USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – USA Fencing is pleased to announce that five athletes will represent Team USA at the Wheelchair World Championships in Egers, Hungary from Sept. 17-24.

Team USA was selected based upon athletes’ rankings in the National Team Point Standings at the conclusion of the World Cup season.

The Wheelchair Worlds will serve as a key qualifying tournament for the 2016 Paralympic Games with athletes competing against many of the opponents they will face when the Games come to Rio de Janeiro next year.

Team USA is led by Paralympians Joey Brinson (Florence, Miss.) and Curtis Lovejoy (College Park, Ga.) Brinson represented the United States as a Category B saber fencer at the London Games in 2012 and also competes in epee where he is ranked among the top 25 in the world. Lovejoy is a five-time Paralympic swimmer who holds three gold medals in swimming and fenced at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Category B epee and saber. Although Lovejoy is now in Category C which won’t be contested at the Games, he continues to have success at the international level, winning foil and epee gold medals at the 2006 Wheelchair Worlds and silver in foil at the 2013 Wheelchair Worlds. Lovejoy is considered a frontrunner to return to the podium this year as the No. 3 ranked Category C epee fencer in the world and the fifth-ranked foil fencer in his category.

Ellen Geddes (Johnston, S.C.) made her World Championship debut in 2013 when she earned a top-16 result as a Category B foil fencer. Geddes won her first World Cup medal in the Category B epee competition in Montreal last year and is now the highest ranked U.S. woman in the world standings where she holds a No. 19 ranking in foil and No. 21 in epee.

First-time World Team member Vikki Espinosa (Portland, Ore.) fenced on the international circuit for the first time in April at 47-years-old and secured two medals for Team USA when she won bronzes in both the Category A foil and epee events.

A former Junior National table tennis champion, 16-year-old Alexander Xue (Plainsboro, N.J.) won his first Wheelchair Fencing National Championship medal in April when he took bronze in the saber competition. Xue will be making his debut at the Wheelchair Worlds where he will fence in the Category A foil and saber events.  

The complete team roster is as follows:

Men’s Category A Foil
Alexander Xue (Plainsboro, N.J.)

Men’s Category A Saber
Alexander Xue (Plainsboro, N.J.)

Women’s Category A Epee
Vikki Espinosa (Portland, Ore.)

Women’s Category A Foil
Vikki Espinosa (Portland, Ore.)

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

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

Women’s Category B Epee
Ellen Geddes (Johnston, S.C.)

Women’s Category B Foil
Ellen Geddes (Johnston, S.C.)

Men’s Category C Epee
Curtis Lovejoy (College Park, Ga.)

Men’s Category C Saber
Curtis Lovejoy (College Park, Ga.)

Head Coach
Les Stawicki (Louisville, Ky.)

Team Manager
Ginny Boydston (Jackson, Miss.)

Sports Medicine
Gerard Bogin (Tarpon Springs, Fla.)