RESULTS
WINNERS
Chris Stadther (RB)
Hayden B. (RB)
Eric N.
PROMOTIONS & RE-GRADES
Chris Stadther promoted to D
Eric N promoted to E
Lightspeed Saber Virginia hosted its second open tournament, the first of the 2022-23 season. The tournament was held in conjunction with Via Colori Stafford, and we thank them so much for including us in their festivities this weekend!
Our ten competitors included four novice fencers with less than two months of experience, alongside of five experienced intermediate fencers and seasoned veteran, Chris Stadther, without whom none of this would have been possible. All fencers scored at least one win in the pools, with Chris Stadther, Sofia Bush-Resko, and Hayden Bush-Resko taking the top three spots.
Clean shots dominated the evening with a whopping 64% of successful attacks. Newcomers Robert Nielsen and Eric Nguyen showed their colors with the most honor calls at three each. Together in the pools, Robert and Eric proved that deft footwork makes for good exchanges; both were well-winded by their efforts. In a surprise upset, Eric out-maneuvered Sofia to dance his way into the semi-finals, ultimately winning his E rank. Fellow novice fencers Matthew and Lex impressed the refs with a couple of clean returns each.
Of the more experienced fencers, Asher Trask stepped in at the last minute to entertain with his speed and agility, also earning the first band-aid of the night from an overly aggressive lunge to the pavement. Arden battled back from an injury early in his DE round, making the next few touches to even up the score before taking the match. Hayden Bush-Resko maintained rock-solid focus and focused targeting to land the Silver.
Overall, we had a blast, and though technical difficulties robbed us of some key footage, and the lack of ambient light caused problems for the refs, we learned a lot, and are looking forward to the next tournament in November!
JOSH BLUM
Tournament Director
