Taming the Bull

Noah had a wonderful time yesterday at the University of South Florida's "Da'Bull Touch" fencing tournament.

The day began early (after a two-hour drive) with the Senior Mixed Foil event. Noah started slow with two quick losses in the pools. His third bout, against a D-rated fencer, was a close one. After starting behind 0-2, Noah came back to tie the score. They then traded touches scoring : 2-3, 3-3, 3-4. Noah fought hard and tied the score, 4-4. His opponent was able to score the winning touch, though.  Noah won his last two pool bouts. First a 5-1 win against an unrated fencer, then a close victory (5-4) on a come-from-behind effort aided by a red card awarded to the other fencer.

Noah earned the number 15 seed going into the elimination bracket of this senior event. He faced an E-rated fencer in the first round. Noah started the encounter fairly strong edging ahead with a 7-5 score. His opponent put on the gas and scored three times in a row, taking the lead, 7-8.  Noah came back with a strong push to bring the score to 12-9 at the break. The other fencer scored first after the break, but Noah then scored three times to win the encounter 15-10.

Noah's next bout was against the number two seed. This guy was good; he jumped out to a 5-0 lead as Noah lost points rushing to attack. The first period ended with Noah down 2-9. In the second period, Noah was able to make a few more touches and also improved his defense, holding on to end the second period 6-14. Noah scored first in the third period, but could not avoid the inevitable, losing this one 7-15 to the fencer who eventually won the event.  Noah finished 16th in the senior mixed foil event.

After a break for lunch, the Div 3 Foil event began.  After the busy morning, Noah fenced well in the pools for this event. In fact, you might say he dominated this round of competition, winning his bouts 5-1, 5-1, 5-0, 5-1, 5-1, and 5-0. As a result he earned the number one seed and a first-round bye going into the elimination bracket. He won his first DE 15-5, and had a similarly easy time with his next opponent, winning 15-3. The semifinal match-up was a good one, with Noah winning 15-7.

The gold-medal bout was the toughest encounter Noah faced all day. The fencing was intense; the score stayed close, tied 7-7 at the break. Noah scored first after the break, but his opponent kept matching him to a score of 12-12. Noah was able to finish with three consecutive touches to win the Div 3 Foil event. With this win, Noah earned a C2015 rating.

Interesting tidbits:
- The semifinals of this event included three women and Noah.
- The top eight fencers in the Div 3 event were from eight different fencing clubs.

Golden Boy!

Yesterday, Noah competed in an RYC Y14 foil event in Atlanta.

Noah had seven in his pool, so he fenced six bouts. His first encounter was with a fencer from Virginia. He was up for a moment, 2-1, early on, but quickly fell behind as the other fencer scored three touches in a row. Down now, 2-4, Noah scored again, but couldn't pull it out, losing by a score of 3-5.

The remainder of his pool bouts went pretty well. He won four of them by a score of 5-2, and won the last 5-1.  He was the top fencer in his pool, earning the number two seed going into the elimination bracket.

Noah earned a bye in the round of 16. This round took forever since the organizers only used two strips and two referees. Eventually, Noah's DE bout in the round of 8 started. After all that waiting, this was a good warm-up bout for Noah. He was facing the number seven seed. Noah scored the first seven touches, allowing him to relax and try some new things. He won, 15-6.

The number three seed was next. Not an easy bout, this.  Noah fell behind quickly, down 1-6. Not looking good. But Noah rallied and brought the score to within one, and edging ahead to lead at the break 9-8. In the second period, Noah scored, then his opponent scored, then Noah, then his opponent.  11-10.  Then Noah scored twice. Then the other fencer scored twice.  Noah was then able to make the final two touches for the win. A hotly-contested battle.  Noah wins, 15-12.

The gold-medal final bout was against the fencer who beat him in the pools. I don't think Noah was too concerned since he tends to warm up during the course of an event, and he was fencing well. Noah began strong, scoring three unanswered touches. His opponent won 5 of the next nine points, but at the break Noah was still in the lead, 7-5. Noah came back after the break to score two more quick touches to extend his lead. These were then matched by his opponent, but then Noah scored four unanswered points to bring the score to 13-7.  Then it was the opponent's turn. He turned turned it up and scored the next four touches. Now 13-11. Not over yet. Noah did eventually score the final two touches to win the day. 15-11. A gold-medal performance!