North American Cup 'E' 02/09
Tom Knowles: 10/74 Div 3 Mens Epee Peter Wetzel: 13/74 Div 3 Mens Epee Tom Knowles: 51/155 Div 3 Mens Foil
Peter Wetzel: 52/155 Div 3 Mens Foil David Cash: 21/101 Div 2 Mens Epee
FINAL REPORT of Events at the North American Cup in Atlanta, GA Feb 28-March 1
FRIDAY Feb 27 - Division III Men's Epee: Only fencers who are rated D, E, or Unrated (U) were able to enter this event (I am rated 'D' in Epee). There were 74 entrants in this event, of which my student Peter Wetzel and I were two. The format of these competitions is very much the same as in our regular competitions locally: a round of "pool bouts" where a group of fencers are pooled together to compete against each other. The pool results seed the fencers into the direct elimination (DE) round - much like you see when you watch the playoffs of pro sports.
Both Peter and I did well in our pools. Out of six bouts to 5 points, I won five and lost one. I believe Peter did the same (we were in different groupings of seven fencers). We seeded high into the DE round and both won our first two DE bouts, each of which was to 15 points. In the Round of 16, that's where we lost :<. Both of us went down fighting in close bouts, the final score for me being 15-14. I felt very good about my fencing except that with a bit better point control on my part, I would have beaten my opponent. So I know what I need to work on. That's part of the process: a defeat is not a loss, it is an opportunity for understanding where you are weakest and what you can do to improve your game for next time. In the end, out of 74 fencers, I came in 10th (a placement ratio of 13%) and Peter came in 13th. If either of us had won our final DE Bout, we would have been on the medal stand. Argh! :P
SATURDAY Feb 28 - Division III Men's Foil: Only fencers who are rated D, E, or Unrated (U) were able to enter this event (I am rated 'E' in Foil). There were 155 entrants in this event, of which Peter and I were two.
In Foil, Peter and I did not do as well in our pools as we did the day before in Epee. Out of six bouts to 5 points, I won three and lost three. I believe Peter did about the same. We seeded in the middle of the pack going into the DE round and both won our first two DE bouts, each of which was to 15 points. Again, as with Epee, our third DE bout is where we lost :<. The final score for my DE bout was 15-11. Once again, as with Epee, point control on my part was the major contributor to my loss: I attacked many times and would have scored the touch but just missed by little or hit 'off-target'. In the end, out of 155 fencers, I came in 51st (a placement ratio of 33%) and Peter came in 52nd!
SUNDAY March 1 - Division II Men's Epee: Only fencers who are rated C, D, E, or Unrated (U) are able to enter this event (my student David Cash is rated 'C' in Epee, having taken 3rd in a Div III Men's Epee event at a previous NAC competition two years ago in Atlanta). There were 101 entries in this event. David did very well, fairly crushing his pool round winning five bouts and only losing one. This result seeded him 10th going into the DE round, giving him a bye for a couple rounds. He then went on to win his first DE bout against a very good competitor. After the required 10-minute break between DE bouts, David went on to face a Colorado fencer, who beat him after a long fight. David did well and wound up placing 21st out of 101 fencers.
OVERALL THOUGHTS: Though we didn't get a medal, we did fence well and were absolutely hard to beat by those that managed to best us. You may view the actual official results by going to www.usfencing.org and clicking on Competitions -> National -> Results -> 2008 - 2009 -> NAC E -> (whichever results you want to look at).
I like to think of the close bouts where the score was 15-14 that I lost like this: I did 14 things right and the other guy did 15. Of course you could also say I did 15 things wrong in allowing the other person to score those points but I prefer the first way! :P Anyway, these types of competitions REALLY help you to see where the rough edges are as well as showing you what really works well in your fencing. This feedback is crucial to the developing fencer.
OK, thanks for everything and keep on fencing!!!! Don't forget to try to come out on Saturdays at 4pm for 2 hours of non-stop sparring. Women's Fencing class is Saturdays 4-5pm.
Salutations!!
Tom