RESULTS

WINNERS

Andre Gonzalez (LWB)
Jacob Hoskinson (KC)
Tony Zaldua (KB)

PROMOTIONS & RE-GRADES

Andre Gonzalez promoted to E
Jacob Hoskinson promoted to E
Tony Zaldua promoted to E
Walter Simbol (KC) promoted to E
John Mullins (KC) promoted to E
Earlwin Famor promoted to E

It was a great day of firsts as Lightspeed explored new territory with the premiere of Lightspeed softsword, a new padded weapon format being tried with the league.

The day as planned began with a 14 person softsword competition. It was a hot day, and the fencers would only get hotter as the sun blazed and the sparse tree shade moved away. but that didn’t stop people lfrom fighting their hardest, many of whom were using the weapon for the first time. A corollary to a machete, the softsword presented significant range challenges to the ordinarily 36” long Lightspeed Saber. Plus, this was now an edged weapon, requiring a minimum attack arc in order to be valid. It was whole new frontier for the organizers and competitors alike.

But it still bore many similarities to Lightspeed Saber, and many strong contenders in Lightspeed remained so here. Jacob Hoskinson took the top spot in the pools, just above current Lightspeed champion Tony Zaldua. Notable performances also came from Walter Simbol and Earlwin Famor.

But most interestingly, Tony Zaldua was knocked down to the bronze match early by Lone Wolf captain Andre Gonzalez. Gonzalez eventually faced Irvine Knight Jacob Hoskinson, who battled it out to 14 points for the gold. While it was no easy bout, Gonzalez won with a commanding lead of 14-6, making this his first ever gold finish in Lightspeed.

As the latter half of the day began, it was time to go into Lightspeed Saber. This was a D-level event, intended to rank up E’s and U’s up to the D rank. However, just as the first few matches were completing, the sky grew dark and a few drops rapidly turned into torrents of rain. Unfortunately the Lightspeed event was rained out ( which, incidentally, was the first time this had ever happened in SoCal). What competitors remained did an adaptive fencing single elimination competition under a small overhang in the park. This was, again, another challenging format for our fencers to adapt to, but they showed enthusiasm and drive to try something new, and ultimately Jacob Hoskinson came out on top against Klaus McKain.

While the day was disappointing, many great and new things were accomplished anyway, and we’re excited to try again in a few weeks.

For full data and awards, go to the Results page.