Lydia Pappas won the Women’s Foil event.
Coach Ron Thornton won the Men’s Saber event. Greg Lauzon finished 5th, and Tom Lauzon finished 7th.

Yea Team!

Lefties Rule! That was a fact on this very hot and humid Saturday, 7 June, across all three events fenced in the “Road to San Jose Veterans Fencing Tournament”, held at the NTGOC. A left-handed foilist, epeeist and sabrist won each of the events. In the foil event, eight men and four women from across the region competed for the mounted Red Knight of Blenheim first place trophy. Mr. Dave Copeland, of Out-of-Nowhere fencing club and Mr. Dave Ando, of Chester Knights, officiated as the foil event referees. Representing DHFC in the foil event was Coach Ron Thornton, E-rated foilist. Coach Ron made it to the final round where he faced C-rated Mr. Dan Vunck, Richmond Fencing Club, for the prize. It was a closely fought battle, but left-hander Vunck prevailed. Coach Ron received the second place trophy.

As the foil event entered the semi-final round, the epee event began. But not before we announced that a catered lunch prepared by our own fabulous Coach/Chef Lincoln was ready. He elegantly prepared and served pork barbeque, beef brisket, and Mediterranean pita bread, assorted fruits and vegetables, and lots of delicious cakes, and of course energy drinks to the competitors and guests. It was fantastic, and he received rave reviews. Between bites, the epeeists became serious combatants once again.

Eight epee fencers, all men, fenced in one pool. Mr. Ando officiated, until the arrival of a third referee, Mr. Wayne McCulloch. Upon his arrival the fencers dual-stripped (fenced on either fencing strip II or III, as soon as their bout was called), which accelerated the otherwise slow event. Mr. Jim McMath was the sole representative of Dark Horse. The semi-final and final rounds were dominated by high-rated fencers (A and B-rated). Mr Kaz Campe, an A-rated epeeist, with the DC Fencers Club, faced off against Mr. Rinaldo Campana, a B-rated epeeist, with the National Institute of Health (NIH) fencing club. Mr. Kaz Campe, a lefty, prevailed to win the mounted Silver Knight of Blenheim trophy.

The saber event was the smallest event, with six competitors, including two from DHFC, Coach Ron and Coach George. Mr. McCulloch officiated. Coach George was eliminated by Mr. Don Malnati, NIH fencing club, in the semi-final round, but he won a third place trophy. Mr. Malnati, a lefty, then faced Coach Ron for the last mounted armored knight trophy. They exchanged touches, but in the end, Mr. Malnati was victorious to make it a clean sweep for left-handed fencers that day. Coach Ron, a righty, won the second place trophy. In summary, Dark Horse Fencing Club won three trophies, two second place and one third place trophy.

I want to express my deepest gratitude to Coach Ron and Coach Lincoln for helping with the time-consuming preparations on Friday evening, and again to these fine gentlemen for their support throughout the tournament – but especially for the chef’s fantastic lunch as he sweltered in the 100+degree kitchen. A very special thank-you goes to Bryan Gomez-Wong, who worked an eight-hour shift, running the registration desk and computer system, and recording, printing and posting results.

Every competitor made glowing remarks about how much they enjoyed themselves. In the words of the Virginia Division’s Treasurer, Ms. Dorothy Carney, who served as bout committee chair for the tournament, “Thanks to Dark Horse Fencing Club for a great vet’s tournament today. The venue is lovely, the tournament was smooth, and the fencing (I can speak for foil, at least), was complex, collegial and completely enjoyable. The free gourmet food selection was exquisite. Fabulous job, guys!”

It’s our intention to host another Veteran’s tournament in November, either the 8th or 15th. Veterans (ages 40+) start now to plan out your training schedule so you peak in November.

(via Coach George)

The points are totaled and the results are in. The Dark Horse champions for the 07-08 fencing season are:

Foil: Lydia Pappas
Saber: Tom Lauzon
Epee: Danny Strock

The overall point leader was Nickki Thorton.

Well done all! With Lydia going off to college we are guaranteed a new foil champion next year.

Dark Horse is hosting The Road to San Jose on June 7th. It’s a Vets tournament. Register at Ask Fred.

The first place trophies:

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Originally uploaded by ChrisOD

The final bout in the annual Charles Ash Memorial Tournament featured Breck O’Donnell vs Eric Whalen-Kelly. Eric was the victor, defeating Breck 15-13 to take home the autographed foil.

Ethan

Originally uploaded by ChrisOD

Ethan won Spring Dragonslayer Saber competition. All those push ups courtesy of Coach Gregg are apparently working!

Marco

Originally uploaded by ChrisOD

Marco was the victor in the Spring Dragonslayer foil competition. He beat Breck 13-8 in the finale.

Day 1 was devoted to foil. The Dark Horse Youth acquitted themselves quite well.

Nicki - Gold in both Y12 and Y14 Women’s Foil.
Breck - 8th in Y14 Men’s Foil
Brian - 5th in Y10 Foil
Kyle - 6th in Y10 Foil

Everybody finished in the medals in Foil!

Actually, it’s Coach Ron that is #2. After the Chicago NAC, he is tied for 2nd place in the Veteran 40-49 Rolling Point Standings.