top-eight result when he closed last season out with a sixth-place finish in Pisa, Italy.

The complete roster of U.S. athletes fencing in Gyor this weekend is as follows:

Men
Aiden Ahn (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Cameron Allen (Newtown, Pa.)
Samuel Barmann (Barrington, R.I.)
Julian Cheng (Lexington, Mass.)
Aidan Chu (San Francisco, Calif.)
Kenneth Chui (Palo Alto, Calif.)
Jared Dans (Merrick, N.Y.)
Eoin Gronningsater (Brooklyn N.Y.)
Shuya Ishizuka (New York City, N.Y.)
Nick Itkin (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Justin Kang (Fullerton, Calif.)
Julian Knodt (Palo Alto, Calif.)
Sidarth Kumbla (San Jose, Calif.)
Michael Li (Palo Alto, Calif.)
Zohaib Mannan (Short Hills, N.J.)
Joseph Marino (Rockville Centre, N.Y.)
Sam Moelis (Hewlett, N.Y.)
Lucas Orts (Burlingame, Calif.)
Geoffrey Tourette (Cupertino, Calif.)
Leo Zaroff (San Francisco, Calif.)

Women
Polly Adler (Scarsdale, N.Y.)
Justine Banbury (East Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Sylvie Binder (Armonk, N.Y.)
Myrka Boyd (Corinth, Texas)
Alyssa Chen (San Diego, Calif.)
Wei Chee Chen (Birmingham, Ala.)
Stefani Deschner (Mechanicsville, Va.)
Danielle Ferdon (San Francisco, Calif.)
Carlexa Fevry (New York City, N.Y.)
Jessica Gets (Morganville, N.J.)
Kennedy Lovelace (Frisco, Texas)
Finnula Mageras (Darien, Conn.)
Morgan Partridge (Swansea, Mass.)
Mariah Summers (Tigard, Ore.)
May Tieu (Belle Mead, N.J.)
Xiao-Qing Tsai (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Samantha Viqueira (Maplewood, N.J.)
Isabel Wei (Palo Alto, Calif.)
Natalie Yang (Colts Neck, N.J.)
Anna Zhou (Lexington, Mass.)