Air Force Academy

On Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 25-26, the Academy's fencing team hosted its annual Nick Toth Open. On Saturday, the competition was open to fencers in mixed epee and saber; on Sunday it was mixed and women's foil. While the fields were small, 50 competitors in epee and saber and 27 in foil, the Falcons proved they are a force to be reckoned with as most finished in the top 10 of their respective events.

In mixed saber, three Falcons advanced to championship bouts. In the battle for first place Sam Bartron vs. Justin Gebhardt, AFA's Bartron won, 15-9, to become the overall mixed saber champion. Gebhardt, unattached, took second place while Joshua Trice and Pappy Oboho from AFA tied for third place. The women's saber event had AFA's Caitlin Young taking second place followed by teammates Kate Gulczhinski and Marisa Romero tying for third place. Erika Erlandson from Colorado Fencing was the women's saber champion.

In the women's epee competition, Lydia Bigelow was the Falcons' top finisher in third place. Charity Day, Elizabeth Enyart, Bryn Thoreson and Sarah McRae took seventh through 10th place, respectively, for Air Force. First place went to Caitlin Harris (unattached) from the Academy. Elaine Huspeni from Colorado Fencing School was the second-place finisher. In mixed epee, Jackson Ranes from AFA tied for third place with Nick Chinman of Northern Colorado Fencing. AFA's Jason Stockdale took fifth place.

In day two of the Nick Toth Open, 27 fencers battled for first place in the mixed foil competition. The top three positions went to Andras Horanyi (first) and Nick Chinman (second) from Northern Colorado Fencing. AFA's Nate Smith tied for third place with Alex Laugesen from the Amarillo College Fencing Association. In the women's foil division, Ebony Cook from Air Force lost the championship bout, 9-15, to Allison Rush of Northern Colorado Fencing. AFA's Elizabeth Jaszczak and Katherine Bernstein of NCF tied for third place. With only seven women competing, AFA's Amber Park and Kim Templer finished fifth and sixth, respectively, followed by K. Berkeland of Colorado Springs Youth Fencing Club.

The Academy's fencers will host the Military Championships on Nov. 14 followed by the Falcon Open on Dec. 4-5 and both events are open to the public.