2025 Junior & Cadet Worlds Recap, Day 2 (Cadet Saber): Gonzalez Strikes Gold, Zhang Earns Bronze for Team USA

WUXI, China — Strobe lights flashed, music blared, and two giant video screens — emblazoned with fiery dragons, of course — parted to reveal the fencers who had reached the medal rounds.

Out walked Emilio Gonzalez (Scarsdale Fencing Center, Fencers Club Inc.), stepping into his first semifinal at a world championship but looking cool, confident, and ready to fence. He was soaking it all in.

“It didn’t even feel real — just looking into the crowd, trying to find my teammates, my mom, my coach,” he says. “It’s an experience I’ll have for the rest of my life. It was just amazing.”

All that fanfare was nice, but once the mask went on, Gonzalez got down to business, winning both the semifinal and final to become the 2025 Cadet Men’s Saber World Champion on Day 2 of the 2025 Junior & Cadet Fencing World Championships in Wuxi, China. Meanwhile, in the Cadet Women’s Saber event, Xuanyi Zhang (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona, Spartak) earned bronze.

This achievement marks a strong return for Team USA in Cadet Saber, which was shut out of medals in both Cadet Saber events at last year’s Junior & Cadet Worlds in Saudi Arabia.

A Cadet World Championships has been held annually since 1987, and Gonzalez becomes just the second Cadet Men’s Saber World Champion in Team USA history. The other? Gonzalez’s teammate at Scarsdale Fencing Center, Will Morrill, who claimed the title in 2023.

“I’ve been fencing for eight years, so to become a world champion just sounds amazing,” Gonzalez says. “This medal means the world to me, and it goes to all my teammates, all my coaches.”

Zhang, meanwhile, arrived in Wuxi simply hoping to advance from pool play at her first Junior & Cadet Worlds. She did much more than that, battling all the way to a bronze medal.

“My coach tells me to keep fighting,” she says. “I was happy that I made it into the top 32, but he kept telling me to keep fighting.”

And she did — all the way to the podium.

“It means a lot,” she says. “Everyone who’s with me today, my coaches back in California, and my friends, too — they’ve been cheering me on.”

• Bronze: Xuanyi Zhang (LA Fencing Academy of Pomona, Spartak)
• 5th: Brynnley McKee (Tim Morehouse Fencing Club)
• 6th: Natalie Tsui (Manhattan Fencing Center)

• Gold and 2025 World Champion: Emilio Gonzalez (Scarsdale Fencing Center, Fencers Club Inc.)
• 9th: Daniel Holz (Premier Fencing Academy)
• 21st: Christopher Guffey (Globus Fencing Academy)