The final week of Summer Slash IV brought together nine competitors— three of the top placers from each week. The top positions were heavily populated by members of Lightspeed Saber Irvine like Rob Chan, Jamar Johnson, Jeremiah Rodriguez, Max Whitaker, and Walter Simbol; but also included two wolves: Rico Thompson and Andre Gonzales, a penguin: Richard Liang, and top women’s competitor Jowanna Lewis, coming all the way from Las Vegas.

The night began with a warmup pool, where in the competitors were split into groups of 4 and 5, and allowed to fight in casual matchups to get them ready and limber for their big matches coming up. Finally, as dusk began to set in, the first match of the night began: Max Whitaker versus Andre Gonzales.

Whitaker v Gonzales was a tournament qualifier to enter the main bracket, and, given the difference in experience, it was always going to be an uphill climb for Whitaker. He did, however, manage to win a single round, fighting valiantly to ensure no guaranteed victory for the captain of the wolves. Gonzales did indeed fight through it, however, taking two rounds and knocking out the determined Whitaker.

Next, Walter Simbol faced veteran competitor Richard Liang, of Penguin Saber Academy. Liang is a top officer among the penguins, compared to it being Simbol’s first competition. And although Simbol performed well for his first event, and even earning a single round against Liang, the match came out as expected, and Liang took the win handily.

Next, long time teammates Jowanna Lewis and Jamar Johnson duked it out in a classic matchup. Lewis fought with her characteristic style of fire and ice, but Johnson was not intimidated by Lewis’ stony defense, and came in for the attack. Lewis was stunned by Johnson’s speed and power and was not able to mount an effective counter offense. Johnson walked out 2-0.U

Up next, Cadet Jeremiah Rodriguez faced the older and taller Rico Thompson of the Lone Wolves. Thompson fought with his characteristic unorthodox style and especially unorthodox stance. It improved a detriment for him as the classically trained Rodriguez capitalized on this idiosyncrasy, scoring clean after clean shot, including a few return hits, causing him to shoot up the scoreboard. Rodriguez quickly won both rounds easily.

The final match of the quarter finals was Andre Gonzales v Rob Chan. This was always going to be a tough battle for Gonzales, who was just coming off many months out of state and out of practice. Chan was faster and better conditioned, and better able to ghost out of Gonzales’ swift strikes. The two often danced back and forth, trading shots and looking for targets. Ultimately Chan would land often enough to take the match 2-0.

The semi-finals began with a grudge match between Jamar Johnson and Richard Liang. Liang, who narrowly defeated Johnson in Week One, was looking for a repeat performance. However, Johnson came packed with a new weapon setup, going for reach rather than speed. While Liang seemed to maintain his characteristic style including bolts and offensive deflect-returns, the added few inches from Johnson seemed to just keep his targets out of reach, giving Johnson the win at 2-0. The opponents embraced at the end, and both walked away sweating and exhausted.

Among those familiar with the competitive Irvine scene, the second semi-final was the most anticipated matchup of the night: Jeremiah Rodriguez v Rob Chan. Both competitors had long been preparing for the fight, as both knew that the encounter was likely based on the pre-determined bracket. Chan came out swinging with his characteristic off-tempo and trick-angle shots, stunning Rodriguez to a 9-2 lead in the first round. However, Rodriguez suddenly caught up with two 3-point returns in a row, evening the score instantly to 9-8. Although Chan won the next crash and ultimately the next round, it was the most electric moment of the night.

Rodriguez later went on to a runoff to defeat Richard Liang in a single 8-point round to take 3rd place.

Finally, the finals came down to Jamar Johnson and Rob Chan. This was a knock down, drag out fight with a lot of crashing, but still with a few virtuosic dodges between the two extremely nimble competitors. Chan took the first round with a fair lead, and was leading in the second. While 3 points away from match he went for a contentious counterattack which was ruled as a indirect hit for Johnson, after which Johnson went on fire, scoring point after point and actually stealing the second round from Chan. For the third and final round, Chan rallied back, but so did Johnson, taking the score all the way up to 11-11. But in the final crash, Chan edged out Johnson by just milliseconds, taking the win, and the tournament.

While the final night of the tournament held few surprises in terms of the outcomes, there was some surprisingly strong performances, and it’s clear that no victories are secure. We’re so excited to see what comes from Chan, Johnson, Rodriguez, and Liang in the future. It could be anyone’s game.

Many thanks to Priscilla Haile, Kieran Haile, and Director Sean Holtzman for making the stream possible and helping keep the tournament data, and of course to our referees, Jose Ortiz-Miranda and Tony Zaldua. We’re looking forward to seeing them compete in the next tournament!

Supreme Leader Snow