USA Fencing

(Colorado Springs, Colo.) – Just months after aging out of the Y14 event, Tatijana Stewart (Ogden, Utah) won gold as a junior at the November North American Cup in Louisville, Ky. on Saturday.

Stewart, who won national titles this year as both a Y14 and a cadet fencer, began the tournament as the 24th seed and was ranked 27th out of pools.

Still, she earned a bye into the table of 128 and began picking off her opponents.

Stewart defeated Keegan Glucksman (Bedford Corners, N.Y.), 15-11, in her first direct elimination bout and won the table of 64 against Jessica Thow (Spring, Texas), 15-12.

She qualified for the table of 16 for the first time in a junior NAC event when she defeated Monica Lubczynski (CAN), 15-6.

After a 15-14 win against Rebecca Rose (Chicago, Ill.), Stewart defeated Michelle Li (CAN), 15-12, in the quarters.

With her first junior national level medal secured, Stewart won her next two bouts against Farrah Lee-Elabd (San Antonio, Texas) and Safa Ibrahim (Bronx, N.Y.) by 15-8 scores to earn gold.

In the junior men’s epee competition, Canadian Marc-Antoine Blais-Belanger took first out of a field of 252 fencers.

Seeded first out of the pools, Blais-Belanger earned a bye into the table of 128 and won his next three bouts each by 15-7 scores against Joshua Wolkoff (Boston, Mass.), Jonathon Heinl (Erie, Colo.) and Robin Cheong (San Antonio, Texas).

Blais-Belanger edged Noah Adamitis (Kirkville, N.Y.), 14-13, in the table of 16 and defeated 2014 Junior World medalist Justin Yoo (La Verne, Calif.), 15-9, to advance to the medal rounds.

In the semifinals, Blais-Belanger outtouched Nicholas Hanahan (Indianapolis, Ind.), 12-11. His final victory would come down to the last touch as well with Blais-Belanger defeating Michael Popovici (Katy, Texas), 15-14.

Cadet men’s saber fencer Adam Green (Chevy Chase, Md.) earned his best NAC result ever when he took gold on Saturday.

Green won five bouts to advance to the gold medal final where he outtouched top-ranked Andrew Doddo (South Orange, N.J.), 15-14.

A former NAC title holder in the Y10 and Y12 events, Jack Woods (Maplewood, N.J.) defeated Blake Broszus (Modesto, Calif.), 15-10, to win his first Y14 gold.

Kara Linder (Chandler, Ariz.), a gold medalist on the Cadet European Cup circuit earlier this season, remains one of the top Y14 fencers in the nation as well after her gold medal win in Louisville where she defeated Veronica Czyzewski (Caldwell, N.J.), 15-9, in the final bout.

Click here to view complete results.

Top eight and U.S. results are as follows:

Junior Men’s Epee
1. Marc-Antoine Blais-Belanger (CAN)
2. Michael Popovici (Katy, Texas)
3. Nicholas Hanahan (Indianapolis, Ind.)
3. Hans Engel (Seattle, Wash.)
5. Wesley Johnson (Pleasant View, Utah)
6. Justin Yoo (La Verne, Calif.)
6. Nicolas Wilson (Houston, Texas)
8. Dean Ischiropoulos (Media, Pa.)

Junior Women’s Epee
1. Tatijana Stewart (Ogden, Utah)
2. Safa Ibrahim (Bronx, N.Y.)
3. Farrah Lee-Elabd (San Antonio, Texas)
3. Katie Angen (New York, N.Y.)
5. Azaline Dunlap-Smith (Nottingham, N.H.)
6. Alexanne Verret (CAN)
7. Alexandra Keft (Las Vegas, Nev.)
8. Michelle Li (CAN)

Cadet Men’s Saber
1. Adam Green (Chevy Chase, Md.)
2. Andrew Doddo (South Orange, N.J.)
3. Filip Dolegiewicz (Park Ridge, Ill.)
3. Philippe Guy (San Diego, Calif.)
5. Andrew Sun (Alpharetta, Ga.)
6. Daniel Solomon (Setauket, N.Y.)
7. Alessandro Contreras (Silver Spring, Md.)
8. Nicholas No (Carmichael, Calif.)

Y14 Men’s Foil
1. Jack Woods (Maplewood, N.J.)
2. Blake Broszus (Modesto, Calif.)
3. Julian Cheng (Lexington, Mass.)
3. Cole Johnson (Novato, Calif.)
5. Andrew Machovec (East Rockaway, N.Y.)
6. Leo Zaroff (San Francisco, Calif.)
7. Marcello Olivares (Cooper City, Fla.)
8. Leo Holmes (Houston, Texas)

Y14 Women’s Saber
1. Kara Linder (Chandler, Ariz.)
2. Veronica Czyzewski (Caldwell, N.J.)
3. Lark Izenson (Atlanta, Ga.)
3. Casey Chan (Cresskill, N.J.)
5. Morgan Jenkins (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
6. Cecilia Taylor (Franklin Lakes, N.J.)
7. Sienna Wilson (Falls of Rough, Ky.)
8. Nina Hunter (Portland, Ore.)