WATCH THE STREAMS!
SUMMARY
TOP 8 RESULTS
DeMartino
Gonzales
Ortiz-Miranda
Monterrosa
Bauler
Thompson
Nease, B
Nease, M
PROMOTIONS & RERATINGS
DeMartino: C
Ortiz-Miranda: D
Monterrosa: +D
Nease, B: E
Nease, M: +E
Lightspeed Saber SoCal's fall season kicked off with some big surprises and upsets, including many amazing firsts.
But before all that, the roster: the 14 competitors were about 50-50 inexperienced and experienced, including 3 C-level fencers, 2 Ds, and 2 Es, making it a C3 level event. That meant that only one C would be awarded by the end of the competition, and it would only go to the top-place finisher. Patricia Bauler and Jose Ortiz-Miranda, being the two D's in the event, were the key players to watch, as they were both fighting to upgrade their ratings in preparation for the December regional championships. However, it didn't mean that other fencers wouldn't be fighting hard; C-grade Thom DeMartino last earned his rating in 2019, pre-pandemic, and would be in danger of losing his rating in 2022 if he didn't rerate before next summer.
Other top competitors included teammates Andre Gonzales and Rico Thompson, both sitting comfortably at a C-rating, and teammates Brandon Nease and Jacob Areias, both E's gunning to earn their first D-ratings.
The tournament also featured returning U's Kieran Haile, Priscilla Haile, and Conner Gutierrez, all competing in their second competition in the adult league and trying to earn their first grade. Also fighting for a grade were the complete newcomers: Cindy Rojas from Krait Base, and Matt Nease, Alex Monterrosa, and Polina Fadeeva from Lightspeed Saber Irvine (Knight Club).
Polina Fadeeva and Tony Zaldua
RED SQUADRON
Red Squadron was a fairly balanced box, containing Alex Monterrosa, Andre Gonzales, Jose Ortiz-Miranda, Kieran Haile, Brandon Nease, Polina Fadeeva, and Conner Gutierrez.
Right away, it was understood that Andre Gonzales would be one of the key fencers to beat. Gonzales turned in a near perfect performance with 5 of 6 wins, using incredible hooking attacks and solid returns. He didn't have it easy however: Knight Brandon Nease took it all the way to 7-7 against Gonzales, only losing to a mis-timed defense, netting Gonzales the final two points to win the match. Gonzales also nearly suffered the defeat of the century from another Irvine Knight, Conner Gutierrez, who climbed back point by point from a 7-0 deficit to even the match up, only to lose by a single point at the conclusion of a nail-biter encounter that brought both fencers against the ropes.
For their parts, Nease took home 4 of 6 wins using numerous defensive plays and clean attacks, and Gutierrez went home with 2, a much stronger performance compared to his showing at Summer Slash V in Escondido.
Andre Gonzales only lost once in the Red Squadron, and it was the OTHER fencer to beat that handed him his only loss: Jose Ortiz-Miranda, a Krait from Lightspeed Saber Los Angeles. Ortiz-Miranda is a known range-fighter, but he has reconfigured his pommeling style to meet the demands of the new Open rules well, adding some incredible defensive capacity into his repertoire. Everyone knows he needs it, as he is now well reputed for PREFERRING to fight in the corner, where his opponents get overconfident and make mistakes.
For the most part, Ortiz-Miranda won his matches handily, though he was surprised by a relative newcomer, Kieran Haile, who kept the scores fairly close. But it was another newcomer, Alex Monterrosa from Knight Club, who handed Ortiz-Miranda his only loss in the Red Squadron. Monterrosa was probably the only primary two-hander in the box, and the two fencers had actually never crossed blades before. With a combination of speed, great agility, and a relatively uncommon style, Monterrosa came out on top against Ortiz-Miranda at 8 to 5, and finished the pools with 3 of 6 wins.
For all the amazing skill of the fencers in the Red Box, perhaps the one that stood out the most was newcomer Knight Polina Fadeeva, sporting a yellow and black striped track suit remniscient of Bruce Lee in the Game of Death. But, with her blonde hair and a literal SAMURAI SWORD ON HER WAIST she looked a little more like THE BRIDE in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. Polina surprised her opponents with speed and aggression, and won 2 of her 6 matches. When asked what was her favorite fight, she described using one of Ortiz-Miranda's moves against him and actually scoring with it.
BLUE SQUADRON
Due to some last-minute substitutions there was an obvious difference between the red and blue squadrons into which the fencers were split: Blue Squadron, with its 2 Cs, had a much higher overall competition rating than Red Squadron (93 vs 64), so it would be an uphill battle for E-fencer Jacob Areias and U's Matt Nease, Priscilla Haile, and Cindy Rojas.
While both Thom DeMartino and Rico Thompson were C's, DeMartino brought considerably more experience into this squadron, and it would make a huge difference. Easily the tallest competitor in the box, and also one of the most accurate shooters in the league, DeMartino dominated most of his matches in his usual manner, and won 5 of 6 matches, including a commanding 8-1 victory against Thompson. Thompson performed well, however, winning 4 of 6 with his high flying floating headshots and unorthodox stance.
While the C's fought in their now well-known and characteristic ways, a newcomer was picking up some new tricks in the box. Priscilla Haile switched into an ultra deep samurai-like stance, using deadly rising slashes to pick off anyone getting too close. While Haile only secured one win using this strategy, she definitely got all her opponents to pause and reassess as they faced this fencer with a much larger repertoire than they had realized. Hopefully it serves her well in the future!
Patricia Bauler
But of all the fencers in the Blue Squadron, no one could have been more surprising than veteran Lightspeed Saber fencer Patricia Bauler (whoever that is), who turned in a stunning 6 of 6 wins, topping out even the higher rated fencers in her pool. Bauler is renowned for her virtuosic defense, and it served her well against DeMartino and Thompson, who, while both accurate and swift, have a preference for diving attacks that happen to be in Bauler's defensive wheelhouse. Bauler crushed DeMartino with a series of 3-point returns, and punished Thompson's floating headshots with Shield-5-counterattacks. It was the best performance of Bauler's career (whoever that is).
Meanwhile, Matt Nease turned in a solid first performance with 3 of 6 wins, using the bladework he learned from his brother, Lightspeed Saber Irvine interim captain Brandon Nease. Nease defeated fellow knight Jacob Areias, who went home with 2 wins. While newcomer Cindy Rojas didn't take home any wins, she performed admirably for her first competition, and especially well for not having been a last minute sub.
By the close of the pools, 8 competitors would move on to the eliminations. Patricia Bauler led the pack with 82 points, followed by Jose Ortiz-Miranda, Thom DeMartino, then Andre Gonzales. Rico Thompson, Brandon Nease, brother Matt Nease, and Alex Monterrosa rounded out the bottom of the pack moving on. Jacob Areias again missed the cut off by a single position, and Conner Gutierrez and Priscilla Haile followed close behind.
The best fight of the quarter finals may have been wolf versus wolf: Rico Thompson versus Andre Gonzales. These two fencers knew eachother's styles well, and, though they lamented having to eliminate eachother, all doubts went out the window as they entered the battlefield and the referee said, "Go!" It's always a blast to watch two wolves go at it, and this did not disappoint. But only one could move on, and of course it had to be the captain, Andre Gonzales.
Meanwhile, in the other box, an extraordinary drama played out as another pair of teammates were tasked with eliminating eachother: Alex Monterrosa and Patricia Bauler. Bauler's defensive capacity was nearly neutralized against the two-handed Monterrosa, who otherwise matched his speed and power against Bauler's technique and patience. The match was close, going all the way to 8-8 before Monterrosa landed a clean foot shot, snatching the win from the #1 seed in a huge upset.
In the semi-finals, Jose Ortiz-Miranda faced Thom DeMartino after knocking out the brothers Nease. This match ended up being a shootout, with Ortiz-Miranda trying to counter DeMartino's reach and accuracy with explosive attacks and remises. While Ortiz-Miranda landed a few impressive clean shots when DeMartino did go on the offensive, DeMartino was just too quick, ultilmately knocking out Ortiz-Miranda.
In the other box at the same time, Alex Monterrosa was facing Andre Gonzales. Monterrosa was doing surprisingly well for a newcomer, but his luck had to run out eventually, as he was soundly defeated by the more experienced Gonzales, who won with a series of squeaky clean hooks and floats that were so accurate, yet gentle, that the referees could hardly believe they had landed at all.
Thom DeMartino II
Then, at last, it came to the finale of the tournament. This was ground that DeMartino had been on before, but for Gonzales, this was a new experience, stepping into the fight for 1st place for the first time in his Lightspeed career. The last time was in 2019 for DeMartino, who was soundly defeated by reigning champion Tony Zaldua, who deployed a stellar defensive strategy against the fast shooting DeMartino. So it was on everyone's mind what strategies each of them would use going into this final bout.
Right away, both fencers come out with pommels in hand, opting for reach rather than defensive power. The problem for Gonzales, then, was the extra inches that DeMartino would naturally have. Gonzales took an early lead, but DeMartino began to rally with higher aggression, forcing Gonzales on the defensive. Unfortunately for the wolf, he ultimately failed three defenses in a row, granting duece after deuce to the big man and losing his lead.
Eventually the final came to an 11-6 lead for DeMartino, who scored the final point as Gonzales raced in but was interrupted by a quick interception from DeMartino. DeMartino ultimately earned his FIRST first place win in his Lightspeed Saber career, while this was Gonzales' highest placement in his Lightspeed Saber career.
The tournament closed with Jose Ortiz-Miranda taking third, with Alex Monterrosa in fourth, and Patricia Bauler close behind. Rico Thompson, Brandon Nease, and Matt Nease rounded out the bottom 3. DeMartino re-earned his C-grade, Alex Monterrosa premieres in the league at D, and Matt Nease earned his E-rating. Congratulations to all of them.
THANKS AND SEE YOU IN NOVEMBER!
Obviously competitions are nothing without the competitors, but before any of that is the staff. We have to thank Sean Holtzman and David Walker who arrived early to setup the boxes and went above and beyond to do a walk of the grounds to make sure the tournament conditions would be as safe as possible for our competitors. Special thanks to David Walker also swept the grounds long before the competitors arrived to ensure safe and secure concrete on which to fight.
We also thank B's Jeremiah Rodriguez, Tony Zaldua, and Rob Chan who allowed lower ranked fencers a chance to climb and served the league as referees and staff. They, along with Director Holtzman, proceeded quickly and kept the tournament moving on time. Director Holtzman also provided surprise prizes to the top placers.
A very special thanks also goes to Steven Buonaugurio and his family, who arrived to commentate on the livestream and by all accounts did a stellar job. This was Steven's first time doing a live commentary on Twitch! Son Jonah helped with miscellaneous tasks, including adjusting the camera, and daughter Bella provided color commentary as well as some technological assistance.
The SoCal October Open was one of, if not the largest tournament in Lightspeed Saber League since COVID hit. We're extremely pleased to be able to offer our quality competitive services once again and we're looking forward to many more. Look for us again November 13 as we take the fight to Los Angeles and watch another 14 competitors fight it out for the right to fight at the SoCal championships this December.
CANG SNOW
Chief Executive Officer
DIRECTORS
Cang Snow
Sean Holtzman
REFEREES
David Walker
Jeremiah Rodriguez
Tony Zaldua
Rob Chan
STREAMERS
Steven Buonaugurio
Jonah Buonaugurio
Bella Buonaugurio
SETUP
David Walker
Jeremiah Rodriguez
Tony Zaldua
Rob Chan
Sean Holtzman
COMPETITORS
Conner Gutierrez (LSI)
Brandon Nease (LSI)
Jacob Areias (LSI)
Matt Nease (LSI)
Alex Monterrosa (LSI)
Polina Fadeeva (LSI)
Patricia Bauler (LSI)
Andre Gonzales (LWB)
Rico Thompson (LWB)
Cindy Rojas (KB)
Priscilla Haile (KB)
Kieran Haile (KB)
Jose Ortiz-Miranda (KB)
Thom DeMartino
PRIZES
Sean Holtzman