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2006 SUMMER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 31 - July 9, 2006. Atlanta, GA

Alliance Fencing Academy had great results at 2006 Summer Nationals. This was our best performance at a national event so far. Our delegation of 26 fencers and 2 coaches was one of the largest at Summer Nationals. 11 Alliance fencers earned medals in 6 individual and 2 team events (8 team medals in total). 7 fencers made top 16 with only one bout away from the medal podium.

Congratulations to our Medallists!!!

Trapani, Daniel - Silver Medal, Junior Men’s Epee Team

                       - Bronze Medal, Division-1A Men’s Epee

Bazarbayeva, Dina - Silver Medal, Junior Women’s Epee Team

                             - Bronze Medal, Junior Women’s Epee

Bassa, Francesca - Silver Medal, Junior Women’s Epee Team

                           - 7^th place, Junior Women’s Epee

Bibb, Jonathan - Silver Medal, Junior Men’s Epee Team

Smith, Dillon - Silver Medal, Junior Men’s Epee Team

Wright, Shawn - Silver Medal, Junior Men’s Epee Team

Wheeler, Stephanie - Silver Medal, Junior Women’s Epee Team

Witte, Bethlehem - Silver Medal, Junior Women’s Epee Team

Pytel, Erin - Bronze Medal, Division III Women’s Epee

Gray, Preston - Bronze Medal, Youth-10 Boy’s Foil

Freiman, Sam - 5^th place, Youth-10 Boy’s Epee

Youth-10 Boy’s Foil (100 competitors):

Preston Gray (10) came to this tournament as U fencer (unranked). Even though this was his first national tournament this year, he did an outstanding job by winning all 6 bouts in his pool. He was seeded second after pools. On his way to the bronze medal he defeated his hometown opponents Logan Somera for top 8 and Thomas Dudey for top 4 (both Salle Mauro). Preston lost his bout for the final to the winner of this event Marc Berghouse from Central CA Division in his third 5 touches bout by only one point. Preston has been coached by Sabina Bazarbayeva from the very beginning of his fencing career. For the last two months, because of Sabina’s maternity leave, he has taken lessons also from our guest coaches Alisher Dzakhangirov and Sergey Andrievskiy. Congratulations to all of them for his great performance!

Youth-10 Boy’s Epee (40 competitors)

Youth-12 Boy’s Epee (94 competitors):

Sam Freiman came to Youth-10 event as one of the favorites aiming for the gold medal bout. He already took gold and silver at Regional and Super Youth Circuits. Sam won all bouts in his pool. He successfully passed his first and second DEs for top 8 and then lost to Juan Barzallo of Illinois Division for top 4. This was still a very good result and… a medal.

In Youth-12 competition Sam had only two victories in pools and lost his DE bout for top 32 finishing 61^st in this event.

Jack Hudson (12) of Alliance couldn't fence at Summer Nationals. However Jack finished first on 2005-2006 USFA point standings and became a 2006 Youth 12 Men's Epee Point Winner. We're very proud of your achievement, Jack!

Youth-10 Girl’s Foil (47 competitors)

Youth-12 Girl’s Foil (90 competitors):

Signe Ferguson came to the Youth-10 event after some promising results at Regional and Super Youth Circuits were she had earned medals. Signe won 5 out of 6 bouts in pools but then unfortunately lost her second DE bout to a lower seeded fencer for top 16. Signe finished in 18^th place.

In Youth-12 she did pretty well in pools winning 3 bouts out of 6 but then she lost her DE bout for the top 64 finishing in 66^th place.

Youth-12 Boy’s Foil (173 competitors)

Youth-14 Boy’s Foil (185 competitors)

Youth-14 Girl’s Foil (120 competitors):

We had two fencers in the Youth-12 event. Gabriel Acuna (12) and Preston Gray (10) both had 3 victories in their pools. They made it to top 128 and then lost their DEs on their way to top 64 finishing 92^nd and 94^th respectively.   

Gabriel also fenced in Youth-14 competition. He won one bout in his pool. In DE round Gabriel who just started to fence at national events this year faced a much higher seeded opponent. Gabriel fenced very well but lost this bout only by two points placing 153^rd.

For LeeAna Loveless (14) and Kara Collins (14) these were their first Summer Nationals. LeeAna did very well in her pool winning 3 bouts out of 6. She lost her DE bout for top 64 and got 78^th place. Kara also had 3 victories in her pool and lost to a strong and experienced fencer in a very close bout finishing in 81^st place.

Youth-14 Boy’s Epee (141 competitors)

Youth-14 Girl’s Epee (102 competitors):

Ben Freiman (14) and Max Ferguson (14) competed in the boys’ event. They both easily finished pools with 4 and 5 victories respectively. Ben and Max showed very good strong fencing in their DE bout. They both made to top 32. Ben lost for top 16 and Max for the final top 8 to James Kaull from Capitol Division 13:15 who got Silver Medal at this tournament. Max and Ben placed 11^th and 27^th respectively. 

Dina Bazarbayeva (14) was our only representative in this event. Francesca Bassa who also still qualified for this competition decided with her coach to skip this event in order to preserve herself for Cadet and Junior events due to her old leg injury. Dina lost only one bout in her pool. She easily made it to the top 16 and then she lost for the top 8 to the winner of this event Hannah Safford from North CA Division. Dina finished 13^th.

Under-16 Men’s Epee (137 competitors)

Under-16 Women’s Epee (112 competitors):

Alliance had 3 boys and 3 girls in these events: Nathan Sorensen (16), Max Ferguson (14), and Ben Freiman (14). They all fenced very well. Nathan defeated Jonathan Parker of S. Texas Division to the top 16, and then missed the final top 8 by losing to Garrett Carnahan of SO. California Division who got a Silver Medal. Max lost his bout to the top 16. He took 22^nd place. Ben lost his bout to the top 64. He finished in 77^th place. Both Nathan and Max earned cadet national points and have qualified for 2007 Junior Olympics Championships.

For Francesca Bassa (15) this was her first national tournament since last Summer Nationals where she had injured her hamstring. She didn’t fence all season but her comeback was very impressive. Francesca lost only one bout in her pool. She lost her DE bout to the strong Hannah Safford for the final top 8 ending in 12^th place. She did even better in her Under-19 event the next day. Welcome back Francesca!!!

Dina Bazarbayeva (14) who already made top 8 in previous North American Cup events didn’t make it to the top 16 this time ending in 26^th place. Dina had a very “interesting” bout for top 32. She was down 9:14!!! …but she won! Dina like Francesca also did much better in Under-19 event.

For Hannah Hinds this was her first national competition ever. She won 2 bouts in her pool and then lost her DE bout for the top 64.  Hannah took 86^th place.

Under-16 Men’s Foil (144 competitors)

Under-16 Women’s Foil (128 competitors):

Our foil fencers Robert Wooley (15) and LeeAna Loveless (14) competed in these events. Lack of experience in national tournaments affected their performance but they tried their best. Robert and LeeAna finished 93^rd and 118^th respectively.

Under-19 Men’s Epee (128 competitors):

Alliance entered 5 strong fencers in this event. All of them did very well in their pools. They were seeded well in DE table. However, something strange happened with our boys in their DE bouts. Daniel Trapani (17) was leading 13:10 against strong Jonathan Parker of SO. Texas Division for top 32 in the last period with 30 seconds left before the end of the bout and then lost on priority 13:14 (36^th place). Jonathan Bibb (18) lost his bout for top 32 also only by one touch 14:15 (39^th place).  Nathan Sorensen (16) lost his bout for top 32 as well (59^th place). Shawn Wright (18) was leading 12:6!!! for top 64 but ended up losing his bout on priority with 14:15 (70^th place). Our last remaining hope Dillon Smith (17) was facing a Cadet National Champion Michael Elfassy of METRO NYC Division for top 32. They came to the same dramatic score 14:14. But this time Dillon got the victory. He lost for the top 16 (27^th place). They all will do very well in Under-19 Team Men’s Epee though.

Under-19 Women’s Epee (92 competitors):

It was a very exciting event for our young ladies Stephanie Wheeler, Bethlehem Witte, and Erin Pytel who all just turned 17 and Francesca Bassa and Dina Bazarbayeva still 15 and 14 respectively. They all made it out of pools with 3-5 victories. For Erin it was her first Summer Nationals. She lost her DE for top 64. Both Stephanie and Bethlehem lost for top 32. The real surprise came from our youngest girls Dina and Francesca. They both made final top 8 defeating very strong high ranked fencers Kimberley Montoya, of Indiana Division (15:8, Dina), and Danielle Henderson, of New Jersey Division (15:13, Francesca). They never could beat them before. Dina and Francesca fenced each other for top 4. Dina won 15:12. After this bout Dina fenced Keri Byerts (19) of Western NY Division for top 2. Keri is a Cadet World Championships Bronze medallist and Junior World Championships finalist. Dina was handling her bout very well. The score was 14:14 and then a more experienced Byerts got a beautiful single touch in a beat attack. Dina became an A ranked fencer after this outstanding result. Great job girls!!!         

Under-19 Team Women’s Epee (27 teams)

Under-19 Team Men’s Epee (32 teams)

Division I Team Men’s Epee (20 teams):

Both our junior teams took Silver Medals in these events. Last year at Summer Nationals we could not make it to top 8. But this year our teams looked completely different: much stronger and fencing much more like a Team. Alliance fencers did an outstanding job.

Alliance Junior Women's Team consisted of Stephanie Wheeler (captain), Dina Bazarbayeva (anchor), Bethlehem Witte 9member), And Francesca Bassa (alternate). The team started off the day strong, in the first place seed out of 18 teams. Alliance got by the first round on a bye, and won the second by a gap of about 12 touches. The team continued their winning streak for two more matches, defeating LA Fencers Club for the final round in a well played strategic coup. For the final match, the Alliance Women's  Team faced Northwest Fencing Center from Oregon. Both teams were strong, but due to the premature substitution, Alliance Team had a nine point deficit. Though Dina, Stephanie, and Francesca put forth a valid effort to regain the lost points, Northwest Fencing Team was able to hold their lea until the end of the match. Our girls still came in second, a fabulous result and their highest yet in the team competition.

For top 4 our boys defeated a very strong team from North Colorado led by Nicholas Chinman a Junior World Cup silver Medalist (45:41). For the top 2 we also defeated a very strong team from Philadelphia led by Cadet World Champion Graham Wicas with an unbelievable score of 45:25. In the last bout of this match Dillon Smith beat Graham Wicas 5:0 in 30 seconds!!! The gold medal bout between Alliance Fencing Academy and New York Athletic Club was so exciting that our Head Coach Andrey Geva almost lost his voice. In the middle of this match Alliance team was down by 5 touches. Daniel Trapani brought the team back in the game by scoring 6 touches in a row. In the last bout between Dillon Smith and Stanley Vaksman we were leading 43:42 with 30 seconds left in the match. Then the score became 43:43 with time expired. We went into over time with priority for us. In the last 15 second standing on the backside of the strip Dillon decided to attack. It was a well-prepared action but Stanley made a beautiful counterattack with disengage scoring the winning touch.

Division I team competition was a strong adult tournament. Alliance team was made with Junior and Cadet fencers: Zoltan Krudy (17), Dillon Smith (17), Nathan Sorensen (16), and Shawn Wright (18). Our team did very well in the first bout for top 16 and then lost for top 8 to the strong Los Angeles team lead by Eric Hansen. Our three teams made a great show proving that they are among the strongest teams in the nation.

Under 19 Team Women’s Epee:

Under 19 Team Men’s Epee:

Division I Men’s Epee (62 competitors):

This was the strongest epee event at Summer Nationals. All members of the US World and Olympic teams were fencing in it. Jonathan Bibb (18) was our only qualified fencer to compete in this event and he made top 32 (32^nd place) earning Division I (Senior) and Junior national points. He lost his DE bout for top 16 to Gyorgy Ordody from North CA Division. This is Jonathan’s second top 32 finish in Division I events this year. Great job!!! 

Division I-A Men’s Epee (103 competitors)

Division I-A Women’s Epee (57 competitors):

Daniel Trapani started very slow in this event by loosing 3 bouts in a row in his pool. Then he came back and won his last 3 bouts. He was seeded in the middle of the DE table after pools. Bout after bout Daniel fenced better and better and finally won a Bronze Medal. Bravo Daniel!!!  Shawn Wright lost for top 16. He finished in 27^th place.

Stephanie Wheeler (17) also struggled in her pool bouts. However, she did focus in her DEs and she fenced better and more creatively. She won her DE bout for top 32 and then lost to top 16 (24^th place). Both Dina Bazarbayeva (14) and Susanne Simpson (Adult) lost their DE bouts to top 32 placing 37^th and 45^th respectively.    

Division II/ III events:

We had 6 fencers compete in epee, foil, and saber in these events. The most pleasant surprises in these events came from Erin Pytel (17) and Robert Wooley (15). They both have been fencing only for about a year and a half. These were the first Summer Nationals for both of them. Erin took Bronze Medal!!! in Division III Women’s Epee (147 competitors) and Robert finished 19^th in Division III Men’s Foil (211 competitors).

Suzette Wheeler (Adult) finished 58^th in Division III Women’s Epee (147 competitors). Rick Duszynski (Adult) finished 158^th in Division III Men’s Epee (213 Competitors).

T. C. Sim (Adult) finished 179^th in Division III Men’s Saber (194 competitors).

Kalli Ferris (18) finished 134^th in Division III Women’s Foil (168 competitors) and 135^th in Division II Women’s Foil (177 competitors).

Veteran events:

We had 5 fencers competed in epee, foil, and saber in these events.

Both Susanne Simpson and Suzette Wheeler fenced very well supporting each other in Veteran 40-49 Women’s Epee (34 competitors). They both made top 16. Susanne and Suzette finished 14^th and 16^th respectively.

T. C. Sim was only one bout away for top 8 in Veteran 50-59 Men’s Foil competition. He finished 15^th out of 43 competitors. He also took 26^th place in Veteran 50-59 Men’s Saber competition. Go T. C.!!!

Melinda Wooley who tried for the first time to fence at National event took 39^th place in Veteran 40-49 Women’s Foil competition. Welcome on board Melinda!!!

Rick Duszynski represented Alliance in Veteran 40-49 Men’s Epee event. He won 2 bouts and lost the other 3 with the frustrating score 4:5. He also lost his DE bout only by one point 9:10. Rick finished 51^st in this event. We wish more luck to Rick next time.

Congratulations to all Alliance fencers for such performance!!!

Many thanks to the coaches who have worked so hard to make this happen: Andrey Geva, Sabina Bazarbayeva, Alisher Dzhakhangirov, and Sergey Andriyevskiy!!!  

GO ALLIANCE!!!

Preston Gray on the Bronze Medal podium

Sam Freiman in the good hands

Jack Hudson - USFA 2006 National Points Winner

Francesca & Dina fence each other for the top 4 in Under-19 Women's Epee

Francsca Bassa & Dina Bazarbayeva with their coach Andrey Geva after the Under-19 Women's Epee finals.

Junior Women's Epee Silver Medal Team

(From the left: Francesca Bassa, Dina Bazarbayeva, Andrey Geva, Stephanie Wheeler & Bethlehem Witte)

Division-I Alliance Dream Team

(From the left: Dillon Smith, Shawn Wright, Zoltan Krudy & Nathan Sorensen)

Shawn Wright (on the left) scores the winning point against Nicholas Chinman in Junior Team Men's Epee match in quarter finals.

Alliance Junior Men's Epee Tem befor the gold medal match

Prepare for the medal ceremony

Alliance Team (on the right) on the silver medal podium

Junior Men's Epee Silver Medal Team

(From the left: Jonathan Bibb, Shawn Wright, Andrey Geva, Dillon Smith & Daniel Trapani)

Daniel Trapani with his proud father and coach 

Party time

Victory's celebration

Kalli Ferris with her mom Lori

More fun...

Wooley's family made it through the rain

"V" for the Victory

Erin Pytel with her Bronze Medal in Division-III Women's Epee

T. C. Sim and Suzanne Simpson

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