2015 Nick Toth Open (Men's Tournament)
9/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. - In the Nick Toth Open men's tournament at the Air Force Academy, Sept. 19, several Falcon men came away with top individual finishes.
In the junior men's epee finals, freshman Cameron Sullivan won the championship bout against sophomore Nathan Lee. Lee earned his B15 U.S. Fencing Association (USFA) rating. In direct elimination, Sullivan with a pool record of 3-2 advanced to the semi-finals with wins of 15-2, 15-9, 15-7, and 15-10. Lee, with a pool record of 2-3, advanced to the semi-finals with wins of 15-11, 15-13, 15-10, and 15-8. The two faced off in the gold-medal round with Sullivan, the victor with a 15-13 score. Sullivan was the 12th seed while Lee was the 18th seed among 29 fencers.
In the senior men's epee the tournament, Sullivan got as far as the semi-finals, but lost, 14-15, to John Beski, from the Rocky Mountain Fencing Academy. Sullivan, the No. 1 seed in pools, finished tied for third place after advancing in the DE rounds, 15-8, 15-10, and 15-12, 14-15.
In finals, senior James Salem was the epee champion. Salem won his way to the finals with victories of 15-7, 15-11, 15-11, 15-14, winning the gold-medal bout, 15-11, against Beski. Salem advanced through the pools with a 4-1 record among 47 fencers and earning his A15 rating.
Also in senior men's epee, the No. 6 position went to junior Andrew Elwers, who advanced to the top 8 with victories of 15-7 and 15-7 and losing 14-15. He was 5-1 in the pools. Finishing 11th, Elias Johnson, who advanced on a bye and then won his next bout 15-6 lost to Sullivan, who knocked him out of the direct elimination rounds with a 15-10 win. Johnson was 3-2 in pools. Lee finished 17th and was 6-0 in pools. Senior Robert Chado advanced, but lost 9-15 in the top 32, finished 20th.
In senior men's foil, freshman Nicholas Pollack, who was 4-1 in pools, tied for third place among 19 fencers. His scores were 15-7, 15-9, losing 13-15 in the semi-finals to Jacob Joram from the Denver Fencing Center.
Rounding out the Falcons' opening weekend, senior Matthew Bergstedt, and junior Ryan Andrieux were the only Falcons to fence in the senior men's saber tournament. Bergstedt finished in eighth place while Andrieux finished ninth. Bergstedt was 4-2 in pools and Andrieux was 2-3.
The Nick Toth Open continues Sunday, Sept. 20 with the senior women's and junior women's tournaments.
