Men’s epee entered CFCs ready to take on many tough club opponents. Pulak Raj, Benjamin Coleman, and Greg Quigg traveled to Bucks County, Pennsylvania for their biggest tournament of the year. Benjamin Coleman, fencing at his last USACFC tournament had his best showing yet, finishing with an even record. He took down many of his toughest opponents with his wrist picks on his way to victory. Greg Quigg had a difficult start but was able to reign it in by the end and pull off big victories, including a close 5-4 bout with GTU. Pulak Raj fenced and beat many opponents he lost to earlier in the season. Overall, men’s epee showed how much they had improved over the entire season.Nikki “Forrest” Petzer ‘19, Sarah “Shaw” Sues ‘20, and Chrystanthi “Ursa” Stevens ‘19, had many successes at CFCs this past weekend. Women’s epee squad focused strongly on teamwork on comradery throughout the tournament, supporting one another through wins and losses. Forrest had a rough start during individuals, but really came into her own as the day progressed, winning 4 of her 5 final bouts, and going undefeated the following day. Shaw had an impressive performance on Saturday, beating several fencers with her counterattacks and powerful bladework. Making a much appreciated epee appearance, resident saberist, Ursa, earned many key victories throughout the tournament, surprising many opponents with her saber speed and flare.Foil
Men’s Foil placed 17th at USACFCs, defeating Stonybrook, Denison and Virginia Tech on the way. The three men’s foilists that fenced were Matt Cusick, Faisal Al-Alami and Stuart Thomas. All three fencers performed well and won plenty of bouts. Some notable victories included Matt Cusick beating Willem Joseph of Stonybrook 5-4, as Joseph had placed 3rd in individuals the previous day. Another highlight of the event was Stuart beating all three members of Virginia Tech, securing the victory over that school. Faisal had some highlights of his own, one of which was securing a win over Denison University in the 9th and final bout. Overall, all three men’s foilists fenced well, and because none of them are graduating this year, you can expect an even stronger performance next year.
Elizabeth Sutterlin ’20, Julie Vu ’20, and Julianne Cook ’21 showed up at CFCs ready to fence their hardest at the last tournament of the year. The squad had a tough start on Saturday, but the three women were able to improve their seeding in team DEs on Sunday to earn 18th place. In the second and third DE rounds, W&M women’s foil swept both UT Knoxville and Denison 5-0.
Elizabeth refused to be discouraged by the stiff competition from other schools’ A-strips, and she used Saturday’s results as even more motivation to fence her best on Sunday—and did she ever! She scored W&M’s only victory against UC Berkeley and went 4-4 against an internationally ranked fencer from Boston University. In that bout she fought until the end, losing the close match in priority but happy with her performance. Julie gave the tournament her all as it was her first and final CFCs, and she had a great record coming out of pools on Saturday. She earned W&M some clutch victories, and she was the 4th seeded B-strip from her pool and the 11th seeded B-strip across all pools. Julianne came in hot to CFCs, having just fenced at SIFA Champs the previous weekend, and scored a decisive 5-2 victory over Liberty on Saturday. She continued fighting hard on Sunday, getting some great wins over fencers from UT Knoxville and Denison.
CFCs ended on a high note and was a great testament to all the work the squad put in this year. Women’s foil has no graduating seniors this spring, and so they are all looking forward to next semester, where they will continue to fence and grow together.
Saber
Men’s saber had a remarkably average start to CFCs. Daniel “Maverick” Bachman ’20, Robert “Triton” Catlett ’18, and Steven “Zaqqum” Pressendo ’20 each went 6-6, each had a total indicator between 0 and 5, and placed 19th of 38 teams going into day two. The second day went much better, with each fencer getting a chance to put the squad on their back. After a narrow loss to Tennessee, the team went on a tear. Our squad rolled over Rochester and our friends from TCNJ, winning both matches 5-1. Next, our squad ran into a strong Boston University team. Zaqqum’s quick ripostes brought the team an early lead. After several tight bouts, our team found ourselves tied with BU 4-4 and Maverick heading up for the final bout. His surprising remises won the first few points, before the BU fencer brought the bout score to 4 all. In front of the gathering crowd, Maverick pulled his opponent short, clinching the school for our squad. In the final bout of his collegiate career, Triton faced the strong UMass A-strip who individually finished in 8th place the day before. Triton fell behind early but adjusted his box footwork to bring the bout score to 4 all. Triton took a risk by committing to his attack very early in the touch, winning the bout, and securing a team victory over UMass. After months of hard work, the men’s saber squad finished the season on a four-match winning streak.
Women’s sabre put on a strong show at CFCs. Madeline “Mercury” Myers ’20 confused opponents on defense, baiting them into attacking on her terms. Riley “Serenitea” Aiken ’20 used her quick, skillful circle parries to punish her opponents for falling short. Mary “Prim” McCants ’21 perfected her disengages, neatly avoiding her opponents’ parries. The squad really bonded over the long weekend, finishing out the season in good spirits.