Twelve of our
fencers competed in six of the twelve events scheduled for the six
weapons at the Junior Olympic Fencing Championships in Arlington, TX,
this past weekend. Congratulations to our fencers who earned two medals:
Francesca
Alexandra BASSA 6th place Junior WE,
Daniel TRAPANI
8th place Cadet ME.
Together with Colin
Sutter and Neely Brandfield- Harvey of Salle Mauro, they were the only
GC TX Division fencers who earned medals at these JO's this year, an
improvement from last year's JO's when only Jonathan Bibb from Alliance
earned the only medal for the GC TX Division. Congratulations to all of
them!
Junior Women's Epee:
The first day was the Junior WE competition. In a field of 159 top
fencers Under 20 in the nation, our fencers Francesca Alexandra BASSA,
Stephanie WHEELER, and Bethlehem WITTE acquitted
themselves with honor. Francesca (14) won all her pool bouts and started
the DE in 6th place. This is how she finished after eliminating 15-12
Morgan MIDGLEY, a strong fencer attending Columbia University. Bethlehem
placed 50th after pools and finished 46th after her second DE. Stephanie
did not have a great day and tied for 100th after pools, finishing 103T
after losing her first DE. She will have a much better day in the Cadets
event two days later.
Junior Men's Epee:
The next day was the turn of Junior ME. In a field of 212 competitors
including the top national fencers Under 20, our fencers Jonathan
BIBB, Collin EATON, Dillon SMITH, Nathan SORENSEN,
Daniel TRAPANI, and Shawn WRIGHT tried their best to
emerge in a very tough competition. Collin had a great round of pools
(6-0) and finished 19th and missed top 16 by a point. This was Collin's
best showing at a junior competition. Shawn finished 40th, missing top
32 by few points as was the case for Daniel who finished 42nd. Dillon
missed the cut for top 64 and finished 71st, as was the case for Nathan
who tied at 86th. Jonathan had a tough day and finished 106th. Better
luck for him the next time.
Junior Men's Sabre:
Congratulations to Joseph WYSOCKI and his Maestro Akhi
Spencer-El for finishing 16th out of 158 fencers in Junior
MS. Joe just missed top 8 by two touches and this was his best result in
a junior national competition.
Cadet Men's Foil:
Our new fencer Peter SCAMMAN at his first ever JO finished 211th
out of a field of 253. He won one bout and lost to other strong fencers
in his pool only by few points. Peter is a young fencer and will do
better in future competitions.
Cadet Women's Epee:
Stephanie WHEELER, Francesca BASSA, and Bethlehem WITTE
competed in a field of 140 fencers. Stephanie, completely changed from
two days before, in a most exciting bout with Danielle Henderson, lost
to top eight by one point, after 5 double touches at 14-14. Stephanie
finished 9th, her best result ever in a cadet competition.
Francesca did not have a great day and lost to top 16 by one point after
a very exciting bout in which she recovered from a bad start of 6-2
against her. This was the easier competition compared with the junior
two days earlier, but as is sometime the case with our fencers, they
stumble on the easy and pull ahead on the hard ones. Francesca finished
25th. Bethlehemstarted well in her pools and first DE's but then
failed to make top 32 by few touches and finished 35th.
Cadet Men's Epee:
Our team of Mathew DUCLOT-BERNHARDT, Dillon SMITH,
Nathan SORENSEN, Daniel TRAPANI, and Shawn WRIGHT. In
a field of ??? fencers, Daniel fenced very smartly and finished
8th, earning our second medal of these JO's. This was Daniel best
performance in cadet. Dillon made it to top 32 showing a very high
quality fencing and lost to Nathaniel SULAT one of the US Cadet National
Team members. Mathew and Shawn made to top 64 and Nathan to top 128.
FUN TIMES AT JO'S
It was not all hard work and fencing at JO's in Arlington. In what may
become a new tradition for future events, at the last minute a group of
fencers and some parents met at Andrey and Bill Trapani hotel rooms for
an informal dinner. Giorgio and Maria Bassa went shopping for groceries
and Paul and Lauren Smith for fine wine. The parents gathered in
Andrey's suite, the young ones in Mr. Trapani suite across the hall.
While everyone nibbled on mixed veggies, dips and crackers and ciabatta
bread dipped in olive oil, Giorgio prepared an Italian dinner. Penne a
la vodka and penne with olive oil garlic and parmesan cheese were
devoured by all. Pasta was followed by a tossed mixed salad and dessert
of a delicious tiramesu.
While the parents sipped the wine and enjoyed visiting, the young
fencers had their usual grand time playing cards and roaming around the
hotel. A fun time was had by all and the food provided the needed
carbohydrates that Andrey recommends his fencers to consume the night
before a tough competition. This was a last minute idea, but we will be
better prepared in the future.
