Summer Nationals Day 1

Hello all, and welcome back to the page! Today is the first day of the annual Summer Nationals event. I was privileged to cover two events: the Junior Men's Epee and the Div 1 Women's Epee. I participated in the Junior event and saw firsthand how strong this tournament is. 

To start, the event I fenced was Junior Men's Epee, which hosted 454 fencers, an absolutely massive event. This was the most significant event I have ever fenced in. With this many fencers, not all could move to the elimination round, as regional events are. On the national stage, only a certain number of people, usually about 60-70% of fencers, move on to DEs. For this event, however, only 56% of fencers moved on. This is so uncommon that in my 6 years of fencing, I have never seen a percentage that low. Fencing in the junior event at nationals feels so vastly different than other events. The level of competition is multiplied by twenty, plus the atmosphere and overall feelings just cannot be replicated in any other event. 

The biggest story of this event, however, was Phillip Kang's incredible upset. Phillip bested the fifth-best junior fencer in the nation, Alexander Bezrodnov, who ended up being seeded first after the preliminary rounds (or pools). Alexander went a perfect 6-0 with an indicator of +26, which is extremely difficult to attain. He breezed through his first few DE bouts, winning them by 10 or more touches in 256 and 128 bouts. In the table of 64, however, he faced his most formidable opponent, Phillip. He won the bout and knocked off one of the strongest fencers in the venue that day with a score of 15-14. The tournament winner was Elijah Imrek, brother of the number one junior fencer in the world, Samuel Imrek, and the 20th-seeded junior in his own right. 

The second event of the day was the Divison 1 women's epee. This event was full of surprises. To start, the number one seed coming out of the pool, Isabella Chin, ranked 19th in the nation for D1, lost in the table of 64 to the 65th seed coming out of the pool, Chloe Tolsma. Chloe is ranked 39th in her own right, which is nothing to sneeze at. Even so, most assumed Isabella would take the bout as the higher seed and just come off of an incredible first round. The bout was close at first, but Chloe started to pull away, gaining a multiple-touch lead before the end of the first period. In the end, Chloe was able to pick up the win 15-7 in a dominant showing that shocked many. 

The tournament's overall winner was Tierna A. Oxenreider, a very strong fencer ranked 15th in the nation for Div 1. She fenced incredibly well in pools, going undefeated, and took the second seed for the DE bouts. There, she made quick work of almost all her opponents, winning by 5 or more touches. While her semi-final and final bout brought more competition, Tierna defeated her final two opponents, going undefeated for the entire event and taking home the gold. 

Those were the two events that I covered from this year's Summer Nationals Event. I had a wonderful time watching and recording both events, and I thank you all for taking the time to read. Be on the lookout for my notes on day 2 of Summer Nats.