On May 13th, Apex Fencing Academy hosted their annual end-of-the-season tournament at Middle Creek Community Center. This year, we hosted 82 competitors from around the state in six events: Women’s Epee, Women’s Foil, Mixed Y10 Foil, Mixed Y12 Foil, Senior Mixed Epee and Senior Mixed Foil. Unfortunately, we had to cancel Y12 Mixed Epee for lack of competitors.

Various clubs shared the honor of being on the podium. In one of the smaller groups, Women’s Epee, Makayla McMinn from Charlotte Fencing Academy won gold, while Apex’s Nayeli finished second, and Sophia third.

Women’s foil matched competitors from All-American Fencing Academy, Charlotte Fencing Academy, Apex, Knights of Siena and Mid-South. All-American’s Megan Paterson finished 1st followed by Kalei of Charlotte. Teammates Mary & Maddie from Apex tied for third.

Y10 Mixed Foil featured a full field of 17 competitors. This group may have had the widest range of experience from true beginners to experienced competitors. Apex’s Connor Long defeated his teammate Liam for gold. Both of these young men will be competing at the USA Fencing Nationals in July. Ania and Daniel tied for third.

In Mixed Y12, Maddie Long dug deep to beat Andy Zhang. Her brother Connor, fencing up an age group, tied for third with Mathew Lu of RTF.

In the afternoon, 18 competitors took to the floor to compete in Senior Mixed Epee. Apex’s Ian Bower defeated Scott Anderson of Mid-South 15-6. Amazingly, there were no double touches in this bout! Colson and Lars shared the bronze.

In the last and largest event, Senior Mixed Foil brought 21 competitors together. Again, there was a lot of diversity in experience. In the end, Kevin Lima wanted it a bit more and in spite of a bloody hand rallied to beat Abel 15-12 in a great final bout. Both may meet again at Summer Nationals in July. Jack and Daniel, both from Apex, finished in 3rd.

I want to express my deepest appreciation for everyone that came to fence and support fencing in North Carolina. Without parental support, volunteers, referees, bout committee and of course the fencers themselves, we couldn’t put on events like this. Thank you!

Finally, it was great to see so many young fencers, especially the Y10 age group, show up. This is the future of fencing in North Carolina. Without these young competitors giving it their all, making the commitment, and sticking with it, we can’t build the next generation of champions. We hope to see all of you next time on the piste and en guard!

Full results on askFred.