2023 Junior Olympic Championships Day 3 Recap: A mile high list of national champions

To summit all up, Day 3 in the Mile High City included the crowning of whopping six new national champions.

Taking home gold in the Junior Men’s Saber Team event was the squad from the Southern California Fencing Academy. When asked how it felt to win gold, the men exclaimed “ Winning gold is a good feeling. I think we offense really well and I had a really good day fencing.”

In an afternoon full of team bouts, the women in junior foil followed with a nail-biter of a final. Also reigning from California, the ladies from the Golubitsky Fencing Center secured their national champion bragging rights as cheering echoed throughout the Colorado Convention Center. “I think we all feel super excited and really proud of ourselves. We had a really tough semi-final about where the opponent came back. And we fought through it and we worked really well as a team and we just build on each other's energy. So I think we should all be really proud of ourselves today….” , said the Golubitsky crew.

Apparently, there was no “I” in team as the crowd-favorite team events carried on with the Junior Men’s Epee final. “I mean, it just feels awesome. Because team fencing is so much different from individual. Because there's so much stress, you don't want to let your teammates down. You don't let your friends down. But somehow we all managed to pull through!” Texas squad Alliance Fencing Academy proved that teamwork does in fact make the dream work, taking home their new gold bling.

Onto the individual event docket, Tim Morehouse Fencing Club standout Nickolas Rusadze edged out Castor Kao in the Cadet Men’s Foil Final. When asked how he was planning to celebrate, he said “I'm gonna start off by like chilling at home with my like friends and family and just relaxing.” 

Earning some much-deserved relaxation after the 2023 Junior Olympic Championships Junior Women’s Saber, was east coast all-star Jenna Shoman (Manhattan Fencing Center.) Also reigning from the New York Metro line was another newly crowned national champion, Christina Watrall (New York Athletic Club.) “I really needed this win” Watrall said, “I’ve had a lot of tough stuff going on in my life right now, so I really needed this.” What Christina didn’t know is we all needed the comeback story too.

Congratulations to all of our fencers today, may the odds be in your favor tomorrow during the final day of competition!

2023 Junior Olympic Championships Day 3 Medalists

Cadet Men’s Foil

Gold: Nickolas Rusadze (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club (Port Chester)

Silver: Castor T. Kao (Star Fencing Academy)

Bronze: Jeidus Deseranno (Renaissance Fencing Club)

Bronze: Aiden Siu (SoCAL Fencing)

5th: Alexander Wu (Star Fencing Academy)

6th Justice Cullivan (Columbus Fencing And Fitness LLC)

7th: Ryan Y. Kim (Silicon Valley Fencing Center)

8th: David Knizhnik (Invicta Sports)

Junior Women’s Saber

Gold: Jenna Shoman (Manhattan Fencing Center)

Silver: Katherine A. Andres (Southern California Fencing Academy)

3T: Alexandra Tzou (Sheridan Fencing Academy)

3T: Madeline A. Engelman-Sanz (Bergen Fencing Club)

5: Trisha Nath (Bergen Fencing Club)

6: Audrey J. Lin (Globus Fencing Academy)

7: Natalie J. Olsen (Nazlymov Fencing Foundation)

8: Charmaine G. Andres (Southern California Fencing Academy)

Junior Women’s Epee

Gold: Christina Watrall (New York Athletic Club)

Silver: Victoria Kuznetsov (Fencers Club Inc.)

Bronze: Lee Sumin (Battle Born Fencing Club)

Bronze: Ashley Luo (Olympia Fencing Center)

5: Regina Lee (Swords Fencing Studio)

6: Chloe (CJ) Tolsma (Alliance Fencing Academy)

7: Mia Smotritsky (New York Fencing Academy)

8: Angela Song (Cavalier Fencing Club)

Junior Men’s Epee Team Event

Gold: Alliance Fencing Academy: Alexander Fray, Sergei Kudriavtcev, James J. Sennewald , and Peyton E. Young

Silver: Penta Olympic Fencing Club: Thomas P. Murphy, Christopher Chong, Ian C. Park, and Byron Wu

Bronze: Cavalier Fencing Club: Daniel Gao, Michael Sha, Jonathan Wu, and Joseph Wu

Junior Team Women's Saber

Gold: AFFA: Kayla Alcebar, Maya Balakumaran, Veronica Mika, and Charlotte S. Scalamoni-Goldstein

Silver: Zeta Ladies: Nisha Hild, Victoria M. Gorman, Chloe Szeto, and Elaine Lu

Bronze: DC Fencers Club: Lauren Johnson, Soraya S. Henry, and Lydia Johnson