We’ve had many a spectacular championship in Lightspeed’s time, but Lightspeed: Revenge will surely go down in history as one of its most memorable. It wasn’t the largest, nor did it have the greatest geographical spread, but it had:

  1. Not one, not two, but three people re-earning their world titles

  2. The largest ever team-based competition at 31 people

  3. The first supertournament since 2022

  4. Lightspeed’s first real spectator-focused “show” since 2020

  5. And for the first time, the women’s and teams’ events given a well-deserved prime spotlight.

Kana Yamada spars with husband Takeshi. Credit: CinemaPro Media.

The start of the event was humble; many classic amenities had to be gone without: prizes, commemorative badges, and the Day Zero workshops; the demands of stabilizing Lightspeed Saber Academy in its new location with tripled rent was a daunting and time-consuming task for the staff, and planning for the big event had to be put aside.

Several popular events were severely curtailed as well, with both Ren Saber and Mixed Weapons placed on the same day and on the least attended day, Thursday, June 18th, the first day of competition.

At the same time, many prominent and regular out-of-state fencers would not be making it this time, or dropped out with just weeks to go. 2025 Weapon Master Em Watson (Virginia), 2024 Champions Chris Isom (Tahoe) & Ally Fournier (Tennessee), league Vice President and excellent fencer himself Kevin Fournier (Tennessee), 2025 Champion Ryan McKenna (Virginia), and young phenom Josiah Kupitz & family (Oregon) were sorely missed.

But if Lightspeed: Revenge was to be lesser in scope than its predecessors, then it would at least be something anyone would regret missing, or so the planners vowed.

With 3 weeks to go before the start, the staff toiled to assemble one of Lightspeed's most challenging undertakings: the Lightspeed Fencing World Championship Show, transforming Lightspeed Saber Academy from gym to stage.

But before that, there were competitions to be held, and competitors to medal. Let’s take a look at the action and results.

Revenge DAY ONE

Ren Saber & Mixed Weapons

REN SABER

Since 2025, Ren Saber had been de-emphasized on the west coast, and so its attendance was expected to be small and inexperienced. Still, there was solid competition at 9 competitors, with prominent users including Tony Zaldua, Jose Ortiz-Miranda, and Preston Pomeroy. Many fencers were competing in Ren for the first time.

Despite its de-emphasis, the weapon was represented well, with fencers parrying and counter-parrying, allowing for longer encounters than the standard weapon, in some cases leading to some very low scoring matches.

And while most Ren Sabers were loaned out to athletes for free, there was another reason that people were going for it: it was a requirement for those shooting for the Weapon Master title in 2026, and for anyone trying to unseat the 2-year champion in that category, Jose Ortiz-Miranda. Indeed, it seemed quite possible, as Tony Zaldua and newcomer April Roper overtook him, earning 1st and 2nd, respectively, with Ortiz-Miranda taking 3rd.

April Roper was a bit of a wildcard, with just about 5 months experience in Lightspeed, plus prior experience with longsword, though also just coming off a 2 month hiatus due to injury. She fought admirably in the gold medal match, but Zaldua’s nearly 10 years of Lightspeed experience was difficult to hurtle, and the 2022 champion walked away with a comfortable win and the top spot yet again.

April Roper engaging Tony Zaldua in the Ren Saber tournament.

MIXED WEAPONS

Mixed Weapons was naturally better attended, with an interesting mix of Tano Saber, Ren Saber, and Rey Saber. Tano Saber ended up being the dominant weapon system, with fully 3 of the final 4 dual-wielding. In an upset, B-rank and 3rd year fencer Brian Lee knocked out Tony Zaldua early with his Rey Saber. While he did lose to newcomer and escrimador Mark Maslar, he also bested 10 year veteran Sean Holtzman (Tano) to take 3rd place. In the end, it was Tano v Tano, with Maslar facing 7 year veteran Jose Ortiz-Miranda, with the more experienced fencer taking the gold, and Maslar winning silver.


Revenge DAY TWO

Standard Saber Supertournament

It was exactly four years ago that the supertournament was first run: America was just coming out of the worst of COVID, and many squadrons around the country were meeting for the first time; so it was decided to make room for everyone to fence as many people as possible, with 3 pools of 10 fencers each. These were split into two separate days, with the brackets culminating on that day. This time, there were 3 pools of 9, and all matches, including brackets, were to be completed in a single day.

Admittedly, this plan was ambitious; the schedule was extremely tight and the event ran several hours overtime due to tech problems. Consideration was given to cut off the bracket at 16, but after discussion, we decided that the supertournament had to live up to its name, and thus everyone was promoted to the bracket. The data was also calculated by hand (diligently by Patricia Bauler, Dinah Kolasa, and John Mullins)!

The bracket was split up into novice and advanced. First time competitor Chris Gray performed spectacularly and earned a spot in the upper division. Mark Maslar did as well, though he elected for lower division due to twisting his ankle the day before. Most of the A’s and B’s earned their position in the upper division, though several had the ability to choose, and elected to downgrade.

Chris Gray gave an exceptional performance despite how green he was. Above: Chris attacks Joe Sosta. Credit: CinemaPro Media.

In the lower division, newcomer Andrew Molina defaulted to third place after fellow newcomer Henry Do was blackcarded. This left Mark Maslar and long time competitor Sean Holtzman to fight for first among Div II, with Holtzman ultimately taking the win. This made for two 2nd place finishes for Maslar.

The upper division was hotly contested, with former cadet Conner Gutierrez (B), AJ Enescu (A), Jose Ortiz-Miranda (A), and Tony Zaldua (A) making the top 4. Gutierrez faced off against Enescu, and ultimately lost due to a faulty saber and a technicality, giving Enescu the bronze.

Zaldua and Ortiz-Miranda met for the gold medal match. Forces were high, and several warnings and cards were given. After a short break to calm the fencers down, Zaldua had more than a ten point lead with not much time left. The fencing in the final encounters were precise and technical, with Ortiz-Miranda landing two counters in a row, netting 10 points in just a few seconds and tying the match to go to overtime. In the final encounter, Zaldua scored a clean shot against Ortiz-Miranda’s aggression, to take the gold, and win the championship for the second time in his career.

Ortiz-Miranda, for his part, performed well enough in the three individual events to once again earn the title of Weapon Master, three years in a row: 3rd in Ren, 1st in mixed, and 2nd in Rey.

Revenge DAY THREE

Women & Control Point

After an exhausting Friday, the LSA staff worked into the night to prepare for Day Three, with lots of help from member Bruce Robertson, and visitors Gavin Wagner and Sean Friedmann from New York. Since only two pools would be occurring at a time, the Red Box was converted into a spectator area, and Boxes Blue and Green were recruited for the women’s and team events.

WOMEN

The women went first, putting up 8 ladies to vie for the title, including Coach Dinah Kolasa, defending her gold medal from last year. The rest of the roster consisted of newcomers Charlie Nguyen, Starr Ngo, Pamela Gray, Kana Yamada, and Justina Tran; as well as Samantha Kolasa and April Roper.

In the brackets, Nguyen and Tran were quickly knocked out by the more experienced Kolasa twins. The spritely Yamada fought admirably against Roper but was outmatched by the taller, younger, and more experienced Roper. Yet, in a surprise, with only a month’s experience, Pamela Gray knocked out Starr Ngo, qualifying her for the final four, joining the twins and April Roper for the Championship to occur later in the evening.

CONTROL POINT

Control Point was the best attended event at Lightspeed: Revenge, with a total of 31 competitors in 8 teams vying for dominance. The teams were:

  • Puerto Rico:

    • Jose Ortiz-Miranda, Tony Zaldua, Nathan Hohsfield, Kevin Degnan

  • Lake Forest:

    • Charlie Nguyen, Sunober Siddiqi, Gus Perez, Starr Ngo

  • Los Angeles:

    • William Alonzo, Chris Gray, Pamela Gray, Matt Pointer

  • Buena Park:

    • Conner Gutierrez, Alex Arellano, April Roper, Louis Luong

  • Cerritos:

    • Brian Lee, Preston Pomeroy, Dana Zurek, Irving Corona

  • Garden Grove:

    • Andrew Molina, Samantha Kolasa, Justina Tran, AJ Enescu

  • Long Beach:

    • Joe Sosta, Michael Sosta, Takeshi Yamada, Kana Yamada

  • Long Island:

    • Sean Friedmann, Gavin Wagner, Bruce Robertson

The teams were split into two pools, with Los Angeles, Buena Park, Long Beach, and Long Island facing each other in a round robin in the Blue Box, and Lake Forest, Puerto Rico, Garden Grove, and Cerritos doing the same in the Green Box. Due to a no-show, Long Island was left without a fourth, and so fenced as a “guest team”, able to participate in the pools but restricted from the medal matches.

Green Box was an intense battle through and through, with multiple safety breaks taken, as well as at least one red card handed out to each team. Team Puerto Rico came out on top with 6 rounds won, with Garden Grove and Cerritos following behind with 4 and 3, respectively. Cerritos team leader Brian Lee distinguished himself in the battle against Garden Grove with several counterattacks in a row, holding the line for his team for over a minute. Dana Zurek, a complete newcomer from Monterey, California, also on the Cerritos team, adjusted admirably to the speed and chaos of Control Point. Sunober Siddiqi, fighting for Lake Forest, also streaked several times thanks to her surprisingly fast shot and intelligent targeting.

Nathan Hohsfield, a visitor from Saber Legion and now fighting for Puerto Rico, was carded almost immediately, but adjusted quickly and admirably, impressing everyone with quick shots and good blade work.

Blue Box was different. With Team Long Island’s performance not in play, this pool had a more jovial and relaxed atmosphere. This team was taken to being called “Team Jester”, and they tried things athletes wouldn’t normally try, and fought in ways that were more amusing than effective. This seemed to have a calming effect on the whole box, and there were many laughs mingled with cries of victory. Ultimately, Team Buena Park dominated with four rounds won, followed by Los Angeles and Long Beach.

Long Island’s Gavin Wagner ???? against LA’s Pamela Gray. Credit: CinemaPro Media.

This put the final four standings at Cerritos, Garden Grove, Puerto Rico, and Buena Park leading the pack. Since it was a round robin tournament, that meant that Cerritos and Garden Grove would face off for the bronze, and Puerto Rico and Buena Park would fight for gold.

Team Long Beach, consisting of Joe & Michael Sosta and Takeshi & Kana Yamada. Credit: CinemaPro Media.

THE SHOW

It was at last time for the show. Curtains were installed, music was played, and commentators sat at their desk. All athletes were suddenly recast as performers, readying themselves backstage for the crowd outside. The event began with MC Andrew Molina amping up the crowd before the very first match of the program: Samantha Kolasa versus Pamela Gray. But before that, an introductory video was played to familiarize everyone with the sport of Lightspeed Saber.

Gray v Kolasa was a like a mirror match, with both fencers having very similar tempos and attacks. The bout was at a stand still until twin sister Dinah advised Kolasa to break out of normal behaviors at the half. This gave Samantha the edge to beat the less experienced but equally quick Gray. Samantha Kolasa took home the women's bronze medal.

As April Roper and Dinah Kolasa readied themselves backstage, a short video made by Dinah Kolasa was played, showcasing fencers in the week before Lightspeed: Revenge. This was a series of short interviews showing the fencers’ more playful sides, including which fencer they were the most focused on beating, which turned out to be AJ Enescu, whose style is distinct both in and out of the gym.

At last it was time for Dinah Kolasa to defend her title. Right away, anyone could tell that, unlike the bronze match, Kolasa and Roper were polar opposites in style; Roper: tall, explosive, chaotic and often unpredictable in her fencing; versus Kolasa: steadfast, not short but lean, structured but quick, and very counteroffensive in nature.

The strategies quickly became apparent, too. Kolasa aimed to score critical counterattacks against the taller and more mobile Roper, while Roper aimed to foil those defenses with odd attack angles. While Roper’s strategies were effective, they only scored her a point at a time (indirects), while Kolasa reliably earned higher scoring actions. Kolasa maintained a lead for most of the battle, eventually taking the win and re-earning her title as women’s world champion.

From here the show switched gears to the team event, where Control Point was preceded by an introductory video on the basics of playing Lightspeed’s flagship tagteam format. Team Garden Grove and Team Cerritos then took the stage, and so did little blue and red flags among the spectators, plus homemade signs both encouraging and discouraging their favored and disfavored teams: “Garbage Grove”. “Cerritos sucks!” No squad was spared denigration, but most of the fans were supportive of everyone.

In order to maintain a good flow for the match, a lenient view of power was taken at first. However, after the first round was a bit haphazard, controls were locked down and cards were handed out to keep the fencers better behaved.

Garden Grove won the first round with Cerritos trailing about 30 seconds. The second round was much closer, however, as Cerritos found its footing against their rivals. AJ Enescu deployed his “deflector shield” defense, but Preston Pomeroy got through it anyway, landing a pinpoint accurate clean shot. Matt Pointer, fighting for Cerritos, streaked early in the match, eliminating Enescu with a flunge, then tagging the wrong button, then somehow clean shotting Samantha Kolasa as she rushed in to capitalize on his error. He then took out Justina Tran just after converting the clock to his side.

The final round came down to just a few seconds on each side, with Samantha Kolasa eventually making the final button press which sealed the bronze medal win for Garden Grove.

It was at last time for the highlight event of the night, the gold medal match between Buena Park and Puerto Rico. As the fencers readied themselves, a video featuring Lightspeed VP Kevin Fournier, Director of Operations Chris Stadther, and Malaysia Representative Adam Azhad announcing the Lightspeed rankups over the last 12 months, which included people from California, Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, and Malaysia. In all there were 29 rankups.

Team Puerto Rico consisted of Tony Zaldua, Jose Ortiz-Miranda, Kevin Degnan, and Nathan Hohsfield, a median rating of A-B. Team Buena Park had a median rating of C, consisting of Conner Gutierrez, Alex Arellano, Louis Luong, and April Roper. So while Buena Park performed slightly better in the pools, these teams had never faced each other there, and it would surely be an uphill battle for the younger fencers led by Gutierrez.

As the fencers emerged from behind the curtains, so did the fansigns: “Puerto Stinko”. “Buena Farts” (who was making these up?). And thus the battle began.

April Roper distinguished herself in the first round, scoring a critical clean contact against Tony Zaldua and tagging her team’s button with just a few seconds left. She was already bowing by the time Nathan Hohsfield was rushing in, but alas, too late for Team Puerto Rico, and Team Buena Park took the first round with a 45 second differential.

Round One may have been Team Buena Park’s, but Round Two went to Puerto Rico, and in a similar fashion. Nathan Hohsfield dealt a crowd-stunning disarm against April Roper. Kevin Degnan also distinguished himself here, withstanding a withering assault by BP fencer after BP fencer, holding the line, until at last the buzzer rang, with about 45 seconds remaining.

Puerto Rico’s Nathan Hohsfield disarms Buena Park’s April Roper during the Control Point gold medal match. Credit: Bruce Robertson

And so it came down to the final round, with each team earning a round each. This round was a little bit closer, with a 30 second differential. With Puerto Rico leading, both Zaldua and Ortiz-Miranda scored cleanly and consistently. When only 10 seconds were left, Louis Luong rushed in and was aggressive but careful, netting a 7 second bonus by deceiving defender Ortiz-Miranda’s block, then deftly defending against Zaldua peppering his hands with shot after shot. But eventually Zaldua’s blade hit its mark, and Luong exited the field. Gutierrez rushed in to save his team but it wasn’t enough time, and Puerto Rico sealed the final win, taking the match and the gold.

As the night came to a close, and the medals were awarded, a special honor was given to member Bruce Robertson: a Lightspeed: Revenge “Special Edition” medal, in honor of the enormous mural he did for us on our gym’s southern side. More thanks were given, and then afterward, about two dozen of the present crew went out for Korean barbeque.

Long Island’s Bruce Robertson squares off before his own mural against LA’s Chris Gray. Robertson was awarded a special edition medal for his painting achievement. Credit: CinemaPro Media.

Revenge DAY FOUR

Younglings & Annihilation

The Sunday of the championships is always a quieter affair, but they’re still just as fun!

YOUNGLINGS

The day began with the youngling tournament, consisting of Castor B (9yo), Ximena P (10yo), and Ezekiel R (11yo). These were three passionate young members of Lightspeed Saber Academy, they were very much looking forward to this event, to name the Lightspeed Saber youngling champion.

This tournament started with a short pool, as usual, with Ezekiel doing well enough to earn a bye to the gold medal. Ximena was defeated by Castor, who then went on to fight Ezekiel for gold.

The taller and older Ezekiel was defeating Castor solidly until the half, when she tearfully received some counsel from her coach, Dinah Kolasa. Afterward she rallied, and managed to eke out a victory over Ezekiel! Castor has come a long way, at first punished and reprimanded for her recklessness, but she showed precision and courage in her first tournament, and we are extremely proud of her.

Of course, we are proud of all of our kids. Both Ezekiel and Ximena have put extra effort to train their fellow kid recruits in class. Ezekiel, in particular, puts 110% effort into the workouts even though they are mostly performed by adults, and Ximena’s technique has been honed and refined over months, despite her unassuredness in herself. We’re sure these two will be providing stiff competition in the future.

ANNIHILATION

Annihilation, the innovative tagteam format developed by Lightspeed VP Kevin Fournier, once again made a return to the Lightspeed championships. If Control Point is an F1 race, then Annihilation is a chess match, emphasizing strategy and carefully considered choices.

In Annihilation, fencers have hitpoints, and the objective is to reduce all the opposing members’ hitpoints to zero (thus annihilating them). The catch? The higher ranked your team members are, the fewer hitpoints they have– A ranks only have 3 hitpoints, while U ranks have 8. Will you deploy your tanks? Or your glass cannons? Smart choices can outweigh skill and experience.

In addition, clean fencing is prioritized, as hitting first may knock out an opponent, but you will lose hitpoints as well if you’re struck back. Defensive fencers can earn back hitpoints for their teammates by scoring a counterattack, even reviving defeated players.

This was a double elimination tournament featuring 4 teams:

  • The E-Ranks:

    • Tony Zaldua, Rob Chan, & Dinah Kolasa

  • The Dragon Slayers:

    • Preston Pomeroy, William Alonzo, & Bruce Robertson

  • Justice:

    • Justina Tran, Samantha Kolasa, & John Mullins

  • Stickers

    • AJ Enescu, Brian Lee, & Conner Gutierrez

Right away the need for a change in strategy became apparent, as A-level fencers were put in early and soundly eliminated each other in simultaneous clashes. Team E-Ranks adjusted quicker than others, and embarked on a road to defeat all comers. Team Justice was the first to fall prey to them, but in an incredible comeback, fought its way through the losers’ bracket to once again face their rivals. But, it was not to be, as the E-ranks defeated them even more soundly than last time. But, they did walk away with the silver, with the Dragon Slayers earning bronze. The E-Ranks won the day.

Team Justice, Team Stickers, the Dragon Slayers, and the winners, The E-Ranks.

As promised, this was a championship for the history books. 45 unique competitors. 40 medals. Three returning and renewed champions. A 27-person tourney in three 9-person pools. 90 minutes of solid Lightspeed Saber competitive entertainment.  How can we possibly top this for next year? We don’t yet know, but we do know that with a crew as amazing as our Lightspeed Saber family, there’ll be no stopping our movement.

With that, we bring Lightspeed Season 10 to a close. What an incredible 10 years it has been. Here’s to another 10. Thank you for reading, and thank you for being a part of Lightspeed Saber.

Be kind, and stand up for what’s right.

Cang Snow
Lightspeed Saber League
Chief Executive Officer

CREDITS

  • Cang Snow

    • Reffing, proctoring, tournament director, signage, data, rules videos, rankups video, show director, article

  • Dinah Kolasa

    • Reffing, proctoring, women’s recruitment, data, staff shirts, medals, fun video, snacks & drinks, mailers

  • John Mullins

    • Reffing, proctoring, tournament director, data

  • Samantha Kolasa

    • Photography

  • Gavin Wagner

    • Signage, bench construction

  • Pamela Gray

    • Signage

  • Sean Holtzman

    • Proctoring, signage, DJ

  • Andrew Molina

    • DJ, MC, sound setup

  • Corinne Gonzalez

    • Commentator

  • Henry San Miguel

    • Commentator, sound setup

  • Kevin Degnan

    • Control Point construction, bench construction

  • Sean Friedmann

    • Bench construction, gopher

  • Bruce Robertson

    • Photography, bench construction, deconstruction

  • Patricia Bauler

    • Reffing, data, staff shirts

  • Louis Luong

    • Photography

  • Justin Mecate

    • Photography

  • Chris Gray

    • Cleanup

  • Conner Gutierrez

    • Dinner plans

  • Sunober Siddiqi

    • Fanflags

  • Joe Sosta

    • Medal stickers

  • William Alonzo

    • Trophies

  • Parents & families

    • Supporting their kids!!

  • Vice President Kevin Fournier

    • Annihilation, scoring app, California rankup announcements

  • Director of Operations Chris Stadther

    • Online stats and tournament management system, rankup announcements

  • Tuan (Cang’s dad)

    • Water filter installation

Credit: CinemaPro Media.

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