The tournament was a great success for the club. Not only did our
fencers bring home 4 medals, but the venue was ideal, the event ran
on schedule, and the club actually made some money. Over 50
fencers from the US and Mexico attended.
In U20 Mixed Sabre, Travis won the silver medal in an exciting
series of DE bouts.
In U20 Mixed Epee, Alex won the bronze medal after marching
through the DEs from the 7th seed. Eric scored a number of touches
in his first ever competition, but was defeated by Alex in his first
DE to finish 11th.
In U20 Men's Foil, Riley finished 6th.
In Y14 Mixed Epee, Lucie and Margaret had to fence each other in
their first DE, with Lucie advancing to the final eight. Lucie
finished 8th and Margaret finished 9th.
In Y14 Mixed Sabre, Travis won the bronze medal. Andy and Kelly
had to fence each other in their first DE, with Andy advancing to
the final eight. Andy finished 8th and Kelly finished in 9th.
In Y12 Mixed Epee, novice fencer Jenny scored touches in the
pools and won one of her DE bouts to finish 12th in her first
competition.
In Y12 Mixed Sabre, Maggie won the bronze medal in what might
have been her last competition. Andy finished 6th, Kelly finished
7th, Madeleine finished 8th, and Robby finished 9th.
Five fencers from the Santa Barbara Fencing Academy
competed in the USFA Summer National Championships in Miami Beach. The event drew over 4,500 of the best young fencers in
the country to compete in epee, foil and sabre. The
competition was stiff in all events, and the environment was chaotic
with 74 strips on the floor, and a circus of vendors surrounding the
strips.
In Y10 women’s sabre, Madeleine won one of her pool bouts, but
was defeated in the first elimination round to finish 18th in a
field of 24 fencers. In Y12 women’s sabre, Kelly scored
touches in all of her pool bouts which included the 3rd and 12th
place finishers, but was defeated in the first elimination round to
finish 36th in a field of 38 fencers.
In Y14 men’s sabre, Travis won 2 of his pool bouts in a tough
group that included the ultimate 7th and 8th place finishers, but
had to face the 8th place finisher again in his DE. He turned
it on in the second half of the DE but was defeated and finished
88th of 118 fencers.
Valentina Mindirgasova finished 58th of 74 fencers in women’s
Division II sabre, and also competed in the women’s Division III
sabre where she finished 13th of 68 fencers. Mark Karasek
finished 92nd of 108 in men’s Division II epee, and also competed in
men’s Division III epee where he finished 42nd of 93 fencers.
06/16-17 Northern California RYC #4
Three of our SBFA fencers made the drive up to
San Jose for the final RYC of the season. Robby Granatelli
fenced in both the Y10 and Y12 sabre events. Andy finished
13th of 15 in the tough Y12 sabre group. Jake Wiener fenced in
both the Y12 and Y14 epee events, finishing 5th of 8 in the Y12 and
12th of 14 in the Y14. Congrats to all 3 fencers for
representing our club up north!
05/06 Southern California Youth Challenge
Our club had an unprecedented turnout at the
BHFC event, with nine epee and sabre fencers showing their team
spirit in overheated conditions.
In Y12 epee,
Jake finished 5th, Lucy finished 9th and Margaret finished 10th in a
field of 10 fencers. Jake overcame his fatigue and stepped up
for the Y14 event, finishing 7th in a field of 15 older (and
taller!) fencers.
In Y10 sabre, Madeleine continued her medal streak, earning a 3T in
a field of 9 fencers. Robby pulled out a 7th place finish
against some very experienced competitors.
In Y12 sabre, Maggie earned a medal for her 3T finish, followed by
Andy in 5th, Robby in 7th, and a heat-exhausted Kelly finishing 9th
in a field of 10. With her third medalist finish of the
season, Maggie earned the championship trophy for the Y12 women's
sabre - Congratulations, Maggie, on an excellent season!
In Y14 sabre, Travis dominated the field of 6 fencers, going
undefeated in the pool matches, and advancing through the DEs to win
1st place. Rested and revived, Kelly scored several
astonishing touches to advance through the DEs, only to be defeated
by her big brother in the third round. She finished in 3rd
place to earn a medal in the older group of fencers. Andy
finished 6th in his first event in the older age group.
For the season, Travis overcame an 8th place finish in the first
event to finish in 1st place in each of the remaining events of the
competition. Congratulations to Travis for decisively earning
the championship trophy for the Y14 men's sabre!
04/15 Summer Nationals Qualifier - Div II/III
Two fencers from the Santa Barbara Fencing
Academy competed at the Summer Nationals Qualifier tournament last
weekend at Chaminade High School. Travis Tibbitts finished
14th of 22 in men’s sabre. Jeff Ervin (officially of
Conejo, but training with Michael at SBFA) finished 15th. Riley
Pannkuk finished 23rd of 40 in men's foil.
Division II is for C, D, E, and U rated fencers. Division III
is for D, E, and U rated fencers. Qualifiers from this
competition and the 3/25 competition will be verified by the So Cal
division and posted when available.
Southern California Scholastic Fencing League
The scholastic season has wrapped up (with the exception of the
State Championships) with Travis Tibbitts winning a bronze medal
(tie) in middle school sabre for the season. Riley Pannkuk
finished 42nd of 66 in high school foil. Almost 500 middle
school and high school fencers participated in the league this year.
03/25 Summer Nationals Qualifier
Two fencers from the Santa Barbara Fencing
Academy competed at the Summer Nationals Qualifier tournament last
weekend in North Hills. Travis Tibbitts finished 5th in the Y14
men’s sabre to qualify for the Summer Nationals this June in Miami,
Florida. Kelly Tibbitts had already qualified for the Y12 women’s
sabre, but finished 3rd in Y14 women’s sabre to qualify in that age
group as well.
Several other SBFA fencers had qualified at earlier tournaments,
including Jake Weiner in Y12 men’s epee, Maggie Sharpe and
Chrysanthe Pantages in Y12 women’s sabre, Andy Granatelli and Robby
Granatelli in Y12 men’s sabre, and Madeleine Wall in Y10 women’s
sabre.
03/16-18 Junior PCCs
Two youth fencers from the Santa Barbara Fencing Academy brought
home medals from the Junior Pacific Coast Championships this weekend
in Pasadena. In Y10 women’s sabre, Madeleine Wall finished 5
th
in a field of 6 fencers. In Y12 men’s epee, Jake Wiener finished 8
th
in a field of 25 fencers. Jake also earned national points and is
our club's first nationally ranked fencer! Congratulations to
both medalists.
Other fencers from the Santa Barbara Fencing
Academy included :
Travis Tibbitts (18th of 40 in Y14 men’s sabre, 40th
of 44 in Cadet men’s sabre)
Kelly Tibbitts (12th of 15 in Y12 women’s sabre, 19th
of 19 in Y14 women’s sabre)
Maggie Sharpe (14th of 15 in Y12 women’s sabre)
Andy Granatelli (28th of 29 in Y12 men’s sabre)
Robby Granatelli (29th of 29 in Y12 men’s sabre)
Sebastian Keneally (19th of 37 in Cadet men’s epee, 34th
of 69 in U19 men’s epee)
Eleni Goodman (21st of 22 in Cadet women’s epee)
Alex DePaoli (68th of 69 in U19 men’s epee)
03/11/07 So Cal Youth Challenge
Congratulations to all of our SBFA fencers for a great showing!
Event: Unrated Y-12 Mixed Epee
1 Krejcik, Lane Beverly Hills Fencer's Club SOCAL U 1994
2 Em, Griffin Fortune Fencing SOCAL U 1994
3T Wiener, Jake Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1994
3T Valderrama, Julian Beverly Hills Fencer's Club SOCAL U 1994
5 Goodman, Riley Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1994
6 Sharpe, Ryan Fortune Fencing SOCAL U 1994
7 Hansen, Buddy Gold Coast SOCAL U 1994
8 Hartman, Margaret Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1994
9 Gifford, Emily Fortune Fencing SOCAL U 1995
10 Butler, Nicholas Conejo SOCAL U 1994
11 Brown, Eli Beverly Hills Fencer's Club SOCAL U 1995
12 Lyman, Christiana Presidio SOCAL U 1994
13 Hartman, Lucie Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1994
Event: Unrated Y-14 Mixed Epee
1 Lapsys, James Fortune Fencing SOCAL U 1992
2 Willis, Eddie Fortune Fencing SOCAL U 1993
3T Sharpe, Ryan Fortune Fencing SOCAL U 1994
3T Goodman, Riley Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1994
5 Hansen, Buddy Gold Coast SOCAL U 1994
6 Jan, TJ Presidio SOCAL U 1993
7 Fierro, Quinn Presidio SOCAL U 1993
8 Em, Griffin Fortune Fencing SOCAL U 1994
9 Wiener, Jake Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1994
Event: Unrated Y-10 Mixed Saber
1 Zeiss, Jacob LA International Fencing Center SOCAL U 1996
2 Wall, Madeleine Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1996
3 Morello, Alessio Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1997
Event: Unrated Y-12 Mixed Saber
1 Sardo, Nick LA International Fencing Center SOCAL U 1994
2 Zeiss, Jacob LA International Fencing Center SOCAL U 1996
3T Sharpe, Maggie Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1994
3T Johnson, James Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1995
5 Granatelli, Andy Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1994
6 Pineschi, Anastacia LA International Fencing Center SOCAL U
1996
7 Pantages, Chrysanthe Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1994
8 Powell, Bidu Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1995
9 Tibbitts, Kelly Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1995
10 Wall, Madeleine Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1996
11 Granatelli, Robby Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1996
Event: Unrated Y-14 Mixed Saber
1 Tibbitts, Travis Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1993
2 Sardo, Nick LA International Fencing Center SOCAL U 1994
3T Pantages, Chrysanthe Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U
1994
3T Silverstri, Tess Fortune Fencing SOCAL U 1993
5 Tibbitts, Kelly Santa Barbara Fencing Academy SOCAL U 1995
02/24/07 San Luis Highlanders E and
under
Two youth fencers from the Santa Barbara Fencing Academy
competed in the San Luis Obispo Highlanders Open fencing tournament
on Saturday 2/24/07, against a mostly collegiate field of epee, foil
and sabre fencers.
In mixed sabre, Travis Tibbitts finished 7th in a field of 8
fencers after losing his first Direct Elimination round to the third
place finisher from UC Santa Cruz.
In mixed foil, Riley Pannkuk faced a field of 21 fencers. After
winning his first DE round, he posted his best result of the season
with a 16th place finish.
01/20-21
South Coast Invitational
Four women sabre fencers from the Santa Barbara Fencing
Academy qualified for the North American Championships and the
Summer National Championships by competing at the South Coast
Invitational Fencing Tournament last weekend in Los Alamitos. This
was a US Fencing Association event for the Southern California
Division and the Pacific Coast Section, with Junior, Y14, Y12 and
Y10 events in all weapons, drawing around 300 fencers.
In Y10 mixed sabre, Madeleine Wall finished 2nd of 4 women, and
5th overall in a field of 11 fencers to qualify for the NAC and
Nationals.
In Y12 women’s sabre, Chrysanthe Pantages finished 6th, Maggie
Sharpe finished 7th and Kelly Tibbitts finished 8th in a field of 10
fencers to all qualify for the NAC and Nationals. Chrysanthe, in her
first tournament, fenced extremely well in her pool matches, earning
a bye in the first round of the Direct Eliminations. Kelly, also in
her first tournament, won her first match in the Direct
Eliminations, fenced aggressively in the second round, but lost to
the fencer who ultimately won the event.
Maggie Sharpe also competed in the next age bracket, finishing
7th of 8 fencers in the Y14 women’s sabre. She narrowly lost her
first Direct Elimination match with a score of 14 to 15 touches
against the third place finisher.
Two other fencers from the Santa Barbara Fencing Academy also
competed in the tournament. In Y14 men’s sabre, Travis Tibbitts
finished 10th in a field of 15 fencers after losing his first Direct
Elimination round to the second place finisher. He then went on to
fence in the Junior (U20) bracket, finishing 17th of 21 fencers.
In Junior (U20) foil, Riley Pannkuk faced a field of 29 mostly
rated fencers, but finished with a tie for 27th place.
Travis fenced in the mixed Middle School sabre event,
representing La Colina. He won 5 of his 7 preliminary bouts, as
well as his first Direct Elimination match. He won the first of
three bouts in his second Direct Elimination, but was unable to
hold the advantage in the remaining two bouts, ultimately losing
to the first place finisher but earning a tie for third place in
the event.
This was the first Scholastic League sabre event of the season,
drawing 144 high school and middle school epee and sabre fencers from schools
across southern California.
