Air Force Freshmen take two titles at Amarillo Open
10/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
On Saturday, in the Division 1A open men's saber competition, the Air Force saber team dominated, taking the top five spots. In the semi-finals, AFA's junior Scott Pippin and freshman Emiliano Kaptain competed against each other for the championship title. In the final four, Kaptain was the No. 3 seed and Pippin the No. 1. Pippin advanced to the gold medal bout after defeating AFA's Edward Wood, 15-7. Kaptain also advanced with a 15-7 win against sophomore Emerson Woerner. In the final bout against Pippin, Kaptain came out on top, winning the 15-8 bout. Pippin was the runner-up, followed by Emerson Woerner and Edward Wood tied for third place. Edward Wong took fifth place.
"Even though it was a small field of competitors, our men's saber team fought strong to come out on top," said Head Coach Abdel Salem. "We need our team to be strong and we`ve added strong members to the saber team."
Earlier in the day, Air Force fencer, junior Heather Nelson was the women's open saber champion. Nelson was the No. 1 seed and advanced to the finals with a win against teammate Yannie Horth, 15-6. In the gold medal bout, Nelson competed against Cynthia Villyard from the New Mexico Fencing Club. Nelson won the bout, 15-9. Horth, tied for third with her opponent from Plains, Texas.
On Sunday, the freshmen continued to prove they are winners. In Division 1A men's open foil, freshman Alexander Chiang fenced senior Phillip Choy for the championship title. Chiang won the title, 15-11.
Chiang and Choy were neck and neck leading up to the gold medal bout. Chiang was the No. 1 seed and Choy the No. 2, with both fencers winning their respective bouts. Finally, in the gold medal round, Chiang got the upper hand and won 15-11, sending Choy to the No. 2 spot.
In women's open senior foil, freshman Lydia Hill was the Falcons' champion. Hill won the gold medal bout against Ursula Szpak from North Texas. Hill received a bye in the first round and entered the final eight fencing against teammate senior Christina Jung. Hill won that bout 15-1, and advanced to the semi-finals as the No. 2 seed. In the final four, she defeated Allison Treloar from the New Mexico Fencing Club, 15-2. In the gold medal bout against Szpak, Hill was the victor, as time ran out, with a 10-8 win.
Also on day 1, in men's epee, Chase Houser finished in eighth place in the 46-man competition. Nathan Sorensen finished in 13th place, while teammates Dalton Boatright and Travis Dyson finished 18th and 32nd, respectively.
In the 21-women epee pool, sophomores Olivia Prosseda finished fifth, Juli Nokleberg took 10th and Tara Zartman finished in 18th place.
In open junior mixed foil, Hill finished in the No. 7 spot, Diana Hock took 10th place and Rachel Cranfill finished 11th.
On day 2, in men's foil, freshman Narayanan Veliyath, finished in 14th place. In the open junior epee competition, Dyson finished ninth, Houser was 11th, Nokleberg finished in 15th and Zartman was 32nd. In senior women's foil, Hock finished fifth, Jung followed in sixth place, Ashley Chung was eighth and Cranfill finished 11.
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