Four fencers from Presidio Fencing Club recently competed in the Paul Pesthy Memorial Super Youth Tournament in San Jose. It was a very difficult tournament, drawing some of the top youth athletes from around the country. Sophie Russo, who is currently ranked 25th nationally in her age group, triumphed with the bronze medal in the Youth 12 Women’s Foil event. She lost in the semi-finals to the third-ranked fencer. Sophie is a student at Crane Country Day School.
Timothy Stanton and Oliver Bublitz competed in the Youth 12 Men’s Foil event. This was Oliver’s first appearance on the national scene. The Goleta Valley Junior High student won two of his six matches in the preliminary round, but was knocked out in the first round of eliminations. After winning four initial matches, Timothy made it to the second round of direct eliminations. Timothy hails from Santa Barbara Homesteaders.
The Y12 performances of Sophie, Oliver and Timothy have earned them a chance to compete at the Summer National Championships in Grapevine, Texas, in July.
Jake Wiener, a freshman at Dos Pueblos High, was the fourth Presidio fencer to attend. He was slow to start, winning only two of his preliminary matches, but he eventually managed to upset a higher-ranked athlete in the first elimination round. He narrowly lost his second direct elimination, finishing 28th in the Youth 14 Men’s Epee.
— Leslie Robinson represents the Presidio Fencing Club.