Fencing Academy of Nevada, Las Vegas

The USA Fencing family lost a key member on Nov. 18 when 1964 Olympian Edwin Richards passed away in Las Vegas at the age of 83.

COLORADO SPRINGS – The USA Fencing family lost a key member on Sunday evening when 1964 Olympian Edwin Richards passed away in Las Vegas at the age of 83.

Ed Richards (left) with Veteran World Team Member Sean Ameli.

Richards, a 2005 USA Fencing Hall of Fame inductee who hailed from Boston, was hospitalized during the USA Fencing National Championships in Anaheim in July and was later transferred to a facility in Las Vegas.

Richards’ family, including his son Mark, daughter Karen and former wife Carla Mae Richards, were at his side on Sunday.

A foil fencer at the 1964 Games, Richards won back-to-back National titles in 1962 and 1963 and also represented Team USA at the 1959, 1963 and 1967 Pan American Games where he won two golds and a silver medal in team competition.

After retiring from competition, Richards served as a fencing coach at several universities, including Boston University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Air Force Academy.

A Maitres d’Armes, Richards was a member of four Junior World Championship Team coaching staffs and most recently served as a coach at the Fencing Academy of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Richards also was an accomplished referee who was rated in all three weapons and was honored with the Fencing Officials Commission Distinguished Service Award in 2004.

“Ed was a great fencer, a great referee and also a great friend of USA Fencing. He served as a mentor and role model to many of us as we were coming up through the ranks and will be dearly missed by all who knew him,” said USA Fencing President Don Anthony.

In his memory, the Fencing Academy of Nevada will be holding the Maestro Richards Memorial New Year’s Open on Jan. 1 with plans to make the tournament an annual event.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Inner City Slickers (www.innercityslickers.com) or a charity of one’s choice.

PASADENA – The Los Angeles International Fencing Club hosted its LAIFC-SYC this past weekend at the Pasadena Convention Center and several FAN fencers made the trip. With her most impressive result to date, Hannah Nguyen earned the Bronze medal in the Y12 Women’s Epee event. Also earning a trip to the podium was Sona Dixit who places 7^thin the Y10 Women’s Foil event. The results of the FAN fencers are listed below:

Hannah Nguyen third from left.

Y10MF 22 Aaron Lee
Y10MF 34 Ethan Nguyen
Y10MF 36 Weylin Keefer
Y10WF   7 Sona Dixit
Y12ME 14 Wolfy Schinabeck
Y12MF 38 Feodor Keft
Y12MF 41 Michael Siroky
Y12MF 54 Wolfy Schinabeck
Y12WE  3 Hannah Nguyen
Y12WF 11 Hannah Nguyen
Y14ME 25 Jason Hiew
Y14MF 48 Jason Hiew
Y14MF 57 Michael Siroky
Y14MF 62 Owen Johnson
Y14WE 17 Hanna Lee

ROCKY POINT – The Mission Fencing Center SYC was held in Rock Point, NY this past weekend and one brave fencer from FAN made the trip. The sole fencer from FAN was Hanna Lee who went into Y12 Women’s Epee event seeded first. After the first round of pools, Lee was seeded second. In the quarter-final bout she defeated Tateana Khoknar of Empire Fencing Club (Long Island), 2-0. Advancing to the simi-final round she met Kenyata Plenty of Fencers Club (NY) where she defeated her 2-0. Lee faced Sofia Komar of Medeo Fencing Club (NY), in the gold medal bout where she went on to win 2-0 capturing an SYC Gold Medal.

PASADENA – Amanda Han defeated Audry Yun of Beverly Hills Fencing Club 11-8 to win the Junior Women’s Epee event at the Stro Memorial. Also making the podium was Cassandra Dilibero who took 6^th while Alexandra Keft just missed the top 8 placing 9^th.  In the Junior Men’s Epee event Zach Zeller took 5^th place, Johann Voelkening took 7^th place and Nathan Lee placed 9^th. The Senior Men’s Epee event had Sean medaling with an 8^th place finish. Zach Zeller placed 13^th, Alex Brown 15^th, Nathan Lee 35^th and Brent Wilson 40^th. The Senior Women’s Epee event saw two FAN medals with Kimberlee Montoya placing 3^rd and Amanda Han placing 6^th. Cassandra Dilibero placed 17^th, Alexandra Keft placed 18^th and Amy Montoya placed 21^st. All of the veteran fencers earned medals with Sean 1^st, Amy Montoya and  Cynthia Ameli tied for 3^rd, and Natalie Keft 5^th.

VIRGINIA BEACH – In her best national result to date, Hanna Lee fought her way thru a field of 36 fencers to place third in Y14 Women’s Epee event at the Virginia Beach North American Cup. Lee was undefeated in the first round and earned a 6^th place seeding. With a bye into the table of 32 she defeated Megan Sirico of DC Fencers Club 5-3, 3-5, 5-3. In the round of 16 she faced Catherine Barrett of Alliance Fencing Club and won 3-5, 5-3, 5-4. In the quarter-final round Lee got off to a rough start losing the first bout 1-5 against Tatijana Stewart of Schoolhouse Fencing in UT. However she regrouped and won the next two bouts 5-3, 5-1 to advance to the semi-finals. She was matched up against Saanchi Kukadia of Northshore FC in NY and won the first bout 5-2 however she dropped the last two bouts 2-5, 4-5 and had to settle for the bronze medal. With this result, she earned her first rating; an E12. Hannah Nguyen also fenced in the event and just missed the top 16 and also fenced in the Y14 Women’s Foil. Zach Zeller made the top 32 in the Y14 Men’s Epee event and Narayan Pathi, now at Ohio State University, placed 13^th in the Division I Men’s Epee event.

LOS ANGELES – Patrick August was undefeated after the first round of pools in the Senior Men’s Epee event in last week’s Okawa Open. After the first round he was tied for 3rd and had a bye into the second round. His 64 round draw was Jansen Hu of LAIFC whom he easily defeated 15-4. His 32 round draw was Cameron Clay of Encinitas Fencing Academy who also proved to be an easy bout winning 15-4. In the round of 16 August faced veteran fencer Chuck Alexander from No Fear Fencing Club and won 15-10. Undoubtedly the most impressive bout of the event was his upset of three-time USA Epee Team Member Eric Hansen. The bout was low scoring and the non-combativity rule was invoked twice during the bout. With a one touch lead and seconds left on the clock, August was able to hold of Hansen and secure an amazing 8-6 victory. In the semi-final bout August beat Thomas Pingel of Presidio Fencing Club 15-11 to advance to the finals. The gold medal bout had August matched with Peter Lu of UCLA who was defeated 15-14.

Results of FAN fencers are listed below.

Senior Men’s Epee (70)
1 Patrick August
14 Sean
21 Nathan Lee
35 Amanda Han
38 Cynthia Ameli

Senior Women’s Epee (29)
9 Amanda Han
13 Cynthia Ameli

BELLEVUE – The Battle In Seattle fencing tournament was held at Rain City Fencing Club this past weekend and FAN was represented. Sean won the gold medal in Veteran’s Mixed Epee, reearning his A10 rating. The field was 47 strong and Sean was seeded 3rd out of the pools. He had a bye in the 64 and breezed thru his next two bouts 10-6, 10-6. His quarter final bout was not so easy but he overcame is opponent, Canadian fencer Bela Suveg, 10-9. The semi final bout was against bay area fencer Lou Mariani whom Sean beat 10-8. In the gold medal match Sean jumped out to an 8-4 lead and it looked like he had his opponent and rival, John Varney from Salle Auriol Seattle, under control. Varney, however, had other ideas. In a near comeback, the bout went into overtime at 9-9. Varney had priority in the extra minute but Sean was able to draw him into an attempted fleche which was just out of distance allowing Sean the winning counter attack.

Hannah Lee with Coach Susan

LOS ALAMITOS – First time competitor Hannah Lee strikes gold… twice! In her first competition, FAN fencer Hannah Lee wins the Gold medal in Y-10 Women’s Foil and the Gold medal in Y-10 Women’s Epee. The tournament was the 2010 South Coast Invitational RYC/PCS Jr Circuit. Also striking gold twice was Cassandra Dilibero who took the Gold medal in both the Y-14 Women’s Foil and Y-12 Women’s Foil, with a 6th place finish in Y-12 Women’s Epee. Other notable performances from FAN fencers include: Alexandra Keft – Bronze medal Y-14 Women’s Foil, 7th place in the Junior Women’s Epee; Amanda Han – Bronze medal Y-12 Women’s Epee, Bronze medal Y-12 Women’s Foil, Bronze medal Y-14 Women’s Foil; Andrea Dilibero – Bronze medal Y-12 Women’s Epee, 6th place Y-14 Women’s Foil; Dylan Brown – 6th place Junior Men’s Foil; Patrick August – 6th place Y14 Men’s Epee and earning his D10 rating; and Zachary Zeller – 8th place Y-12 Men’s Epee. Coach Susan Jennings was on hand to strip-coach the fencers and expressed her pride in the teams accomplishments at the tournament.

SAN JOSE – FAN fencer Kian Ameli placed 5th in the Junior Men’s Epee event at the North American Cup held last weekend in San Jose, CA. Over 190 competitors entered the event and Kian’s result allowed him to reearn his A10. Prior to this event, Kian was ranked 9th on the Junior Men’s Epee Rolling Points List. After this result he will likely move up on the points list.

Amy Montoya third from left, Cynthia Ameli third from right, Nathalie Keft right.

LAS VEGAS – This years Duel In The Desert fencing tournament was held at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino and had international fencers from Russia, France, Canada, Turkey, and Luxenburg. FAN had seven fencers who made the finals bringing home some bling. Most impressive were the Veteran Women’s Epee fencers lead by Amy Montoya who placed 3rd, followed by team mates Cynthia Ameli who placed 6th and Nathalie Keft who placed 8th. In the Open Men’s Epee event Kian Ameli matched last years result with a 3rd place finish qualifying him for Division IA Nationals. Visiting home after his deployment in Iraq was 1st Lieutenant Jackson Ranes who finished 8th. Nik-Nik Ameli placed 7th in the Open Women’s Epee; not to be out done by her father Sean A. who took 5th in the Veteran Men’s Epee.

Kian Ameli fourth from left, Jackson Ranes far right.

On Saturday night, before the exhibition bouts, Spencer presented Fencing Academy of Nevada coach Maestro Ed Richards with a lifetime achievement award. Maestro Richards, is a former Olympian, two-time National Champion, and coach of several US Teams. He was inducted into the USFA Hall of Fame in 2005.

Spencer honors Maestro Richards.

Event organizer, Evan Ranes, stated that the Duel in the Desert could not be held without the help of the event sponsors: Fencing Post, David Drake, Rain City Fencing Center, Fencing Time, AskFred, and Lee’s Discount Liquor, and the incredible vouluneer base of FAN which includes: Colleen Brown, Alec Brown, Dylan Brown, Spencer, Sky McClain, Georgia Ranes, Jackson Ranes, RJ Ortiz, Kathy August, Patrick August, Cynthia Ameil, Georgette Auriol, Randy August, Kathleen Pathi, Veronica Delgado, Allison August, Kelly August, Beata Kwiatkowski, Alex Maitan, Line Dilibero, Cassandra Dilibero, Andrea Dilibero, Bill Bogardus, Addison Bogardus, and Skyler Bogardus.

Evan Ranes & Maestro Ed Richards.

GRENOBLE – Nik-Nik Amelibroke into the top 16 at the Cadet World Cup held yesterday in Grenoble, France. The two day tournament had 254 fencers in attendance from around the world.

Nik-Nik and Coach Yves.

The first day of competition was comprised of four rounds of pools. Starting the day seated 46th, she went 5 and 1 in the first pool, 5 and 1 in the second pool, 4 and 1 in the third pool, and 4 and 1 in the fourth pool, ending the day in 10th position.

Day two was the direct elimination portion of the tournament she had a bye into the 128. She won her first bout against Benedicte Ritzler of France 15-13 to get into the 64. Her next bout was with Antonia Denham of Great Brittan whom she defeated 15-14 to advance to the tableau of 32. Her next bout was with Louise Jacob of France whom she lost to 9-15. But all was not lost as it was double elimination in the top 32 which means that she could not be eliminated until she had two defeats. Her next bout was with Amandine Ischer of Switzerland whom she defeated 15-9. She ultimately lost her next bout with Scout Bosshard of Switzerland 13-15. She ended the day placing 14th and earned 356 international points. This is the the most impressive result for a FAN fencer to date. She travels to Goteburg, Sweeden in January and her coach, Maitre Yves Auriol, expects her to continue to do well.

PITTSBURGH – The North American Cup – C was held this past weekend in Pittsburgh, PA. In his first tournament as a Vet-50 fencer, Sean A.  earned the Bronze Medal. Seeded 5th after the pool round, Sean fought his way through the quarter finals only to be stopped in the semi-final bout in a heart breaking 9-8 loss in overtime. Teammate Evan Ranes also made the podium with a 5th place finish.

HUSTON/ROCHESTER – Zachary Zeller has been to two Super Youth Circuit events so far this season and has placed in the top 8 each time. At the Huston Super Youth Circuit held September 5, 2009 in Huston, TX, Zack finished 7th in Y12 Men’s Epee out of a very difficult field of 33. His next SYC would be the Flower City Super Youth Circuit held November 20, 2009 in Rochester, NY. In his second SYC of the season, Zack ended up with the Silver Medal in Y12 Men’s Epee.

(l to r) Andrea, Coach Susan, Cassandra.

ROCHESTER – The Dilibero sisters Cassandra and Andrea brought back a total of 6 medals from the Flower City Super Youth Circuit. In the Youth 12 Women’s Foil event, Andrea took 7th place while sister Cassandra placed 8th. In the Youth 12 Women’s Epee event, Cassandra placed 6th while sister Andrea took the Silver Medal. And in the Youth 14 Women’s Epee event, Andrea placed 6th and sister Cassandra won the Gold Medal. But it wasn’t just medals that these girls brought home; Andrea earned an E09 and Cassandra earned a C09, both in epee. The twins were assisted by Coach Susan Jennings throughout the event.

LAS VEGAS – The first annual Yves Auriol Challenge, Regional Youth Circuit was held at the Centennial Hills, YMCA. Pictured below is Amanda Han, Gold Medal Youth 12 Women’s

(l to r) Yves, Amanda, ??, Andrea, Evan, Zachary

Epee and Silver Medal Youth 12 Women’s Epee; Andrea Dilibero, Gold Medal Youth 14 Women’s Epee and Bronze Medal Youth 12 Women’s Epee; Zachary Zeller, Silver Medal Youth 12 Men’s Epee and Bronze Medal Youth 14 Men’s Epee with Maitre Yves Auriol.

Congratulations to Alec Brown, Gold Medal Junior Men’s Epee; Dylan Brown, Gold Medal Junior Men’s Foil; Veronica Delgado, Bronze Medal Junior Women’s Foil; Christian McNamara, Bronze Medal Junior Men’s Foil; and Cole Vigil, Bronze Medal Youth 14 Men’s Foil.

MONTREAL - Nik-Nik Ameli placed 29th at the Tournoi Carl Schwende Cadet World Cup today in Montreal, Canada. After one day of preliminary pools she went on to win bouts in the direct elimination portion of the tournament on day two, eventually being eliminated in the top 32. The 29th place finish tops her 35th place finish last year in Goteburg, Sweeden and moves her up to 165th place in the world ranking for Cadet Women. Although normally coached by Maitre Yves Auriol, this time she was coached by her dad Sean. Nik-Nik will return to Sweeden in January, 2010 for a chance to improve on last years result and move up in the world ranking.

DES MOINES – In the first North American Cup of the season, Nik-Nik Ameli wins the Gold Medal in Cadet Women’s Epee! NAC A was held in Des Moines, IA and is possibly the first ever NAC held in that state. The new venue did not seem to deter our determined athelete. Seaded third going into the tournament, Nik-Nik struggled in the first round pools. She won four bouts (5-3, 5-1, 5-1, 5-2), however, she lost two bouts: 5-4 to Eva Niklinska and 5-4 to Claire Dinhuit. Although she managed to advance first out of her pool, her overall seeding dropped to 16th going into the direct elimination round. And her struggles were just beginning.

Nik-Nik Ameli, gold medal winner.

Her first DE bout was with Dinhuit whom she lost to in the pools. She was able to manage a victory, but just barely: 12-11. Her next DE was with Cara Hall whome she also struggled with but managed to beat 15-14. In her third DE with Renee Bichette, she managed a comfortable victory 15-11. In the Quarter Final bout she bested Ashley Severson of NYAC, 15-13. Next was her semi-final bout and it was against Katherine Lee whom she defeated 15-11. The gold medal bout would be with Katie Holmes from Washington DC who was the number one seed going into the tournament and the number one seed after the first round of pools. Ms. Holmes was undoubtedly the odds on favorite to win the event, however, Nik-Nik is a Vegas girl with a penchant for making her own odds. In a hottly contested bout that went the distance, Nik-Nik won in overtime: 9-8. Maitre Yves Auriol was strip side to coach Nik-Nik all the way to the winners podium. This is a great start to the new season.

Vet50Moscow.JPG
USA Veteran Epee Team In Training (l to r), Ridge, Dragonetti, Ranes, Alexander.

MOSCOW – The World Veteran Fencing Championships were held this past weekend in Moscow, Russia. Veteran fencer, and three time USA team member, Evan Ranes won his first DE bout advancing to the tableau of 32. In his second DE bout he was not so fortunate and was stopped by a Russian. “I struggled in the pools and felt like I never found my stride,” explained Ranes. He finished the day, 32nd, down from last years finish in Limoges, France at 29th.

September 6-7, 2009

1.jpg
Amy, Kimberlee, and Joe.

LOS ANGELES – The mother/daughter duo of Amy Montoya and Kimberlee Montoya traveled to Los Angeles this past weekend for the Los Angeles International Fencing Center Invitational. Both fencers fought their way through the preliminary rounds with 3 victories and 2 losses each. Both fencers won their first two direct elimination bouts advancing to the final 8 but unfortunately met on the strip in a quarter final bout where only one would advance. This time age lost to youth and Kimberlee advanced to the semifinal bout where she was eliminated and had to settle for the Bronze Medal while her mother was relegated to 8th place. Meanwhile, Nik-Nik Ameli rolled over all opponents finishing the day having won every bout and capturing the Gold Medal.

September 5-6, 2009

4.jpg
Dylan Brown, Maitre Yves Auriol, Veronica Delgado

PRESCOTT – FAN fencers brought home five medals from the Prescott Fall Classic this past weekend. Eli Delgado went undefeated for the day winning the Gold Medal in Open Epee and reearning his A2009. Dylan Brown won Gold Medals in both the Open Foil and the Junior Foil and earning a B2009. Alec Brown, Dylan’s older brother, won the Silver Medal in the Junior Epee and Veronica Delgado, Eli’s daughter, won the Bronze Medal in Women’s Foil.