Noah spent the weekend in Longwood, Florida at the Stoccata Region 6 RYC (Regional Youth Circuit) tournament. In this type of event, competitors earn points toward qualifying for the national championship tournament held in the summer. They are also in a race within the region for recognition. Our region includes eleven states from Maryland to Louisiana to Florida. Noah fenced two events this weekend: Y14 foil, and Y14 epee.
Saturday kicked off with the foil competition. It included fencers from Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, and Puerto Rico. Noah won all of his pool bouts to earn the #1 seed going into the elimination rounds. Noah's first DE matchup proved to be pretty easy as he won 15-1. The semifinal bout was not much more difficult. Noah scored a 15-4 win. As expected, the final was the most challenging. Noah built up a good 6-2 lead, but his opponent rallied with four straight touches to tie the score. Not to be outdone, Noah retaliated with four straight touches of his own on the way to a 10-7 lead at the break. Noah finished the bout in the next period, winning 15-10.
Sunday began with the epee event.What a day this was! Not having fenced much epee this year, Noah started slow, losing his first two pool bouts, both by the score of 3-5. He closed out the pool round with 5-0 wins over both of the weaker fencers in his group. This result earned him the number 8 seed in this 15-person event. His first elimination matchup (DE) was with the number 9 seed, a smart fencer he'd seen before. Noah was down early, 1-3, and lagged a bit, arriving at the first break still behind 5-8. Not too bad. Noah rallied at the beginning of the second period. After being down 5-9, Noah scored four straight touches to tie the score. Thrilling! Some tough fencing brought us to the end of the second period with Noah in the lead, 12-11. At the outset of the third period, his opponent scored twice against Noah's one touch, bringing us to 13-13. Nerve-wracking. Noah found one more touch (now 14-13). Lots of torrid action ensued before the final double-touch which won the match for Noah. Final score: 15-14. A close one!!
The round of 8 was next. Noah was up against the number one seed in the bracket. Noah started slow. It was looking like an uphill battle against this guy. Noah was down by a score of 4-8 at the first break. His opponent scored first in the second period. 4-9. Noah rallied, scoring the next three touches, then a double touch, and another single touch for Noah. The score is now 9-10. Noah is within one. After another double touch and a point by the opponent we are now at 10-12. The closer his opponent gets to the winning score (15), the more pressure is on Noah. Another double, and then Noah scores on his own, bringing the second period to an end with the score 12-13. Noah is within one, but his opponent only has to make two touches to win. The third period begins. Noah scores! tying the score 13-13. But shortly the fencers are called for non-combativity. This is called when no one scores for one minute. They skip to the last minute of the period, and since this is the last period, "Priority" is added to encourage the fencers to score. Noah wins the coin toss and is awarded Priority. This means he will win if the score is still tied at the end of the one-minute encounter. The fencers' efforts are renewed. More action! Noah scores! He thinks he won, but no, the entire minute must be fenced in this instance. But now he's in the lead! 14-13. More intense fencing ensues resulting in a double touch which wins it for Noah. 15-14. What a duel!!!!
In the semifinal match Noah faces a number 3 seed (there was a three-way tie for third). The first period was close, with Noah ahead 6-5 at the break. Noah got off to a good start in the next period and was able to increase on that easy lead to wrap this one up 15-10.
In the final Noah faced the number 2 seed. A strong fencer who had performed as expected throughout the elimination round. This gold-medal bout was something. Noah takes the early lead, 2-0. His opponent rallied and now Noah is down 2-3. Noah sneaks in a couple more touches to bring the score at the break to 4-3. The second and third periods move slowly--Noah still leads, 6-4, after two periods. We eventually arrive at the end of regulation tied at 8-8. They enter a Priority overtime period. Noah's opponent won the coin toss so if there is no score during this one-minute encounter he will win. Noah must score to win. Fencing in this period was much more intense that what we'd seen earlier. Noah had to score!! And score he did, to win the day! Final score: 9-8. We'll take it!
NOTE: In February 2015 Noah laid down the epee and decided to only fence foil. All of his efforts were directed at that as he improved his game and moved up through the rankings. He earned his C rating on foil in December 2015. Earlier this month, Noah decided to fence an epee event. He won! and earned a C rating in epee. This week's epee tournament was only his second one since FEB 2015. Another win!
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