Richard Li With Two Top-10 Finishes To Lead Air Force At April NAC

Air Force completed competition at the 2026 USA Fencing April North American Cup, held April 24-27, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Va. Freshman Richard Li led the team with two top-10 finishes in men's foil.

Li placed second out of a field of 178 in the junior men's foil and seventh out of a field of 137 in the Division 1 men's foil. In junior foil, Li went a perfect 6-0 in pool competition and then proceeded to go 6-1 in direct elimination bracket competition. He was the runner-up to champion Youlong Lin, who is a member of the Chinese National Team. In Division 1 competition, Li went 5-1 in pool competition and reached the quarterfinals, before falling to eventual champion Chase Emmer, who was the 2026 NCAA Silver Medalist in men's foil.

Air Force went top 75 across all its competitors with four top 20 finishes.

Senior Jack Griffith also competed well in men's foil, finishing 14th in the Division 1 competition. Griffith made the round of 16 in the direct elimination bracket.

Freshman Andrei Nazlymov finished 17th out of a field of 139 in the Division 1 men's saber competition. Nazlymov was a perfect 5-0 in pool competition and made the round of 32 in the elimination bracket.

This was the final competition for Air Force during the 2025-26 academic year. The next competition will be the USA Fencing Summer Nationals, held June 27-July 6 in Portland, Ore.

Air Force 2026 April NAC Results

Div. 1 Men's Foil (137 competitors)
7. Richard Li
14. Jack Griffith
75. Sean Oh

Junior Women's Foil (126 competitors)
74. Kailyn Choi

Div. 1 Men's Saber (139 competitors)
17. Andrei Nazlymov

Div. 1 Women's Epee (151 competitors)
75. Christina Watrall

Junior Men's Foil (178 competitors)
2. Richard Li 5-1, 1-1

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