USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – London Olympic team bronze medalist Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas) earned her first top-16 result of the World Cup season on Sunday when she placed 12th at the Budapest Epee Grand Prix.

Ranked 10th in the world, Hurley was exempt from the pool and preliminary rounds on Saturday and opened the direct elimination rounds on Sunday with a 15-12 win against Francesca Boscarelli (ITA).

In the table of 32, Hurley opened with a 6-5 lead against Xue Qin (CHN) after the first period and took two singles early in the second. After a trio of doubles, Hurley held a 12-9 lead going into the third where she opened with two singles and ended on a double for a 15-10 victory.

Hurley started off her table of 16 bout against five-time Senior World medalist Ana Maria Branza (ROU) with a 5-4 lead after the first period, but the No. 3 fencer in the world outscored Hurley, 8-1, in the second. Branza scored two singles early in the third to grow her lead to 14-6. Although Hurley picked up a single, Branza took a double to end the bout, 15-8, and went on to win the silver medal.

Two of Hurley’s teammates each advanced to the table of 64.

Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas), who won bronze with Courtney in London, finished the pool rounds with a 5-1 record to advance directly to the second day of competition as the 32nd seed in the table of 64.

Hurley drew two-time reigning Senior World Team Champion Yana Zvereva in her opening direct elimination bout where the Russian took a 5-2 lead after the first period. Hurley came within two touches of Zvereva at 9-7, but wasn’t able to put up another single touch as Zvereva went on to win the bout, 15-9.

Two-time Senior World Team member Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.) finished the pool rounds with a 5-1 record and won her preliminary round bouts against Maria Martinez (VEN) and 2012 Junior World medalist Sheng Lin (CHN) by 15-8 and 15-12 scores, respectively.

In the table of 64, Holmes and Yiwen Sun (CHN) took a non-combattivity call after a scoreless first period and another non-comattivity call with only touch on the board for Sun in the second period. Holmes scored the first two touches on the final period to take a 2-1 lead. The two fencers swapped touches with Holmes tying the bout at three late in the third period. With the bout sent to overtime, Sun scored a single to earn a 4-3 victory.

The Budapest Epee Grand Prix served as the final selection tournament for both the men’s and women’s epee teams that will compete at the Pan American Championships from April 18-23 in Santiago, Chile.

Following the women’s event, the top four U.S. athletes remain unchanged in the National Team Point Standings with Holmes ranked first, followed by Courtney and Kelley Hurley in second and third. Isabel Ford (Salem, Ore.) remains fourth in the rankings, although she was not able to attend the Budapest Grand Prix due to a conflict with the NCAA Championships where she placed seventh on Sunday while fencing for Princeton.

On the men’s side, all four of the individual positions on the Pan Am squad were up for grabs at the start of the tournament.

Following the first day of the men’s event on Friday, three U.S. athletes advanced to the table of 64: Ariel Simmons (Bellaire, Texas), Yeisser Ramirez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Kevin Mo (Irvine, Calif.)

Simmons, a 2013 Cadet World Champion, finished the pool rounds with a 4-2 record and won both of his preliminary bouts against Lorenzo Bruttini (ITA) and Tom Bontes (NED) by 15-12 scores. With a top-64 result guaranteed, Simmons climbed from fifth to third in the National Team Standings.

Fencing in his first season as an American citizen, Ramirez went 4-2 in pools and qualified for the table of 64 after a 15-6 win against Alexander Riedel (GER) and a 15-8 victory over Pawel Krawczyk (POL).

Mo finished the pools at 5-1 and defeated Bakhtiyorjon Ganiyev (UZB), 15-9, and Roman Aleksandrov (UZB), 15-13, to qualify for the table of 64 for the second time this season.

On Sunday, Ramirez needed a table of 64 win against 2013 Senior World medalist Pavel Sukhov (RUS) to earn a position on his first Pan Am Team. Although Ramirez led the bout, 5-4, at the break, Sukhov built an 11-9 lead in the second period. With Sukhov up, 12-10, Ramirez scored a single and two doubles. Sukhov needed just one more touch to close out, but Ramirez ended with two singles for a 15-14 win and a berth on Team USA as the No. 4 men’s epee fencer in the nation.

Ramirez fenced 2013 Overall Junior World Cup Champion Marco Fichera (ITA) in the table of 32 and took a 5-4 lead after the first period. Fichera tied the bout at nine by the end of the second and outscored Ramirez, 6-1, in the second for a 15-10 victory. Ramirez placed 29th – his best career result on the international circuit.

With his position on the Pan Am Team secured, Simmons took on 2009 Senior World Champion Anton Avdeev (RUS) in the table of 64. After a 1-1 period with a non-combattivity call, Simmons and Avdeev remained tied at seven by the end of the second period. Simmons kept the bout within two for most of the third period before Avdeev closed out the bout, 15-12.

Mo’s opponent, 2011 Senior World Team Champion Yannick Borel (FRA), outscored Mo, 3-1, in the first period before non-combattivity was called twice and the bout sent into the third. Borel scored 12 touches in the final three minutes to win the bout, 15-10.

Ramirez and Simmons will be joined on the Pan Am Team by Ben Bratton (New York City, N.Y.), a 2012 Senior World Team Champion, and two-time Senior World Team member Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.) who were eliminated on the first day of competition, but retain the No. 1 and No. 2 U.S. rankings, respectively, due to their previous domestic and international results from earlier this season.  

Click here to view complete women’s results.

Click here to view complete men’s results.

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

Budapest Women’s Epee Grand Prix
1. A Lam Shin (KOR)
2. Ana Maria Branza (ROU)
3. Tatyana Adryushina (RUS)
3. Tatiana Logunova (RUS)
5. Yujie Sun (CHN)
6. Nathalie Moellhausen (BRA)
7. Magdalena Piekarska (POL)
8. Coraline Vitalis (FRA)

12. Courtney Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
44. Kelley Hurley (San Antonio, Texas)
48. Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.)
78. Danielle Henderson (Piscataway, N.J.)
85. Jasmine McGlade (Littleton, Colo.)
90. Nina Van Loon (Boulder, Colo.)
92. Amanda Sirico (Bowie, Md.)
99. Natalie Vie (Phoenix, Ariz.)
115. Lindsay Campbell (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
128. Lauren Willock (Astoria, N.Y.)
133. Courtney Dumas (Shaker Heights, Ohio)
153. Holly Buechel (New York, N.Y.)

Budapest Men’s Epee Grand Prix
1. Nikolai Novolsjolov (EST)
2. Ivan Trevejo (FRA)
3. Benjamin Steffen (SUI)
3. Pavel Pitra (CZE)
5. Enrico Garozzo (ITA)
6. Jinsun Jung (KOR)
7. Jiri Beran (CZE)
8. Gabriele Cimini (ITA)

29. Yeisser Ramirez (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
49. Kevin Mo (Irvine, Calif.)
54. Ariel Simmons (Bellaire, Texas)
67. Ben Bratton (New York, N.Y.)
71. Dwight Smith (Elmont, N.Y.)
108. Alen Hadzic (New York, N.Y.)
135. Dennis Kraft (Silver Spring, Md.)
146. Jimmy Moody (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
148. Alex Tsinis (Little Neck, N.Y.)
214. Adam Maczik (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
229. Andras Horanyi (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
252. Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.)