Summer Fencing Update (men's epee)
The past few weeks have provided numerous national fencing tournaments featuring current collegiate men's epeeists (as well as some incoming college fencers and noteworthy college-fencing alums). Here's a rundown for some of the recent tournament action, plus some updated notes on the national/international rankings and results:
(Note: CF360 is in the process of confirming official college commitments; a handful that have been confirmed are referenced below.)
SUMMER NATIONALS (late-June/early-July; Grapevine, TX)
Benji Ungar (left)
HARVARD ALUM UNGAR CLAIMS TITLE – Recent Harvard standout Benji Ungar won the Summer Nationals D-1 (overall) men's epee title, a few months after reaching the NCAA semifinals (where he lost to current Princeton fencer Graham Wicas) ... Ungar – the 2006 NCAA champion – was a fifth-year fencer at Harvard in 2009 and had been a leading member of Harvard's 2006 NCAA team championship squad ... the Bronx native entered Summer Nationals seeded 44th but surged to the #6 seed in round-2, thanks to a 4-1 opening record (+10 indicators) during his bouts in pool-8 ... Ungar's only pool-round loss came versus Princetone incoming freshman Jonathan Yergler (4-5), with noteworthy wins over Air Force rising senior All-American Peter French (5-3) and Notre Dame signee James Kaull (5-4), plus 5-1 victories over Travis Exum and Robert Reed ... Ungar went on to post direct-elimination wins over Dylan Bethel (15-9; round-of-32) and Garrett Carnahan (15-6), followed by a quarterfinal victory over recent St. John's All-American Benjamin Bratton (15-11) and a 15-12 semifinal against his former college teammate James Hawrot (a rising soph.) ... the championship bout featured two fencers who both had been seeded outside the top-36: Ungar (44th) and 17-year-old Michael Raynis (38th), who ironically will be a senior this fall at Harvard (no connection)-Westlake High School in southern California ... Ungar emerged with the title and now is listed 25th in the USFA national men's epee rankings (as of July 20).