USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Team USA won 20 medals and the overall medal count at the Pan American Junior and Cadet Championships in Toronto, Canada.

The tournament, held in Toronto from Feb. 3-8, included top fencers in the U20 and U17 categories from throughout North and South America.

U.S. athletes won gold medals in four of the six junior individual events and five of the six team competitions, including 1-2-3 finishes in men’s and women’s saber and men’s foil.

Sage Palmedo (Portland, Ore.) led Team USA to a three-medal result in the women’s saber individual competition where the top-ranked junior in the world won her first career Pan American title and fourth international gold medal of the season.

Palmedo advanced to the semifinals with her teammates Francesca Russo (Wayne, N.J.) and Lena Johnson (Peachtree City, Ga.) Palmedo defeated Johnson, 15-14, and Russo won her bout against Julieta Toledo (MEX), 15-14.

Palmedo fenced Russo for gold and defeated her 2014 Junior World teammate, 15-8.

In the team competition, Palmedo and Russo fenced with Regina O’Brien (Wellesley, Mass.) and defeated Mexico, 45-34.

In the men’s saber event, two of the top candidates for the 2015 Junior World Team met each other in the semifinals. Ranked No. 4 in the National Team Point Standings, Benjamin Natanzon (Manalapan, N.J.) defeated No. 3 Jonah Shainberg (Rye, N.Y.), 15-12. Calvin Liang (Chandler, Ariz.) advanced to the gold medal final against his teammate after a 15-10 win against Pascal Lambert (CAN).

Liang and Natanzon fenced in the team competition with junior fencer Jeffrey Dalli (San Carlos, Calif.) and Zachary Johnson (Lake Oswego, Ore.) who won bronze in the cadet event. Team USA defeated Argentina, 45-33, to win gold.

After placing 19th at the 2014 Pan American Junior Championships, Matthew Branman (Villanova, Pa.) came back this year to win gold. Branman advanced to the finals with a 15-9 win against Juvenal Alarcon (CHI) and 2012 Cadet World Team member Raymond Chen (Dallas, Texas) defeated top-ranked U.S. junior Samuel Moelis (Hewlett, N.Y.), 15-3, in the second semi. Branman fenced Chen and defeated his teammate, 15-6, for gold.

In the team event, Branman, Chen and Moelis were joined by Ariel Simmons (Bellaire, Texas) – a 2013 Cadet World Champion epee fencer. Team USA advanced to the final where Branman, Chen and Moelis won seven of nine bouts and defeated Brazil, 45-32.

Within a week of winning her first Junior Word Cup title in Zagreb, Iman Blow (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added two more gold medals to her collection with both the individual and team titles in women’s foil.

Blow fenced her Fencers Club teammate, Samantha Viqueira (Maplewood, N.J.) in the semifinals and took the bout, 15-8. In the gold medal final, Blow defeated Gabriela Cecchini (BRA), 15-9, to win her third individual international medal of the season.

Blow, Viqueira and individual quarter-finalist Danielle Ferdon (Henderson, Nev.) defeated their Canadian hosts, 45-37, in the final match of the team event.

Caira Moreira-Brown (Brooklyn, N.Y.), the 2014 Cadet Pan American Champion in women’s epee, won bronze in the junior individual competition and added a gold in the team competition when she and teammates Marina Bochenkova (Bound Brook, N.J.) and Sydney Love (San Antonio, Texas) defeated Canada, 43-39, in the gold medal final.

Team USA brought home three medals in the junior men’s epee events. Anton Piskovatskov (Houston, Texas) won silver and Michael Popovici (Katy, Texas) took bronze in the individual competition and joined with Simmons and 2014 Junior World medalist Justin Yoo (La Verne, Calif.) in the team event to take silver after a 45-42 loss to Canada.

Click here to view complete results.

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

Junior Men’s Individual Epee Pan American Championships
1. Marc-Antoine Blais-Belanger (CAN)
2. Anton Piskovatskov (Houston, Texas)
3. Michael Popovici (Katy, Texas)
3. Dylan French (CAN)
5. Michael Lozano (COL)
6. Justin Yoo (La Verne, Calif.)
7. Heinz Nickel (CHI)
8. Alexandre Camargo (BRA)

15. Ariel Simmons (Bellaire, Texas)

Junior Women’s Individual Epee Pan American Championships
1. Emma Von Dadelszen (CAN)
2. Monica Lubczynski (CAN)
3. Caira Moreira-Brown (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
3. Cindy Gao (CAN)
5. Alexanne Verret (CAN)
6. Oriana Tovar Karaindros (COL)
7. Analia Fernandez (CHI)
8. Naira Ferreira (BRA)

16. Marina Bochenkova (Bound Brook, N.J.)
23. Sydney Love (San Antonio, Texas)

Junior Men’s Individual Foil Pan American Championships
1. Matthew Branman (Villanova, Pa.)
2. Raymond Chen (Dallas, Texas)
3. Samuel Moelis (Hewlett, N.Y.)
3. Juvenal Alarcon (CHI)
5. Victor Leon (VEN)
6. Eamonn Gomez-Perales (CAN)
7. Pedro Marostega (BRA)
8. Gabriel Mejia Ruiz (COL)

18. Drew Johnston (New York, N.Y.)

Junior Women’s Individual Foil Pan American Championships
1. Iman Blow (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
2. Gabriela Cecchini (BRA)
3. Samantha Viqueira (Maplewood, N.J.)
3. Daylen Cristina Moreno Valiente (CUB)
5. Ariane Bilodeau (CAN)
6. Danielle Ferdon (Henderson, Nev.)
7. Victoria Maria Isabel Meza Oceguera (MEX)
8. Sofya Romashina (CAN)

Junior Men’s Individual Saber Pan American Championships
1. Benjamin Natanzon (Manalapan, N.J.)
2. Calvin Liang (Chandler, Ariz.)
3. Jonah Shainberg (Rye, N.Y.)
3. Pascal Lambert (CAN)
5. Cameron Mackay (CAN)
6. Adrian Acuna Ramirez (MEX)
7. Hector Florencia (MEX)
8. Pascual Maria Di Tella (ARG)

17. Jeffrey Dalli (San Carlos, Calif.)

Junior Women’s Individual Saber Pan American Championships
1. Sage Palmedo (Portland, Ore.)
2. Francesca Russo (Wayne, N.J.)
3. Julieta Toledo (MEX)
3. Lena Johnson (Peachtree City, Ga.)
5. Adrianny Torres (VEN)
6. Tania Arrayales (MEX)
7. Vanessa Infante (MEX)
8. Anilu Valencia Brito (MEX)

11. Regina O’Brien (Wellesley, Mass.)

Junior Men’s Team Epee Pan American Championships
1. Canada
2. USA
3. Mexico
4. Colombia
5. Brazil
6. Puerto Rico
7. Chile

Junior Women’s Team Epee Pan American Championships
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Mexico
4. Chile
5. Puerto Rico
6. Brazil

Junior Men’s Team Foil Pan American Championships
1. USA
2. Brazil
3. Mexico
4. Argentina
5. Canada
6. Chile
7. Colombia
8. Puerto Rico

Junior Women’s Team Foil Pan American Championships
1. USA
2. Canada
3. Brazil
4. Chile
5. Mexico
6. Argentina
7. Puerto Rico

Junior Men’s Team Saber Pan American Championships
1. USA
2. Argentina
3. Canada
4. Puerto Rico
5. Mexico
6. Colombia
7. Brazil
8. Chile

Junior Women’s Team Saber Pan American Championships
1. USA
2. Mexico
3. Venezuela
4. Canada
5. Puerto Rico
6. Brazil
7. Chile

Cadet Men’s Epee Pan American Championships
1. Alexandre Camargo (BRA)
2. Jorge Diaz (MEX)
3. Gabriel Bonamigo (BRA)
3. Lole Beaulieau (CAN)
5. Gonzalo Heinrich (CHI)
6. Nikola Damjanovic (CAN)
7. Juan Carlos Lizarraga (MEX)
8. Stefan Popovici (Katy, Texas)

14. Brett Bogert (St. Augustine, Fla.)
15. Demetri Zacharakis (Houston, Texas)

Cadet Women’s Epee Pan American Championships
1. Tia Simms-Lymn (JAM)
2. Alexanne Verret (CAN)
3. Monica Lubczynski (CAN)
3. Frania Tejeda (MEX)
5. Michelle Li (CAN)
6. Jocelyn Cruz (MEX)
7. Elizabeth Medina (MEX)
8. Analia Fernandez (CHI)

Cadet Women’s Foil Pan American Championships
1. Angela Li (CAN)
2. Sarah Filby (CAN)
3. Naomi Moindrot-Zilliox (CAN)
3. Jane Caulfield (CAN)
5. Danielle Ferdon (Henderson, Nev.)
6. Lydia Casillas (MEX)
7. Mariana Pistoia (BRA)
8. Athina Gonzalez Ciavarella (ARG)

Cadet Men’s Foil Pan American Championships
1. Jose Narvaez Paliza (MEX)
2. Augusto Antonio Servello (ARG)
3. William Gaziano (Basking Ridge, N.J.)
3. Maxwell Chung (Greenwich, Conn.)
5. Christopher Sheardown (CAN)
6. Daniel Gu (CAN)
7. Sebastian Tirado (PUR)
8. Sean Grant (CAN)

14. Brett Bogert (St. Augustine, Fla.)

Cadet Men’s Saber Pan American Championships
1. Moises Carrillo Ramirez (MEX)
2. Jean-Etienne Beauchamp (CAN)
3. Antonio Covarrubias (MEX)
3. Zachary Johnson (Lake Oswego, Ore.)
5. Hunter Moricz (CAN)
6. Leon Rotenstein (Ashland, Mass.)
7. Andre Escobosa (MEX)
8. Andre Lavoie (CAN)

Cadet Women’s Saber Pan American Championships
1. Jessica Morales Caicedo (COL)
2. Madison Thurgood (CAN)
3. Laura Lopez Guarin (COL)
3. Abigail Valdez Andrade (MEX)
5. Kara Linder (Chandler, Ariz.)
6. Brenda Paola Medina Velasco (MEX)
7. Katherine Paredes Torres (VEN)
8. Aydill Marie Colon (PUR)