This Saturday, the Concord Fencing Club hosted a qualifying tournament for the United State Fencing Association’s Summer National Championships.  The top three finishers in each event will qualify to go to the National Championships, June 29 to July 8, in Dallas Texas. The Seacoast Fencing Club, which operates out of Manchester and Rochester, NH, had a great day, with their fencers winning all five contested events.  In Division 2 men’s foil, Jacob Scruton, a high school student from Farmington, had an intense battle in the gold medal bout with Cameron Borgal, a fencer with the UNH Fencing Club.  Jacob was down 9-14 in the final period, but scored six straight points to win 15-14.   

Solomon Bixby, from Dover, NH led a medal sweep for Seacoast in Y14 men’s foil, winning gold, with Casey Wohlers, from Rochester, who took second.  Simon Leary, from Hudson, mounted his own comeback, down 10-14 in the bronze medal bout with Concord fencer Ryan Ohrwashel, and fought back to win 15-14, taking third.  Two hours later, Solomon capped a perfect day by winning the Y14 men’s epee, having never lost a bout in either of his two events.  His father, Peter Bixby, won the Division 2 men’s epee earlier that afternoon.  In the only contested women’s event, Samantha Wood, from Wolfeboro, had only nine points scored against her, and went undefeated in Division 2 women’s foil, beating fellow Seacoast fencer Hannah McPherson, from Pelham in the final. 

Since there are fewer fencers in the summer, the regular season schedule is being adjusted to ensure enough people are in each program to have a good time fencing each other!

Manchester’s schedule in August:   starts August 3rd

Children: Will meet 6:30 to 7:30 Mondays and Wednesdays.  They will have their Children’s Training time on Mondays, and will get their lessons on that day.  They will join the Youth Training on Wednesday.

Youths: Will have two different start times:  7:00 to 8:30 pm on Mondays, with the Junior/Adult Group, and 6:30 to 7:45 pm on Wednesdays in their Youth Group.

Juniors and Adults: Will meet at their regular season times of 7:00 to 9:00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, but we are closed on Thursdays until September.

Rochester’s schedule in August:  starts August 4th

Children: Will do the Children’s Group on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 to 7:45 pm. 

Youths:  Will join the Juniors and Adults on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:00 to 9:00 pm. 

Juniors and Adults: Will meet at their regular season times of 7:00 to 9:00 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we are closed on Sundays until September.

Seacoast Fencing Club members had an outstanding day at the “Pi Day” Five Weapon E meet we hosted this Saturday at our Rochester NH facility.  The meet drew 70 fencers from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire.  Seacoast fencers won three of the five events, with Connor McLaughlin going undefeated in the mixed Foil, and taking the gold medal.   Samantha Wood earned the bronze medal, losing to her teammate Connor in the semifinals.  Samantha then matched Connor by also going undefeated women’s foil, and getting her own gold medal.  Peter Bixby won the mixed epee, with fellow Seacoast fencer Brian Austin finishing third.  Scott Colati spent the morning directing the mixed foil, and then entered the mixed saber, where he took the silver medal.

Connor McLaughlin earned his D 2015 rating in foil, and Peter Bixby earned his D 2015 rating in Epee (the only two D ratings given out).  Brian Austin received his E 2015 in Epee, and  Samantha Wood earned her E 2015 in foil twice, with her bronze medal in the mixed and her gold in women’s!

So congratulations to all our fencers, and many thanks to the officials who made this event possible:  Ida Choy, Scott Colati, Justin Meyers, Cam Borgal, Azaline Dunlap-Smith, Josh Berk, Barry Litt, and Jess Wood for managing the meet.

After the first month of competitions, Seacoast Fencers have been doing very well in area events. The first tournament of the season was in Concord, where Sam Wood was second in the Women’s Foil E. The New Hampshire Open, held in Rochester on September 20, where Charles Stine took first in Mixed Epee, and was second in Mixed Foil. Gerry Duffy and Scott Colati tied for third in Mixed Epee. The following weekend, at the Fall Foliage in Vermont, Charles Stine won the Mixed Foil.

The D meet on October 4 in Rochester had our best results so far, with Seacoast fencers earning five medals: Sam Wood won the Women’s Foil D, and Scott Colati took gold as well, winning the Mixed Epee D. And he was third in the Mixed Saber D. Ida Choy was third in the Mixed Epee D, and in the Women’s Foil D as well.

Congratulations to all our fencers, and good luck in the upcoming tournaments!

Seacoast Fencers,

I hope everyone had a great summer. But now it is time to have a great season! Remember, you must be a current member of the USFA– last year’s membership will have expired, unless you joined after April 1, 2014 or have a multi year membership. I strongly recommend a competitive membership, so you can enter tournaments. The link to join the USFA is:

https://www.railstation.org/usfencing/MembershipRegistration.aspx

We start the 2014-2015 season at Seacoast on Sunday September 7 in Rochester for Juniors and Adults only (and beginning and intermediate classes). Children and Youth programs start Tuesday, September 9. We will have a meeting for parents on that Tuesday at 7:00 pm, to collect checks, explain how the program runs, what is expected from both you and your child, and the upcoming tournaments appropriate for your child. We will have a team meeting on Thursday, September 11 at 7:30 pm for Youth, Junior, and Adult fencers.

Manchester starts on Monday, September 8 for all programs: Children, Youth, Junior, and Adult (and beginning and intermediate classes). We will have a meeting for parents on that Monday at 7:00 pm, to collect checks, explain how the program runs, what is expected from both you and your child, and the upcoming tournaments appropriate for your child. We will have a team meeting on Wednesday, September 10 at 7:30 pm for Youth, Junior, and Adult fencers.

See you in a couple weeks!

Chris Pullo

Head Coach

The prices for Fall term are below (three months: Sept thru Nov)

Children (ages 7 to 12) $245

Youth (ages 12-14) $260

Junior/Adult (14 -73) $275

Advanced Class $80 (Thursday in Rochester, Wednesday in Manchester: 7:45-8:15 pm)

The program days and times have not changed from last season and can be found under Hours and Directions.