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Season Closes with HFC Ratings Bonanza
It is said that all good things must come to an end. The Aloha State Games, and with them, the 2008
Hawaii fencing season, are no exception. But, if they must end, we can all be grateful that they have
ended on a high note...but, more on that later.
HFC entered four fencers in this, the final event of the 2008 season, who met with varying levels of
success.
Johnny "Sabre's Over, So Who Cares?" Chang used the pool round to rest and recover from the sabre tournament, and turned the juice back on in the DEs, trouncing Fran Sakaguchi-Soares of OFC, but succumbing to Edward Kelleher, fencing unattached.
Eric "Gonna Make It" Mueller didn't seem like himself in this event, due to the fact that he somehow fenced the whole tournament without having a major equipment mishap. He split his pool to go 2-2, only to be met in the DEs by the same two fencers that gave him trouble in the pools. He successfully adapted to overcome OFC's Noah Baron, but it takes more than a good plan to get by JR Oakley. Eric's 8th-place might not attract the attention of the US Olympic coaches, but did snag him an E08.
Roland "The Purveyor" Pendleton took the strip with high expectations. He was in his element as he swept his pool, and took the #1 seed with its 1st-round bye. Since Tom sat this one out, it fell to Roland to eliminate OFC's Riley Masunaga. Roland took his Tom impression too far; however, as he also emulated Tom's bad habit of losing to Lauren Chinn. He took a still-respectable 5th.
HFC's Ben "We Don't Need No Stinking Ds!" Leider hoped to repeat his performance at the state championship, but was a bit thrown off by the seldom-seen Ed Kelleher in the pools. This dropped him to the 6th seed and matched him up with Bob Farrow in the table of 16. Three authoritative whompings later, Ben was facing off against JR in the gold medal bout. Unfortunately, his momentum gave out, leaving him a mere 1 touch short of the gold. He instead took the silver medal and traded in his E for a C08.
Following the gold medal bout, the season was ceremoniously closed with a touching bagpipe solo by Roland "The Highlander Islander" Pendleton. See you all next year!
Aloha State Games - The Real Action
Day Two of the Aloha State Games, where they do the REAL (pronounced: 'Sabre') fencing, started with the Juniors.
Jesse "Just Warming Up" Payton was HFC's only Junior Sabrist today. Kurran Lawrence may have edged him out in the pools, but the DE was a different story altogether, and he proceeded to meet Kyle Louie in the gold medal round. It was a closely fought bout, but Jesse had to settle with silver...for now.
Seniors' Open Sabre threw the next party, and HFC crashed the gates with authority; none of the 5 finished below 7th.
Jesse "Most Improved" Payton's tentativeness was gone from the beginning. He looked sharp in the pools, earning a midrange seed, but was still the underdog in his first bout against the D07-rated Henry Chang. He managed to pull out enough new tricks to pull off a solid victory and advance to the quarterfinals, where Yervand Zakaryan sent him to a 7th place finish. Not bad for a foilist.
John "Why Is It So Early?" Chang was nursing a less-than-ideal shoulder; not that you'd know it from watching him as he won bout after bout in the pools with alacrity. The high seed he earned gave him no rest; however, as his first pool was against a 'strategically-placed' Tom McClintock. As can be expected, it was well and closely fought by both sides, but HFC's man came away with the win and advanced to face yet another Tom; this one of the Miller variety. Despite his best efforts, John would go no further than 6th place.
Roland "R-1000" Pendleton, known for his epee skills, surprised more than a few by sweeping his pool and taking the #3 seed. He made short work of SFCH's Roxanne Lopez-Diaz, but was cut down in the quarterfinals by clubmate and True Sabrist, Tim "T-800" Scanson. Roland happily took 5th place and looked to the next event...
Tim "Finally!" Scanson fought hard in the pools and DEs alike, seeding high and applying lessons learned to beat Ed Diaz in the table of 16. He went on to outdo clubmate Roland "I Wish Sabre Gear Wasn't So Shiny" Pendleton to enter the semifinals, where he would meet Yervand Zakaryan. Like many that day, he couldn't get by the rarely-competing master, but he CAN call himself a rated sabrist, as his semifinal appearance clinched his E08!
Proudly carrying the HFC's banner today was the big, beefy arm of Tom "The BURNiNATOR" Delewski. Ending a brief lull in his dominance of the division's sabre strips, he swept his pool and seized the #1 seed. Swordfightclub's Kurran Lawrance, tired by his previous bout, was driven off the strip as if his plentiful hair were on fire like a brown-robed peasant's. "Tom-dor" had enough to worry about in the next two rounds against the always-challenging Wayne Miyamoto and Tom Miller, but neither managed to stop our man, who was not surprised to see Yervand Zakaryan on the other side of the gold medal bout. If one must lose, it ought to be in the finals, and might as well be to a former national champion. Tom smilingly bowed to receive the silver medal.
All in all, a powerful showing for HFC sabre! "AA-OOH!"
Aloha State Games Start Off Strong
It's that time of year again; time for the Aloha State Games. Time for the
thrill of victory, time for the agony of defeat, and time for athletes
throughout the great state of Hawaii to compete in sports as diverse as
equestrian, bowling, track and field, and trap shooting...but who cares about
any of that when there's fencing going on?
There is never any shortage of fencing action during the Aloha State Games, and
this year was no exception. Torbjoern "Tiny Hammer" Nielsen kicked it off in
twelve-and-unders' foil, going 1 and 1 in the pools and overcoming OFC's
precocious John Guetersloh Jr to win the silver medal.
Juniors' Foil was next. Jesse "The Recruiter" Payton was off to a rocky start,
stumbling through the pools with only one win and unable to counter Riley
Masunaga's speed and maneuverability in the DEs. Roland "Rain Man" Pendleton
began a bit more auspiciously, earning a first-round bye and trouncing Jarrett
Masunaga on his way to the finals. However, Jared Schreiber proved a bit too
much for him, and he took home a silver medal.
Not finished yet, Roland "The Showman" Pendleton had his encore ready:
dispatching both of the Masunagas to take the gold medal in Juniors' Epee with
relative ease.
Seniors' Open Foil was next on the list; 4 of the HFC were on hand.
Chris
"Somehow Not Bob Yet" Han gained valuable tournament experience in his second
competitive appearance, and placed Not Last.
Jesse "I Like Being Bob" Payton
was a bit scattered in the pools; he pulled it together in the DEs and bested
clubmate Chris only to fall to JR Oakley in the next round.
Roland "All These
Medals Are Getting Kind of Heavy" Pendleton used the pool rounds to get himself
back in foil mode and pulled off an upset victory against a recovered Keith Lau,
but was knocked out by SFCH's Jesse Miyamoto.
Ben "Cogito Ergo Dicto...et
Dicto, et Dicto..." Leider tried to apply his foil-style epee game to foil; he
won a midrange seed and breezed past Cornelia Jolitz, only to be breezed past
himself by JR Oakley.
All in all, a great day of spirited competition; and this was just the
beginning...
Better Late Than Never - Epee State Championship
Twelve fencers turned out on May 24th to see whom would earn the right to be called the Hawaii Epee
Champion; among them were three members of Hawaii's Finest Club.
John "Mufi's Main Man" Chang bided his time and conserved his energy in the pools, coasting into an 11th
seed and a DE versus OFC's Tom Miller. Unfortunately, the reach of the OFC fencer proved
insurmountable. John being John, he immediately began his plotting and planning for the Aloha State
Games.
Tom "But, It Was My Attack! Oh, Wait..." Delewski came in a bit closer to the mark, with two pool wins
that took him to SFCH's Wayne Miyamoto. It was a close finish, but the quick Miyamoto was not quite
elusive enough to avoid Tom's persistent beats and binds. Tom then advanced to yet another bout with
Lauren Chinn. As usual, this was the end of Tom's road; he placed 7th.
HFC's runaway great was Ben "The Lucky Number" Leider who shined in the pools with 4 wins and a 4th
seed. His brilliance did not diminish that day as he handily dispatched both long armed, quick-bladed
counterattackers and nimble target-displacers has he bested Donna Rapadas, Noah Baron, John Gutersloh,
and Lauren Chinn. His dominance over the field was indisputable, as even the most fortunate of his 4
opponents was overcome by a substantial margin of 4 points. Ben took home not only the State
Championship, but also a new rating; an E08. Well done, Ben!