WATCH THE STREAMS!

SUMMARY

TOP 8 RESULTS

1. Jose Ortiz-Miranda

2. Jeremiah Rodriguez

3. John Lee

4. Bryan Lee

5. Jowanna Lewis

6. Alfonso Ramirez

7. Derick Manalastas

8. Jaren Barredo

PROMOTIONS & RERATINGS

• Jose Ortiz-Miranda: D

• John Lee: E -> D

• Derick Manalastas: U -> E

• Jaren Barredo: U -> E

The second tournament of SoCal’s fall season was filled with tension, drama, and some amazing battles. Not even the livestream chat was spared! Let’s talk about what happened at this exciting event.

The night got off to a rough start, as the event and the livestream were about an hour late. However, by 6 PM, all attendees and stream watchers were able to see what all the wait was about: an incredible lighting setup created and built by Krait captain Tony Zaldua. This was probably the best lighting we’ve ever had at any Lightspeed event, so thank you, Tony, for your amazing engineering and creativity!

Once things were going, viewers were treated to two boxes filled with newcomers, returning favorites, and rising stars.

GREEN SQUADRON

Newcomers of Green Squadron included Jaren Barredo, Hans Ossenkop, and Krait Dragon Raphael Estrada. The returning fencers included Earlwin Famor (E), current women’s champion Jowanna Lewis (C), and Bryan Lee (E), whom we last saw at Engage II at Dreamhack in February of 2020. Krait Dragon Jose Ortiz-Miranda (D) was also in this box, who fought last month at the SoCal October Qualifier.

One of the most anticipated fencers of Green Box was returning competitor Bryan Lee, a veteran of Light Force Academy of Santa Clarita. Bryan had placed in the final four multiple times at previous tournaments, so expectations were high even though he was returning from a long hiatus since the start of the pandemic. Bryan’s performance did not disappoint, having hardly lost a step, taking 4 wins of 6, including against teammate and first timer Hans Ossenkop. Hans performed admirably for his first Lightspeed competition, mirroring his more seasoned compatriot’s fast striking and nimble stepping (Ossenkop earned 1 win of 6). (Unfortunately Ossenkop was forced to drop out for medical reasons more than halfway through the pool.)

Another young newcomer in the Green Box was Raphael Estrada, probably the flashiest of all the fencers in this squadron, using high flying attacks, numerous manual distractions and some suicide dives. Unfortunately these moves were unable to net Estrada more than one win (against Ossenkop), but his style and agility are certainly things to watch out for once he has a chance to refine his techniques.

Jaren Barredo was a more experienced newcomer, bringing a level of technicality that was otherwise a little bit lacking in the Green Box. It took Barredo a few matches to become accustomed to the Lightspeed system and the weapon, but once he was acclimated, he began earning beautiful 3-point returns, as well as a pair of wins. We’re excited to see what he can do in his next tournament.

Earlwin Famor was among the old favorites in the Green Box, not showing his best performance in his career, but a strong one regardless, characterized by graceful slipcuts and clean scores.

Despite all the great fighters in the Green Box, everyone knew that the two to watch were going to be women’s champion Jowanna Lewis and Krait Dragon Jose Ortiz-Miranda. From the beginning, Ortiz-Miranda dominated the box, defeating his opponents by wide margins, and did the showboating to show for it, earning the ire of the livestream. And, though unspoken, Jowanna Lewis resolved herself to take out the trashtalking LA Dragon.

Lewis and Ortiz-Miranda met about halfway through the pool. Their encounters were long and drawn out but never boring, as the patient Lewis waited for Ortiz-Miranda to make a mistake while deftly and barely (by mere inches) dodging the dragon’s big attacks. With a clean headshot and a deflect-return, Lewis took the first points and immediately placed herself into striking distance of the win. This seemed to place Ortiz-Miranda on notice, however, as he quickly rallied with a series of clean hits that drove him back up the scoreboard. Despite Lewis’ strong start, she was unable to score another point as Ortiz-Miranda drove the rest of the way to match point, defeating the women’s champ in an amazing battle. Ortiz-Miranda finished the pool undefeated, and handed Lewis her only loss in the Green Squadron. For Lewis’ part, this was definitely among her best performances to date.

BLUE SQUADRON

The Blue Squadron was composed of known fencers Alfonso Ramirez from Lone Wolf (E), Derick Manalastas (U), and Krait Dragon John Lee, not seen since the pandemic. It also held newcomers Polina Fadeeva, Patrick Sauter, and John Mullins. But the fencer to watch among all of these was the well known Jeremiah Rodriguez, who would be fighting for his first gold. Based on past performance, it would only be a question whether anyone in the box would be able to stand up against him.

One of the more anticipated fencers of the Blue Squadron was veteran John Lee of Krait Base, currently rated E but almost certainly underrated. Lee fought with great agility and excellent command of distance, but he met his match in even more agile fencers Wolf Ramirez and Knight Rodriguez, both of whom beat him with comfortable margins.

Ramirez did well for himself, netting 5 of 6 wins, though it was a hard battle for each of these victories, often getting out on top by a mere one point. The exception was Jeremiah Rodriguez, who defeated Ramirez soundly at 8-2.

Rodriguez was a force to be reckoned with in the Blue Box, leaving a wake of destruction after blowing out every single opponent, with only Dragon John Lee giving any significant resistance. Despite the dominance of his performance, Rodriguez won his battles with humility, grace, and skill. Quick hilt snipes and defensive plays were Rodriguez’ game, and he played the game well. This was probably Rodriguez’ most commanding performance of his career.

Derick Manalastas last fought with Lightspeed in 2018. He must have done significant training in the time between, as he earned 3 wins in this box, and, like Rodriguez, turned in his best showing of his career, and a major improvement over his last outing.

Meanwhile, newcomers Patrick Sauter, Polina Fadeeva, and John Mullins fought valiantly, though they faced tough battles against significantly more seasoned opponents. Mullins earned a win while Fadeeva earned two. Sauter did not earn a win on an invalid strike call by the referees, which left some in the livestream puzzled.

ELIMINATIONS

By the close of the pools, 8 competitors would move on to the eliminations, including Jowanna Lewis, Jose Ortiz-Miranda, and Jeremiah Rodriguez. This was familiar territory for Ramirez, Bryan Lee, and John Lee. But it would the first time in the eliminations for Manalastas and Barredo.

Bryan Lee took out Alfonso Ramirez, while John Lee took out Jowanna Lewis, a disappointing finish for the top rated lady. Manalastas was quickly removed by Ortiz-Miranda, and Jeremiah Rodriguez took down newcomer Jaren Barredo, despite a valiant effort.

This brought us to the semi-finals, where Rodriguez eliminated Paladin Bryan Lee, and Jose Ortiz-Miranda had a chance to fight teammate John Lee. After a hard fought battle, Ortiz-Miranda came out on top, leaving him to move on to the final against Rodriguez, probably the expected result of a long and fierce night.

Ortiz-Miranda v Rodriguez was no doubt the most anticipated fight of the night. After a decent start for Rodriguez that included a solid defensive maneuver giving him a 5-2 lead, Rodriguez was unable to produce another 3-pointer. Ortiz-Miranda charged in to take advantage of the indirect hit rule to slowly gain on his opponent. Ortiz-Miranda eventually overtook the younger fencer in a series of tough calls and close exchanges, eventually taking the match and the tournament. This was Ortiz-Miranda’s first top finish and his best perfomance in Lightspeed Saber thus far.

THANKS AND SEE YOU IN DECEMBER!

While Ortiz-Miranda did not earn a new grade this tournament, many new grades were earned. Congratulations to Derick Manalastas and Jaren Barredo for earning their E’s, and congratulations to John Lee for earning his D.

We had an extremely talented roster of fencers AND staff! Big thanks in particular to Tony Zaldua once again for his amazing lighting setup, and to the Hailes for acting as official referees for the first time. They did a great job.

There’s just one tournament left for the year in SoCal, which will be the regional championship, coming December 18. ONLY the top-ranked fencers will be participating in this one so it’s sure to be an incredible battle for gold. See you then!

DIRECTORS

Cang Snow
Sean Holtzman
Tony Zaldua

REFEREES

Andre Gonzales
Kieran Haile
Priscilla Haile
Tony Zaldua
William Alonzo

COMMENTARY

Steven Buonaugurio
Patricia Bauler

SETUP

John Mullins
Tony Zaldua
William Alonzo
Cang Snow
Sean Holtzman
Patricia Bauler
Raphael Estrada
Derick Manalastas

OTHER SUPPORT

Antoinette Vidal

COMPETITORS

Alfonso Ramirez (LWB)
Jeremiah Rodriguez (LSI)
Polina Fadeeva (LSI)
Hans Ossenkop (LFA)
Bryan Lee (LFA)
John Lee (KB)
Raphael Estrada (KB)
Jose Ortiz-Miranda (KB)
Earlwin Famor (KB)
Jowanna Lewis (LSBP)
Patrick Sauter
Derick Manalastas
Jaren Barredo
John Mullins