I had a blast today. It was almost worth only getting five hours of sleep.
So the wifey left for the weekend, and I decided I would take advantage of that by partaking in the pleasures of competitive fencing. I really thought I was going to head down to my home town of Augusta at some point last week and fence there for the third time this season. However I really had this strong urge to try something different. I mean i see a lot of the people that were there every time I go to a tournament. It gets old I guess, I need some variety.
So instead I went took the slightly longer drive and headed out to Wilmington, NC to fence in Cape Fear's Stab-a-thon... i mean with a name like that, how can you resist? And I was not disappointed by my choice. Epee started at 2 in the afternoon so I had plenty of time to get the dogs some exercise and fed and pottied so that they could enjoy a day of being home. After the dogs were set for the day, i got in the car and headed out.
Now the drive there was the beginning of the fun. You see, I travel to tournaments a lot. Not as much as some, but considering I deliver paint for a living and gas prices as they are, a lot for me. And most every tournament is along interstate roads. Not Wilmington. It is all highway 74 from Charlotte. And man there was something about traveling down 74 that made driving a bit more interesting that traveling down I77 or I85. There was a lot more to see. And I wish I could relay some of the crazy things I saw (big guy wearing suspenders over no shirt chasing a chicken was the best).
Not to mention I was getting over 25 mpg on the highway and I usually get 23 on interstate... the lower speed limits are better better for it I guess. (and I drive a PT Cruiser in case the mpg numbers make anyone interested.)
So I finally get there and foil is in full swing. I realize i don't care about foil though so I chat it up with a bunch of people. I met a lot of people. A couple of you said you read my blog. (You are now reading about yourself on my blog, weird isn't it? I get that feeling ever time I read my blog.)I watched some foil and ran through the right of way calls in my head to see how well they matched up with the actual call. Eh, I wouldn't say I was ready to ref foil anytime soon.
Finally epee started and I was top seed being the only B. The tournament was a C1, so I was not there for any ratings or anything like that, I was there just to have fun. So I went into it with that mindset. If I lost that meant somebody upset me, and good for them. I like winning as the underdog so I was kinda hoping for something crazy.
Robert, Kaitlyn, Michael and Laurie were in my pool. (I really just wanted to see if I could remember their names, and i rock like that.) And a couple of them admitted to being relatively new to the sport. There was a lot of extended arms while en guard sitting on the other side of the strip from me when I fenced my first three matches. I took advantage and took the blade a lot. My last match was the opposite though, the opponent had his arm in a good guard, but I was still trying to take the blade from far away. I regretted it when I lost the match.
I managed to finish 5th out 20 after pools And my first match was against one of the people from my pools. I knew what to do and fenced alright. I won the match soundly.
My next match was against one of the kids from NCSU. I had talked to the kids from NCSU a bunch up to that point. Offering pointers and such. They were good peoples. Which is why I did not exceptionally enjoy controlling the match the way I did. I used a lot of the things my coach has been discussing with me, and managed to pull off a very sound victory. I explained to him exactly what I was doing afterwards and told him how to avoid it. (that right there is foreshadowing)
That put me in the 4, but since it was Repechage format, The 4 finalists from the loss bracket would come back for a second chance. It was a LONG break for me. And I was tired. When the new round of 8 was listed I saw that I had to fence the same guy from NCSU. Let me say right now, that this was a much tougher match than the one we had just fenced. He changed his game completely. My fleches were not very strong against his more aggressive style and I had to resort to getting him to launch into something I could counter with single lights. I think he was ahead by 3 at one point, but I calmed down and pulled it off.
Now the real round of four. I pulled a gentleman who I had beaten a while back at one of the USC events. He had been looking for payback for a while. It was finally time for him to get the chance. I knew he was expecting my fleches. So instead I played a rather defensive game (for me anyways). I got a small early lead and rode that sucker on doubles to like 14-9. Then it was the break. After the break he added a much needed backwards element to his game. I thought he was going to have my number. I think I got the double at like 13-15 or 14-15. Everyone was rooting for him. To be honest, I would have been to if I had not had such a vested interest in him not winning. He fenced really well and changed his game well.
Finally the final. It was like freaking 7pm. I had been gone from home for HOURS and was ready for the end. I had fenced my opponent before but it had been a while. All I knew for sure was that he liked to flick. Well my coach has been working with me on defending that, so after a couple attempts he stopped trying. It was a tight match all the way. I had the lead at 9-6 but he took it at 11-10. the end score was 15-14 him on a double that I should have worked harder to avoid. I made a couple mistakes in that match. 2 or 3 touches particularly stand out in my mind. But it was a great match and I can't wait for the re-match.
I got second and a cool engraved cup. It will look great with the trophy and the plaque above my medals. I really wanted the creepy face thing that you got for first place, oh well.
I loved the tournament. It was well run and the people were great. I will definitely be going back out there. It is worth the drive. Today I was reminded that at one point in time, I just loved to fence regardless of everything else. Sometimes I get so caught up in my results and performance that I forget that. It took a special group of people to bring that back out. Thanks to everyone who was there, it may have been my favorite tournament of the season. I wish I could have went to the Barbque. Next time I will make smarter plans.
With that said I strongly encourage my readers to head on out there if you can. Next weekend there is a tournament at New Bern. I am going to try my hardest to get out there. You should see the trophy for first place. It is obnoxiously large. Seriously, it is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. I REALLY want to win it. You get a smaller trophy for winning Wimbledon. It is an outdoor electric epee tournament. Check it out here.
Seriously, if it is half as much fun as the stabathon then it will be a blast. I feel i have something else to say, but it is one in the morning. In a mere 5 hours I will have been awake for 24 hours straight, so I think I am just gonna crash. right now it is looking like next weekend New Bern, then a couple weekends off and then the state games. happy fencing everyone and have a great rest of the weekend.
05-25-2008 01:05 AM