USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.) won his first Wheelchair National Championships title in 2012 as a saber fencer before leaving for the London Paralympic Games.

On Friday, Brinson added an epee National Championship gold medal to his collection on the first day of the Wheelchair Nationals in Milwaukee, Wis.

Brinson defeated his 2013 Wheelchair World teammate, Leo Curtis (Rainier, Ga.), by one touch (15-14) in the semifinals and would fence Andrew Quattrociocchi (Kennesaw, Ga.) in the gold medal final.

Although this was just the second national wheelchair event for Quattrociocchi – a former veteran fencer – he fought a close bout against Brinson who ultimately came out on top for a 15-13 win.

A three-time gold medalist on the NAC circuit, 15-year-old Lauryn Deluca (Parma, Ohio) began the day as a first-time fencer at the Wheelchair Nationals and left as the Women’s Epee National Champion.

Deluca, who previously competed at the National Championships in the Y14 able-bodied event, has quickly become one of the best wheelchair fencers in America and a top hopeful for the 2016 Paralympic Games.

Deluca won her semifinal bout against Hailey Bauer (Firth, Neb.), 15-7, and defeated March NAC Champion Vikki Espinosa (Portland, Ore.), 15-6, to take gold.

Seeded ninth out of the pools of the Division II men’s epee event, 14-year-old Alexander Javorski (Sunnyvale, Calif.) won five straight bouts to advance to the gold medal final where he defeated 14-year-old Christopher Picard (Newton, Mass.), 15-12.

A silver medalist as a Div III fencer at the 2014 April NAC, 15-year-old Hannah Nguyen (Las Vegas, Nev.) won women’s epee gold after moving up to Div II where she defeated 14-year-old Vanessa Dib (CAN), 9-8, in the gold medal final.

After taking gold at the Pan American Youth Championships in August, May Tieu (Belle Mead, N.J.) won her first NAC title when the 13-year-old defeated 14-year-old Rachel Zhang (Winchester, Mass.), 15-8, in the finals of the Y14 women’s foil event.

Another former Pan American Youth Champion, 14-year-old Marcello Olivares (Cooper City, Fla.), took the Y14 men’s foil title. Olivares gave up just three touches in pools and won six straight direct elimination bouts to advance to the final where he defeated 15-year-old Rishi Ranadive (Petaluma, Calif.), 15-11.

In the first Y14 team event of the weekend, four of the top individual Y-14 fencers in the nation joined together as Nellya Team A took gold in the men’s saber team competition. Aksel Fernandes (Atlanta, Ga.), Kamar Skeete (Duluth, Ga.), Christopher Walker (Atlanta, Ga.) and Raymond Zhao (Duluth, Ga.) came in as the top seeded team and would face off against second-seeded SON in the gold medal final. The SON team of Camden Droz (Davie, Fla.), Alejandro Guerrero (Parkland, Fla.), William Julien (Parkland, Fla.) and Noah Matricciani (Greenville, S.C.) led the match, 40-36, after the first eight bouts, but Walker outscored Julien, 9-2, in the anchor bout to give Nellya Team A the win, 45-42.

Nellya also boasted an individual gold medalist as Himani Kalra (Johns Creek, Ga.) won her first NAC title in the Y10 women’s saber event after defeating fellow 11-year-old Adelaide Benoit (Carmel, Ind.), 10-4, in the finals.

The Y10 men’s saber event would come down to a final bout between 10-year-old Elden Wood (New York City, N.Y.), the top seed out of the pool rounds, and 11-year-old Neil Lilov (Denville, N.J.) who was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the start of the tournament. Wood defeated Lilov, 10-8, in the gold medal final to win his first NAC title.

Click here to view complete results.

Top eight results are as follows:

Wheelchair Men’s Epee National Championships
1. Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.)
2. Andrew Quattrrociocchi (Kennesaw, Ga.)
3. Leo Curtis (Rainier, Ga.)
3. Russel Oswalt (Von Ormy, Texas)
5. Curtis Lovejoy (College Park, Md.)
6. Joshua Russell (Mendenhall, Miss.)
7. Troy Nehring (Des Moines, Iowa)
8. Dennis Aspy (Woodstock, Ga.)

Wheelchair Women’s Epee National Championships
1. Lauryn Deluca (Parma, Ohio)
2. Vikki Espinosa (Portland, Ore.)
3. Hailey Bauer (Firth, Neb.)
3. Patricia Dykes (Gulf Breeze, Fla.)

Division II Men’s Epee April North American Cup 
1. Alexander Javorski (Sunnyvale, Calif.)
2. Christopher Picard (Newton, Mass.)
3. Yixuan Pei (Baltimore, Md.)
3. Zane Steiber (Shaker Heights, Ohio)
5. Ramadan Dinkins (Chicago, Ill.)
6. Ernest Woo (East Boston, Mass.)
7. Oliver Proctor (Cottonwood Heights, Utah)
8. Brandon Benavides (San Antonio, Texas)

Division II Women’s Epee April North American Cup 
1. Hannah Nguyen (Las Vegas, Nev.)
2. Vanessa Dib (CAN)
3. Rachel Mau (Milwaukee, Wis.)
3. Anna Paul (Des Plaines, Ill.)
5. Michelle Kutik (CAN)
6. Jasmine Lambert (Littleton, Colo.)
7. Marissa Nelson (Pingree, Idaho)
8. Melissa Gillick (Nanuet, N.Y.)

Y14 Men’s Foil April North American Cup 
1. Marcello Olivares (Cooper City, Fla.)
2. Rishi Ranadive (Petaluma, Calif.)
3. Lorenzo Gordon (Santa Monica, Calif.)
3. Nestor Levin (Bronx, N.Y.)
5. Blake Broszus (Modesto, Calif.)
6. Maxwell Yee (Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif.)
7. Ivan Troshin (San Francisco, Calif.)
8. Noah Condiff (Cherry Hill, N.J.)

Y14 Women’s Foil April North American Cup 
1. May Tieu (Belle Mead, N.J.)
2. Rachel Zhang (Winchester, Mass.)
3. Paige Luong (Millbrae, Calif.)
3. Grace Hao (Coppell, Texas)
5. Emme Zhou (Lexington, Mass.)
6. Julia Thompson (Montclair, N.J.)
7. Alexandra Park (Manhattan Beach, Calif.)
8. Isabelle Banin (New York City)

Y14 Men’s Team Saber April North American Cup 
1. Nellya Team A
2. SON
3. M(FC)
4. Nellya Team B
5. Oregon-Texas Fencing Alliance
6. Fencers Club of Arizona
7. Salle Auriol Seattle
8. HC Band of Brothers

Y10 Men’s Saber April North American Cup 
1. Elden Wood (New York City, N.Y.)
2. Neil Lilov (Denville, N.J.)
3. Jordan Silberzweig (New York City)
3. Jared Hammerstrom (Atlanta, Ga.)
5. Colby Harley (Alpharetta, Ga.)
6. Asher Bailey (Los Angeles, Calif.)
7. Colin Heathcock (Palo Alto, Calif.)
8. Jack Stone (Coconut Creek, Fla.)

Y10 Women’s Saber April North American Cup 
1. Himani Kalra (Johns Creek, Ga.)
2. Adelaide Benoit (Carmel, Ind.)
3. Kaitlyn Pak (Atlanta, Ga.)
3. Isabel Kong (San Francisco, Calif.)
5. Lola Possick (Weekhawken, N.J.)
6. Erika Chin (San Francisco, Calif.)
7. Kaitlyn Hulseburg (Parlin, N.J.)
8. Natalie Olsen (Bethesda, Md.)