USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – A three-time individual medalist at the Pan American Championships, Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.) earned her first senior international epee gold at the Pan American Games in Toronto on Tuesday.

Following her top-32 result at the Senior World Championships in Moscow last week, Holmes won four straight bouts to take the gold and knocked a World medalist out of contention for the title in the process.

Holmes finished the pool rounds with a 3-2 result to earn the seventh seed in the table of 16 where she defeated Leonora MacKinnon (CAN) 14-12.

In the quarter-finals, Holmes fenced Isabel Di Tella (ARG) – a Harvard sophomore who defeated Holmes in the bout for bronze at the 2013 Junior World Championships. This time, Holmes dominated the bout for a 15-6 win in three periods.

With a medal secured, Holmes would take on 2010 Senior World medalist Nathalie Moellhausen (BRA) in the semis. A former Italian fencer, Moellhausen won the Pan American Championships in April and is considered one of Brazil’s top hopes for a podium finish in Rio. After the first period was called for passivity, the fencers ended the second tied at two. Holmes and the Brazilian were tied at four in the second when Holmes scored three touches to take a 7-4 lead. She would retain the lead through the end of the bout, defeating Moellhausen, 10-7.

In the gold medal final, Violeta Ramirez Peguero (DOM) led the bout, 3-1, after the first period, but Holmes outscored her opponent, 5-1, in the second to take a 6-4 lead. Ramirez Peguero tied the bout first at nine and then at 12 in the third before Holmes closed the bout with three touches for a 15-14 victory.

The win marks the first individual senior international title for Holmes who is currently ranked No. 1 in the United States.

Holmes’s teammate, Katarzyna Trzopek (Pacifica, Calif.), fell one bout shy of winning a medal. After blazing through her table of 16 bout with a 15-2 win over Maria Luisa Doig (PER), Trzopek came back from a four-touch deficit in the quarters to come within a score of tying her bout against Maria Martinez (VEN) before Martinez doubled for a 15-14 win.

A first-time Pan Am Games team member, Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won bronze at the 2014 Pan Am Championships and repeated his third place finish in the men’s epee event in Toronto.

Seeded third out of the pools with a 4-1 record, Pryor defeated Nicolas Ferreira (BRA), 15-12, in the table of 16 and needed just two periods to take out Alessandro Taccani (ARG), 15-12, in the quarters to guarantee himself a medal.

In the semis, Pryor drew 2012 Olympic Champion Ruben Limardo (VEN) whom he had defeated, 5-4, in the pools. Pryor tied LImardo at seven in the second period, but Limardo went on an 8-2 run to win the bout, 15-12.

Ben Bratton (New York City, N.Y.), a 2012 Senior World Team Champion, held ended both his first and second periods of his table of 16 bout against Gustavo Adolfo Coqueco Guerrero (COL) with ties – first at four and then at eight. Bratton pulled out a win in the third, however, defeating the Colombian, 15-12.

Bratton lost his quarter-final bout to Limardo, 15-8, to finish just out of the medals in fifth place.

Click here to view complete results.

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

Pan American Games Men’s Individual Epee
1. Ruben Limardo (VEN)
2. Jose Dominguez (ARG)
3. Hugues Boisvert-Simard (CAN)
3. Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
5. Ben Bratton (New York City, N.Y.)
6. John Edison Rodriguez Quevedo (COL)
7. Alessandro Taccani (ARG)
8. Athos Schwantes (BRA)

Pan American Games Women’s Individual Epee
1. Katharine Holmes (Washington, D.C.)
2. Violeta Ramirez Peguero (DOM)
3. Maria Martinez (VEN)
3. Nathalie Moellhausen (BRA)
5. Yamirka Rodriguez (CUB)
6. Isabel Di Tella (ARG)
7. Katarzyna Trzopek (Pacifica, Calif.)
8. Eliana Lugo (VEN)