It’s the second to last day of first session, and that means two things. The first is the fencing tournament.
Eight of Chippewa’s finest fencers were selected to compete in this year’s tournament, and the result was something spectacular! The field was divided into two pools, and the top two from each pool moved on to the final round. Advancing as the first seed from the western bracket was Miles Allen, and he took on the second seed from the eastern bracket Jake Endres. The first semifinal, played to 7 points, looked to be a blowout when Jake went up 6 points to 1. Within seconds Miles completely made up the gap and tied it up at 6-6. Despite the valiant effort, however, Jake was able to secure the final point and a spot in the finals.
In the second semifinal, the first seed from the eastern bracket Augie Avery faced the surprise second seed from the western bracket Tommy Mahoney. These two proved evenly matched throughout, and this semifinal also went to 6-6, with just one point separating either one from victory. But it was the slightly more aggressive Augie who prevailed in the end to secure the second spot in the finals.
And so in the finals it was a match-up of the number 1 and 2 seeds from the eastern bracket: Augie Avery and Jacob Endres. Augie started out strong from the gate, going up 8 points to 2 in the first minute of action. After the switch of ends, however, it was Jake who took control of the bout. The gap narrowed as they reached the goal of 15 points, and once again both players arrived at a tie at 14-14–each only one point away from claiming the title of champion. With a successful defense against a quick fleche attack, Augie Avery scored the final touch and became the 2013 First Session Fencing Tournament Champion. Congratulations, Augie!
