4.13.24 – 4.14.24
Women’s Foil
After a stunning win at SIFA earlier this year, women’s foil arrived at CFCs ready to win some bouts. The TC Trio of Lucy “Gecko” Kasper ‘24, Angela “Luna” Liu ‘25, and Karino “Jasmine” Gibson ‘24 all came eager to fence and kick butt. Women’s foil took 25th place in the team event, with all three fencers doing a great job. In the individual event, Gecko placed 29th out of 106 fencers, using her unbreakable defense to parry any attack and beat up her opponents. Luna fenced with patience and grace, winning many bouts. Karino looked to have cast hexes upon her opponents, defeating one unwitting fencer 5-0 in a team bout. Women’s foil delivered a gutsy performance at CFCs, and has a bright future ahead. We will miss Karino’s fearless leadership as president and Gecko’s infinite wisdom as co-captain, but even as they graduate, a new generation of women’s foil talent is ready to be unleashed on the competition, carefully trained up by our seniors and ready to put the hurt on all the schools they face.
Women’s Epee
Going into the Collegiate Fencing Championship tournament, Women’s epee had an incredibly strong team made up of Rebekah “Opal” Gresham ‘25, Sarah “Tarot” Gresham ‘25, and Anna “Lotus” Saal ‘27. On Saturday they showcased their speed and strength to the competition when all three won all bouts in their pools, with many overwhelming victories. All three went into direct eliminations with very good seedings and out of a tableau of 128, all three made it to the top 16 bracket. In the bracket of 16, Lotus fenced very hard against an opponent and showcased her dynamic parries and quick lunges. Although she ended up losing and placing 10th, the bout was very hard fought and Lotus displayed amazing fortitude and never-ending determination. Tarot advanced to the bracket of 8, in which she lost to an incredibly difficult opponent by only a couple of touches, ultimately placing 5th. Opal continued to sweep through the competition collecting wins until she was in the finals bout. She ended up having to fence an opponent that she had lost to last year in direct eliminations, but she refused to back down. In a bout that was neck-in-neck until the last period, Opal focused very hard, making multiple beautiful arm touches and perfectly timed parries. Despite the opponents best efforts to fleche and make touches, Opal won the bout by being even quicker and stronger, taking home the first place medal. On Sunday, despite all members being very tired and sore, women’s epee refused to lose. Similar to the first day, Opal used her speed and agility to land many arm touches and contentious in-fights, Tarot used her directional changes to bait and counterattack effectively against opponents, and Lotus used her patience to land perfectly timed parries and immaculate lunges against her opponents. They fenced Michigan State University and then Dartmouth College, winning both 5-0 and 5-1 respectively. In the semi-finals, they fenced the University of California Santa Barbara winning with an impressive 5-2 victory. The finals bout was against the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a tough opponent, but women’s epee fought and coached each other to an astounding 5-1 win. Lotus, Tarot, and Opal all fenced using their unique styles, extreme speed, and determination to bring home a first place team medal and trophy.
Women’s Saber
Elizabeth “Horizon” Lawless, Sophia “Barracuda” Lee, and Delia “Nightshade” Figlozzi came to the Collegiate Fencing Championships ready to do their very best! Barracuda and Nightshade, although drafted from foil, trained diligently and performed well in a new weapon environment. Nightshade, struck by illness, still stood her ground on the strip, scoring consistently and challenging any opponent that crossed her path. Barracuda’s speed and aggression consistently stunned foes. The two foilists learned much about the ways of saber in such a short time, and their skill and knowledge of the weapon dramatically increased over the course of the two day tournament! It was Horizon’s first experience at a collegiate tournament– her speed and phenomenal parries placed her in the top 32 for the individual event! Together, the three did very well and strengthened their friendship along the way.
Men’s Foil
In a break from last year’s tradition, Men’s Foil arrived at CFCs with a team of mens foilists. Arriving Saturday still tired from setup the night before, the trio of Jack ‘ Yeti’ Bratton ‘24, Nick ‘Osiris’ Reeder ‘24, and Thomas ‘Vice’ Mahnken ‘24 suited up so they could begin waiting for their flighted pools to begin as quickly as possible. Several hours later, they emerged from pools seeded 5th, 42nd, and 61st respectively. Vice would fall in the first round, Osiris would progress to the second round before being eliminated by #23, and Yeti would relentlessly plow through the bracket, only being stopped in the semi-finals. Sunday began just as Saturday had: with about 5 hours of sleep and confusion over strip assignments. Beginning the day seeded 11th, the squad’s first opponent was -BYE-, seeded 54th. After -BYE- failed to appear at the strip, the round was given the W&M. Their second opponent, University of Massachusetts Amherst (henceforth referred to as UMass) put up a valiant struggle which fencing historians have since likened to the final stand of the Spartans at the battle of Thermopylae. After a 5-1 loss in the initial bout, W&M would win the next 5 bouts, securing both victory and progression to the next round. Their third second opponent, University of Florida posed an even tougher challenge. Facing a 4-2 disadvantage after the first 6 bouts, all three fenced valiantly. Yeti secured a decisive 5-1 win, bringing the overall score to 4-3. Vice fenced what he described as “the best I have ever fenced since beginning college” in a bout that sadly was not recorded, evening the score at 4-4. Osiris, bringing it home, secured the win for W&M by winning the 9th and final bout of the round. Progressing to the round of 8, the next opponent was Cornell. The trio fenced intrepidly, but through a combination of soreness and the Cornell team being seeded 3rd, they were forced to accept defeat. As disappointing a loss as it was, the W&M Foil Dream Team™ would end the day placed 8th, a marked improvement over last year’s result and a result that all three graduating seniors can be proud of.
Men’s Epee
Men’s epee rocked up to CFCs with their sights set on victory as Armin “D.O.W. Jones” Bagha ‘24, Jake “Merlin” Schapiro ‘24, Nolan “Titan” Coughlin ‘25, and Eric “Helios” Montesi ‘26 came to win bouts and have fun. Armin was all skill, cool and calculated as he dismantled his opponents. Jake’s counters and control of distance left his opponents befuddled. Nolan was powerful and precise as he dominated the competition. Eric used tempo and timing to break any defense. In the individual event, all of our boys dominated their pools, and everyone fenced hard in their DE bouts. Armin was finally unleashed upon CFCs, and kept up the incredible form he has shown all season as he battled through injury to take 5th in the individual event. Going into the team event seeded sixth out of 37 schools, men’s epee carved their way through their first two opponents, dropping only two bouts. Tragically, they fell in a hard-fought series against Texas that went down to the wire, ending in a 4-5 loss. Hampered by injury and exhaustion, our boys left it all on the strip as they fenced off for placement, ultimately taking 8th in the team event. It was the last collegiate event for Armin and Jake, and our two seniors fenced brilliantly. Their great performances capped off the best season men’s epee has had in years. Armin’s words of wisdom and Jake’s angelic singing will be missed at future competitions, but their legacy of victory has the squad determined to continue winning at every event they go to. As a new era begins in men’s epee, the culture they established will continue to produce the hardest working, somewhat conditioned, most unselfish and stylish squad in Virginia.
Men’s Saber
Coming in hot off the heels of a strong performance at MACFA Champs, Men’s saber showed up and showed out, finishing in 14th place as a team. Evan “Duke” Jackson ‘25, Connor “Lancelot” Cassidy ‘25, and Ryan “Chronos” Rauscher ‘27 all fenced brilliantly at CFCs. Chronos used his massive frame and blinding speed on attack and defense to thrash his opponents, finishing 19th out of 142 fencers in the individual. Always calculating, Duke balanced aggression with clinical defense as he stayed one step ahead of his opponent’s tactics, knowing what they would do before they did it. Lancelot used his quickness in the box, strong parries, and the LanceLockout™ to befuddle his opponent, his unorthodox style proving too much for even experienced fencers to handle. Men’s saber finished the best season they’ve had in years by finishing 11 spots ahead of their CFCs result last year, showing vast improvement and promising great things to come, as everyone on the squad is returning, hungry for greater success. Vorp?