Air Force Academy

April 28, 2010

U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. -- The Academy's fencing team concluded its regular season on at the North American Cup in Virginia Beach, Va., on Monday, April 26, 2010. Three Falcons competed in the Division 1 Men's Foil individual event: juniors Nicholas Stockdale and Daniel Fang, and sophomore Phillip Choy. Stockdale was the Falcons' top finisher in the event, placing 31st out of 170 competitors. Fang and Choy finished 114th and 135th, respectively.

Stockdale and Choy both had a 2-4 record in pool play, and earned spots in direct elimination (DE) competition. Fang finished 1-4 in pool play and did not make the cut for DE competition. Choy lost his first DE bout 6-15. Stockdale pulled off a 15-6 upset of the 24th seeded competitor, Lucas Lin, during his first DE bout. He defeated his next opponent 15-13 before losing to David Willette from Penn State University, 5-15.

"Stockdale had two very good victories in the DE competition to put himself in the top 32," said head coach Abdel Salem. "He lost his concentration during the last bout, which cost him the victory. But I am proud of him since it is his best result for the season. Overall, we fenced very well during the three-day tournament. Barrette fought as we expected her to. She was tough, strong and focused. Her final bout was against U.S. Olympian Kelley Hurley, which was a very tough matchup."

The previous day, the team wrapped up day two of competition at the as junior Daniel Trapani posted the top result for the Falcons in Division 1 Men's Epee, placing 34th out of 218 competitors. Freshman Nathan Sorensen finished 125th and sophomore Benjamin Rinaldi finished 153rd. Freshman Heather Nelson was the Falcons' lone competitor in Division 1 Women's Saber, finishing 37th. She posted a 3-3 record in pools and lost her first direct elimination (DE) bout, 14-15.

The Falcon fencing team will compete next in July, when they travel to the U.S. Fencing Summer National Championships in Atlanta, Ga.