6/1 Fortune Fencing Foil
Riley finished in 6th
place of 22 fencers at the Fortune Fencing Foil tournament for
unrated fencers in Pasadena. He won 3 of his 4 pool bouts to earn a bye for
the first round of direct eliminations, then won his first
elimination bout to advance to the final 8 for his best finish
of the season.
5/25 SLO Open
Travis finished 1st in the sabre event, winning
the SLO gold medal, the blue ribbon for best junior fencer,
and a bag of jelly beans as a prize. Andy also
competed in sabre, finishing 17th.
Mark Karasek competed in epee,
finishing 24th.
Theresa Karasek, competing in her first ever tournament, placed 34th.
5/11 Pacific Coast Championships
Travis competed in the annual Pacific Coast Championship
Fencing Tournament last weekend in Pasadena. The fourteen year
old competed in the Junior (U20) men’s sabre event, finishing in
14th place of 35 fencers.
So Cal Youth Challenge 5/4/08
Kelly took home the championship trophy for
1st place overall for the season in women’s Y12
sabre. Madeleine finished the season in 2nd
place overall for the women. In the men’s Y12 sabre, Robby finished
in 2nd place overall. Chris finished in 7th
place overall for the season.
In the final Y12 mixed sabre event, Kelly
earned a "medal" for her 3rd place finish,
followed by Robby in 7th, Madeleine in 10th and Chris in 11th.
In the final Y14 mixed sabre event, Andy finished in 3rd place
to win his first bronze "medal". Congrats Andy!
Robby
finished in 7th place fencing up in the Y14.
Portland NAC 4/28/08
Travis and Kelly went to the final NAC of the season in
Portland, a tournament rivaling Nationals in size and level of
competition. Travis was seeded 35th of 64 in U14 men's
sabre, and battled his way to a 25th place finish. His
nerves were definitely unsettled due to the absence of his lame
before the competition, which forced a last minute purchase of
another lame with 1 minute to spare. Thanks to Michael for
rushing the new lame through weapons check to save Travis from
being scratched!
Kelly was seeded 10th for the Y12 women's sabre, but faced a
D and an E rated fencer in her pool as well as an extremely
large and heavy hitting 12 year old. She finished 17th of
23, and retired to the hotel pool.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of the 2008
Olympic fencing team. Travis got to spend time with Jason
Rogers and saw some top level fencing. Ask him about their
footwork!
Summer Nationals Qualifier (day 2) 4/20/08
The Southern California Division of the US Fencing
Association held day two of its Summer Nationals Qualifying
Tournament last weekend in Pasadena, and three Santa Barbara
Fencing Academy fencers attempted to qualify.
Andy
competed in the U14 men’s sabre, finishing 4th
but missing the qualifying cut-off by one place.
Andy had blazed through the pools to be seeded number 1 for the
DEs, but was upset in the DEs and lost the fence-off for 3rd in
a heartbreaker.
Jake
competed in the
U14 men’s epee, finishing 14th of 23 fencers.
Mark
Karasek competed in the Division 2/3 men’s epee
qualifier, finishing 20th of 51 fencers.
San Diego Fencing Center Challenge 4/12-13/08
The San Diego Fencing Center Challenge was held in Escondido
last weekend, drawing competitors from Nevada, Arizona and
Southern California. Andy, competing in the U14 sabre, finished
in 5th place after losing his final elimination bout by just one
touch. Robby finished 8th in the U14 event and 13th in the U12
sabre event.
Okawa Open - UCLA 4/13/08
The annual Okawa Open fencing tournament was held at UCLA
last weekend, drawing top level fencers from around the region.
Travis competed in a group of 46 mixed sabre fencers. He
advanced from an initial seeding of 21 to finish in 13th place.
Summer Nationals Qualifier 4/6/08
The Southern California Division of the US Fencing
Association held day one of its Summer Nationals Qualifying
Tournament last weekend in Pasadena, and four Santa Barbara
Fencing Academy fencers attempted to qualify.
Travis Tibbitts, an 8th grader at La Colina Junior High, won
the gold medal in the U16 Cadet men’s sabre to qualify for the
US Fencing Summer Nationals in that age group. Andy Granatelli,
a 7th grader at Marymount, also competed in the U16, finishing
4th but missing the qualifying cut-off by one place.
Tibbitts also attempted to qualify in the Open Division
II/Division III group, but finished 7th and missed qualifying by
one place. Jerry Rodriguez also competed in Div II/III,
finishing 12th. Andy Granatelli finished 15th.
Jake Wiener, an 8th grader at La Colina Junior High, competed
in the U16 Cadet men’s epee, finishing 14th.
San Jose
Super Youth Circuit 3/29-30/08
Several youth
fencers from the Santa Barbara Fencing Academy traveled to San
Jose for the western regional Super Youth Circuit. Kelly
competed in the Y12 women’s sabre. She finished in 5th
place and earned national points. Travis competed in the
Y14 men’s sabre, finishing in 6th place. He also
earned national ponts and qualified for the US Fencing Summer
Nationals.
Other notable
finishes include Margaret, 16th place in Y14 women’s
epee; Lucie, 25th place in Y14 women’s epee; Robby,
26th place in Y12 men’s sabre; Jake, 31st place in
Y14 men’s epee; and Andy, 36th place in Y14 men’s
sabre.
3/16 Central Coast D & Under in SLO
Travis won the sabre event, defeating 18 other
fencers for the gold medal, and earning his D rating. Andy also
competed in sabre, finishing 17th.
Olena Nicholas competed in both foil and epee,
finishing 11th of 19 in foil,
and 25th of 30 in epee. Jake competed in epee as well,
winning his first DE to finish in 12th place.
Southern California Scholastic Fencing League
Travis, an 8th grader at La Colina
Junior High School, finished in 4th place overall in the
Middle School Sabre tournaments for the Southern California
Scholastic Fencing League. Andy, a 7th grader at
Marymount School, finished in 8th place.
2/18 Junior Olympics Cadet Men's Sabre
Travis has returned
from the Junior Olympics Fencing Championship in Charlotte,
North Carolina. Over 1,800 fencers competed in 12 events.
Travis, an E-rated fencer, competed in the Cadet (U16) men’s
sabre with 190 fencers.
This event allowed
only the top 80% of the field to advance to the elimination
rounds, so it was important to fence well enough in the pool
round to make the cut. Travis’s initial seeding going into the
pools was 134, and he won 1 of his pool bouts and scored enough
touches to advance to the Direct Eliminations seeded at 143.
His first
elimination bout was against the #114 seed, a C rated fencer who
is one of the top 16 Cadet sabre fencers in the country and has
competed internationally on the US Cadet sabre team. Travis was
down 3 to 8 at the half, and his opponent kept scoring touches
to make it 7 – 13. Travis battled back by scoring 5 touches in
a row to close the gap to 12 – 13. He scored the touch that
would have tied the bout, but his follow-through hit his
opponent’s mask. Travis was penalized with a red card and a
touch was awarded to his opponent to make the score 12-14. Not
allowing himself to be shaken by the red card, Travis continued
his charge and took the next 3 touches to win 15-14. The
intensity of the bout drew a lot of spectators as Travis scored
those 8 consecutive touches to advance to the next elimination
round of 128.
In his next
elimination bout, Travis had to fence the #15 seed, a B-rated
fencer who went on to finish in the top 20. Travis won the first
3 touches on pure adrenalin, but was down 4-8 at the half, and
finally lost 6-15. .
Travis finished 125th
overall, and both he and Coach Michael were very pleased with
his performance, especially as a 14 year old fencing in the U16
group.
2/9 Linkmeyer Invitational at USC
Coach Jerry Rodriguez came into the tournament seeded dead last
in the field of 63 fencers, but dominated his pool bouts to be
seeded #2 for the DEs. A lot of people were wondering who
he was! He enjoyed a first round bye, then won his second
round match, only to let an early lead slip away to lose in the
third round. To add injury to insult, he sustained a scalp
wound in the bout that had bystanders gasping at the blood flow.
It was a tough loss, but he walked away with a 9th place finish
and his E rating.
Travis was initially seeded 43rd in the tournament, but made the
80% cut into the DEs to be seeded 37th for the DEs. He won
his first DE against #28, but lost his next bout to the fencer
who ended up in 3rd place. Travis finished in 31st, for a
respectable showing for this prestigious event, and a good
tune-up for the Junior Olympics the following weekend.
Other friends and family fencers in the tournament included
Sandra D'Asaro (38th), and Jeff Ervin (45th).
1/26-28 South Coast Invitational RYC
Three youth fencers from the Santa Barbara Fencing Academy braved
the rainy freeways to travel to Los Alamitos for the South Coast
Invitational fencing tournament.
Kelly took 1st place in the Y12 women's sabre. She was seeded 3rd
after the pool bouts, but defeated the first and second seeds in the
elimination rounds on her way to the gold medal.
Chris fenced in his first tournament in the Y12 men’s sabre and
startled the field with his aggressive attack. He won his first
direct elimination bout to finish in 8th place to also qualify for
the Summer Nationals.
Travis fenced in the Y14 men’s sabre, winning all of his pool
bouts. He advanced to the final round to take second place in a
field of 15 fencers. He also competed in the U20 junior sabre,
finishing 9th of 15 fencers. He will be competing in the Linkmeyer
Invitational at USC as a final tune-up before traveling to
Charlotte, North Carolina to fence in the Junior Olympic
Championships over President’s Day weekend.
1/12 Highlanders Unrated Tournament, San Luis Obispo
Jake battled to 3rd place in
Men’s epee. He earned his E rating along with a medal at this
well-attended open tournament for unrated fencers.
Congratulations to Jake!
1/13 Southern California Scholastic Tournament, Brentwood
Four fencers from Santa Barbara traveled to
Brentwood High School to represent their schools in the Middle
School mixed sabre event. Travis, in eighth grade at La Colina
Junior High School, finished in 3rd place overall.
Andy, in seventh grade at Marymount, finished in 8th
place. Kelly, a sixth grader from Washington School, finished
in 10th place. Robby, in fifth grade at Marymount,
finished in 15th
place.
12/16/07 Junior Olympic Qualifiers
The Santa Barbara Fencing Academy is proud to send their first
member to the 2008 Junior Olympic Championships to be held in
Charlotte, NC in February. The fencing Junior Olympics are the
National Championships for junior and cadet fencers and the final
qualifier for the Junior/Cadet World Championships. Travis Tibbitts
took first place in the Cadet U17 men’s sabre event to qualify for
the Junior Olympics. Tibbitts narrowly missed qualifying in the
Junior U20 division, finishing 4th in a field of 11 fencers. In
Cadet U17 men’s foil, Riley Pannkuk finished 20th of 22 fencers.
12/9/07 So Cal Youth Challenge #2 Epee/Sabre
In Y12 mixed epee, Margaret Hartmann finished in 7th place, and
Lucie Hartmann finished 11th in a field of 12 fencers. In Y12 mixed
sabre, Robby Granatelli finished 6th in a field of 8 fencers. He
went on to fence in the Y14 division, finishing 14th, while Andy
Granatelli finished 12th.
12/1/07 Couturier Open Sabre / Steiner Memorial C Foil
In men’s open sabre, Travis Tibbitts finished 16th in a field of
25 fencers. In the Division 2 foil event, Olena Nicholas took 37th
and Steve Morgan finished 44th.
11/11-12 North American Cup, Dallas, Texas
Three fencers from the Santa Barbara Fencing Academy traveled to
Dallas, Texas for the North American Cup national tournament. Travis
Tibbitts finished 62nd of 78 fencers in the Y14 sabre event, with
Andy Granatelli in 74th and Robby Granatelli in 78th. Tibbitts also
competed in the Cadet U17 sabre, finishing 133rd of 144 fencers.
11/4 SoCal Youth Challenge Epee/Sabre #1
In Y14 epee, Jake Weiner won the 3rd place medal in a field of 22
fencers.
In the Y12 sabre, Robby Granatelli finished in 5th place in a
field of 6 fencers. Granatelli also competed in the Y14 group,
finishing 9th in a field of 10.
10/20-21 Meade Anderson Regional Youth Circuit
The Santa Barbara Fencing Academy sent 7
fencers to the Regional Youth Circuit event at the LA International
Fencing Center.
In Y12 women’s epee, Lucie Hartmann finished in
3rd place and Margaret Hartmann finished 7th in a field of 14
fencers. Both are now qualified to fence in the 2008 Summer
Nationals in San Jose.
In Y14 men’s epee, Jake Weiner finished 15th
in a field of 20 fencers.
In Y12 women’s sabre, Madeleine Wall finished in 2nd place, and
Kelly Tibbitts took 3rd. In the men’s Y12 sabre, Robby
Granatelli finished in 12th place in a field of 14
fencers. All have now qualified for the 2008 Summer Nationals.
In Y14 sabre, Travis Tibbitts finished in 3rd place in a
field of 23 fencers. Andy Granatelli took 20th and
Robby Granatelli finished in 21st place.
10/07/07 San Luis Obispo Fall Open
Five fencers from
the Santa Barbara Fencing Academy made the trip to Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo to compete in the SLO Fall Open Fencing Tournament.
Jerry Rodriguez, Travis Tibbitts and Andy
Granatelli competed in the Open mixed Sabre event. Rodriguez,
a coach at the Santa Barbara Fencing Academy and a former US Team
and World Team member, won the 3rd place medal.
Tibbitts finished 5th and Granatelli finished12th in a field of 12
fencers.
Jake Weiner competed in the Open mixed epee, finishing 21st
in a field of 33 fencers.
Olena Nicholas competed in Open mixed foil,
finishing 26th of 30 fencers.
09/30/07 Swords Invitational Epee
The Swords Invitational tournament was held at
Viewpoint School in Calabasas. Jake Weiner
of the Santa Barbara Fencing Academy
competed in Y14 mixed epee, finishing 6th of 13 fencers.
09/23 Fortune Fencing D & Under Tournament
Fortune Fencing Club in Pasadena hosted an Open
tournament for fencers rated D and under. The US Fencing
Association classifies all competitive fencers by letter rating,
with ‘A’ as the top rating, B, C, D, E, and U for unrated fencers.
For the sabre event, Andy Granatelli and Travis Tibbitts represented
the Santa Barbara Fencing Academy, and were among the youngest
fencers in the field of 25 fencers. Matt Kuiken fenced for the
Presidio Fencing Club.
Fencing in his first Open tournament, the
unrated Granatelli surprised the field by defeating several rated
fencers on his way to a 16th place finish.
Kuiken fenced strongly in the pool bouts and was seeded 3rd
for the Direct Elimination bracket, but was defeated by Tibbitts in
the semi-finals. With his 3rd place finish, Kuiken
renewed his E rating with the USFA.
Tibbitts advanced undefeated through his pool bouts to be seeded 2nd
for the Direct Elimination bracket. He defeated D and E-rated
fencers to advance to the gold medal match, where he finally was
defeated by a D-rated fencer. With his 2nd place
finish, he earned his E rating with the USFA and became the first
rated youth fencer at the Santa Barbara Fencing Academy.
