USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Six U.S. fencers will compete in the first Wheelchair Pan American Championships since 2011 in Montreal, Canada this week.

Competition to crown the best wheelchair fencers in the Americas will be held on Monday and Tuesday with the best athletes from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile and the United States all taking the strip in individual events in the A and B disability categories in the epee and foil weapons.

Team USA includes London Paralympians Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.) and Gerard Moreno (Los Angeles, Calif.), 2013 Wheelchair World Team members Leo Curtis (Rainier, Ore.) and Russell Oswalt (Von Ormy, Texas) as well as newcomers Lauryn Deluca (Parma, Ohio) and Vikki Espinosa (Portland, Ore.)

Moreno and Brinson each competed at the 2011 Pan Ams where Moreno won gold in the Category B foil event and Brinson won medals in both Category B foil and epee.

Last weekend, Moreno won the Wheelchair National Championship titles in foil and saber while Brinson brought home the epee gold. At just 15-years-old, Deluca took the women’s foil and epee titles. Espinosa won the saber gold in her National Championship debut.

In addition to fielding a team for the individual events, Team USA also will compete in the men’s team epee event.

Competition schedule is as follows:

Monday, April 27
Men’s Category A Foil
Men’s Category B Foil
Women’s Category A Foil
Men’s Team Foil

Tuesday, April 28
Men’s Category A Epee
Men’s Category B Epee
Women’s Category A Epee
Men’s Team Epee

The complete Team USA roster is as follows:

Men’s Category A Epee
Russell Oswalt (Von Ormy, Texas)

Men’s Category B Epee
Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.)

Men’s Team Epee
Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.)
Leo Curtis (Rainier, Ore.)
Russell Oswalt (Von Ormy, Texas)

Women’s Category A Epee
Lauryn Deluca (Parma, Ohio)
Vikki Espinosa (Portland, Ore.)

Men’s Category A Foil
Russell Oswalt (Von Ormy, Texas)

Men’s Category B Foil
Gerard Moreno (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Women’s Category A Foil
Lauryn Deluca (Parma, Ohio)
Vikki Espinosa (Portland, Ore.)