We’re doing another gear order through EmbarkInk! Order deadline is March 8 and gear will be available for pickup at the club starting March 24 (so you can have it for the Equinox Epee tournament). There are also a few new items!
Youth Porthos Challenge Results
Jack traveled to Minnesota to fence in the Youth Porthos Challenge today. He tied for 3rd in Y12 Mixed Epee and was 6th in Y14 Mixed Epee.
Iowa Caucus Tournament Results
Alrighty, folks, the swords have spoken and we’re predicting Pete Buttigieg will win the Iowa caucus on Feb. 3 (even though technically the fencer representing John Delaney won the tournament – Delaney dropped out of the race yesterday)! Tied for 3rd was Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar! Then we had Tom Steyer, Michael Bennet, Joe Biden, Deval Patrick, Andrew Yang, and Bernie Sanders.
Thank you to all the campaigns that donated items to decorate our wall and our fencers! Thanks to the fencers for coming out to represent a randomly-drawn candidate! We had a lot of fun fencing to predict a caucus winner and it was nice to briefly lighten the seriousness of political issues.
Remember to caucus on Monday, Feb. 3 and good luck to all of the actual candidates!
Icicle Invitational Results
Sarah, Cheryl, and Jared (now in grad school in Omaha) competed at the Icicle Invitational in Lincoln, NE today. In Mixed Epee, Jared finished 8th and renewed his C rating, and Sarah came in 9th. In Women’s Epee, Cheryl finished 6th.
Full results: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=44051
Lots of Improvement at Coaching Clinic with Gary Copeland Last Weekend
Last weekend, RDF hosted a coaching clinic led by Gary Copeland of Northern Colorado Fencers. We had 8 coaches from RDF, the Des Moines Fencing Club, the Lincoln Fencing Club, and the Omaha Fencing Club brave the blizzard and single-digit temperatures to attend, as well as quite a few student volunteers who gamely took lesson after lesson during the two-and-a-half day workshop.
Thank you to everyone who participated. We saw lots of learning and improvement, which will translate to raising the level of the sport in the Midwest. As always, we’re grateful to Gary for sharing his feedback and expertise!
RDF E & Under Results
Today, we held an E & Under tournament at the club. (“E” is the first level of classification or rating a fencer can earn in USA Fencing’s system [the highest being “A”], and is a rough approximation of skill/experience.) This means entries are limited to fencers who have an E rating or are unrated (U).
Five of our fencers competed; Daniel A. earned the silver medal, Lance tied for 3rd, Alex was 5th, Selathiel came in 13th in his first real (sanctioned) tournament, and Weston finished 14th. We saw a lot of close bouts, good sportsmanship, and nice fencing.
Thank you to all of the fencers, families, referees, and coaches from around Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota who came out and made it a great event! Special congratulations to Srikanth, from the Omaha Fencing Club, who earned his E20 rating!
Full results: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=45786
If you’re curious about how ratings/classifications work, here’s a chart: https://askfred.net/Info/eventClass.php
January NAC Results
To kick off a new year of tournaments, Sarah fenced at the January North American Cup in Charlotte, NC yesterday. She was 3-3 in round 1 pools, which was good enough to make the cut into the first round of direct eliminations. However, she lost her direct elimination match 15-14 and finished 134th of 199. Full results: https://www.usafencing.org/2020-jan-nac-results
Yu Challenge Results
Yesterday, Kalina competed in the Yu Challenge at the Peoria Fencing Academy in Illinois. She won the gold medal in Y8 mixed epee and tied for bronze in Y10. This was also her first time traveling for a tournament.
Results: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=44797
December Youth Tournament Results
We held our December youth tournament today at the club, and 13 of our fencers competed in the epee events. In the 12 & Under group, Jack and Graham tied for 3rd, Ben R. was 5th, Atticus came in 6th (in his first tournament), Chantal finished 7th, Kalina was 9th, and Ben S. came in 10th (also his first tournament). In 19 & Under, Evan won the gold medal, Alex took silver, Weston tied for 3rd, Selathiel was 6th (in his first tournament), Jazz came in 8th, and Campbell finished 9th (also his first tournament). We were joined by several fencers from area clubs, and we also ran a foil and saber event.
Thanks to all who came! We especially appreciate our those who helped out with refereeing and photography duties! Our next tournament with youth events is the Equinox Epee the last weekend in March.
Full results: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=45262
ISU Cantaloupe Results
Yesterday, four of our fencers competed at Iowa State University Fencing Club’s Cantaloupe Open. In Mixed Epee, Daniel took 8th place, Sarah was 9th, Weston came in 23rd, and Jazz finished 25th at his first senior age category event. Sarah also won Women’s Epee and a cantaloupe!
Full results: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=45231
