The U.S. Junior Men’s Sabre Team earned the bronze on the final day of the 2004 Junior & Cadet World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria today.
The U.S.’s final medal count: seven, including two individual golds, one silver and two bronzes, plus one team gold and this bronze.
The U.S. juniors (Tim Hagamen, 19, New York, N.Y.; Alex Krul, 18, Thousand Oaks, Calif.; and Mike Momtselidze, 20, Columbus, Ohio) advanced to the final four by beating Italy 45-35. The team lost in the semifinals to Hungary by a narrow margin (45-43); Hungary went on to defeat the Ukraine 45-36 for the gold.
The U.S. men then squeaked by Russia 45-44 for the bronze.
The women’s foil team of Emily Cross (17, New York, N.Y.), Jacqueline Leahy (18, Aurora, Colo.), Cassidy Luitjen (19, San Antonio, Texas) and Samantha Nemecek (16, Alto, Mich.) lost their bid for the medal round to the No. 1 seed, France, 45-40.
The U.S. Junior Men’s Épée Team of Ben Bratton (18, Richmond Hill, N.Y.), Nick Chinman (15, Boulder, Colo.), William Verigan (19, Wyckoff, N.J.) and Ben Ungar (18, New York, N.Y.) finished a very respectable sixth in a large field.
Seeded 7th with a bye in the first round, the U.S. team defeated Portugal (45-37) in the round of 32 and Sweden (45-34) in the round of 16. They then lost to the eventual gold-medal team from Russia 45-40 in the quarterfinals.
Junior Men’s Sabre Team
April 8, 2004
21 teams
1 Hungary
2 Ukraine
3 U.S.A.
– HAGAMEN Tim (19, New York, N.Y./Fencers Club/Harvard ’06)
– KRUL Alex (18, Thousand Oaks, Calif./Fencers Club/Columbia ’07)
– MOMTSELIDZE Mike (20, Columbus, Ohio/Ohio Fencing Alliance)
4 Russia
Junior Women’s Foil Team
April 8, 2004
23 teams
1 Russia
2 Germany
3 Italy
4 France
5 U.S.A.
– CROSS Emily (17, New York, N.Y./Fencers Club)
– LEAHY Jacqueline (18, Aurora, Colo./Fencers Club/Princeton ’06)
– LUITJEN Cassidy (19, San Antonio, Texas/Fencers Club/Columbia ’07)
– NEMECEK Samantha (16, Alto, Mich./West Mich. F.A.)
Junior Men’s Épée Team
April 8, 2004
32 teams
1 Russia
2 France
3 Poland
4 Korea
6 U.S.A.
– CHINMAN Nicholas (15, Boulder, Colo./Northern Colo. Fencers)
– BRATTON Benjamin (18, Richmond Hill, N.Y./Westbrook Foundation/St. John’s ’07)
– VERIGAN William (19, Wyckoff, N.J./N.Y.A.C./Columbia ’06)
– UNGAR Benjamin (18, New York, N.Y./N.Y.A.C./Bronx H.S. of Science)
For more information, please contact Cindy Bent Findlay, USFA Media Contact, email: usfencingmedia@earthlink.net.