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| Well, this was my 15th nationals and the most amazing story to date. It all started in the beginning of the season when four young fencers at our school took on the name of the four horsemen. They were determined to prove that our sabre program was the best in the state in the end they proved it was one of the best in the SE section. It all started out really bad because we got to CA two hours before the check in of our first events and did I mention that the airlines lost our luggage!? So, we arrived at the venue with out sleep or gear. But that served only to strengthen our resolve. |
| Mr. Chen and Vanessa at Blue Gauntlet were the best! They got us outfitted and ready before the seeding for the events were even posted. The gave us a discount that most fencers would die for. I guess that the little coup that someone tried at the beginning of the fencing season backfired. Good thing for us. Will was the first to go into the events. U14 epee was funny, he would fence a bout and then go to sleep, fence another bout and go to sleep again. This continue all day as he fought his was into the top 32 and became the first NC fencer from KOS to get points. Dan Liacona would have been proud of Will iron will that morning. |
| Kevin and Bobby were next up and Bobby could not wake his feet up and Kevin stood tall and went 3-3 in his pool. Proving to everyone that he could swim in the shark tank and come out on top. He lost a tough bout in the 15-14 trying to break into the top 32 that only strengthened his resolve to proved something in the Div 3 In Div 3 he would defeat all the fencers in his bracket to meeting one of the fencers from the famed Fencers Club in New York to win and take the spot into the final eight. He was to come to meet the favorite to win the event, Primus, from the famed Westbrook Foundation. Primus impressed everyone on Friday by coming in 9th in the U-19 sabre event and earning his C. However, because he was a D at the qualifying event he could still be allowed to compete in the Div3 event. Many people thought this bout was over before it began, everyone that is but Kevin. Blake and Kevin went over a strategy the was going to work very well, or get him destroyed. In the end Kevin won the match 15-13. Primus wouldn't be fencing in the four and Kevin would then lose a tough bout to the winner Al-Shihabi. Did we mention that Kevin has two more years before college? |
| We then had the weekend off and instead of taking in the sites at Sacramento the four horsemen decided to go back to the venue and study the refs and the tactics that they would need later in the week. Next up was Will and Kevin in the U-16. Kevin had a bad day here whereas Will was possessed by a demon. Even though he had Igoe and Douville, Robert is his pool. He beat Igoe 5-2, everyone else in his pool and lost to Douville 5-4 ( on a call that could have went either way. He won his first couple of DE's and made it to the points list and then lost in the 32. It was a great day for Will and next year should be really awesome. |
| The next events were Div 2 men's sabre. Even though Will and Kevin could have fenced in these events we decided that Mike and Bobby would take the lead. Both went undefeated in their pools and were the top seeds in their brackets. If they both made it to the eight then that would mean that would have to fence each other to make it to the four. Mike lost going into the 16 against the man that would beat Bobby and go on to take second. |
| The final event that we would have would be remembered as the day of the four horsemen. The year of working hard together and training every hour and competing in our monthly tournaments would pay off. The program would now be put to the test. Bobby, went 2 and 4 in his pool and was seeded low in the DE's his first opponent would be against Purcell from the NYAC. He would win the match by 2 15-13 and now he was picking up steam. His next opponent would be Kolasa, Thomas (number 9 on the cadet point list). Thomas was seeded 7th after the pools and Bobby was seeded 44th. It didn't look good. However, Bobby found out that the line worked real well against him and the epee and foil training from the program worked out great. He would upset Thomas 15-14. Next on the list was Wang from North CA. Wang had just defeated Bill Becker so Bobby was nervous. If he won this he would make the 8 and earn the B that had eluded him the day Wang 15-6. We were all ecstatic until we found out who Bobby had to fence in the round of 8, Kolasa, Matthew (yes, Thomas's older brother). He is currently number 2 on the under 19 point list. He came in third in the U-19 event on Friday, earning his A and 23 in the Div 1. Bobby was not going to give it to him and fought for everyone point. Plus with the ultra-secret new move that we have now termed the Blakeborough he was able to beat him 15-14 and made history in NC! |
| In the end the stories that we will have brought back and friends and lessons learned will extend far beyond fencing. I will alway remember this nationals as the "Return of the J.E.D.I" I would mark this as the first time in a long time that I think that I have learned more about the power of positive thinking from my students than vice versa. These four young men proved that having a strong team that were willing to work together and turn off the negative surrounding could in the end achieve unbelievable results. "And the angels wept, and so did I" |
| 3.T Ziechmann, Robert (Bo Division II Men's Épée (138 Competitors) 134. Ziechmann, Robert (Bo Division II Men's Saber (155 Competitors) 5. Ziechmann, Robert (Bo 18.T O'Connor, Michael C Division III Men's Épée (167 Competitors) 116.T Ziechmann, Kevin Division III Men's Saber (148 Competitors) 3.T Ziechmann, Kevin 70. Yoder, William P Under-16 Men's Saber (94 Competitors) 20. Yoder, William P 41. Ziechmann, Kevin Under-19 Men's Saber (76 Competitors) 47. Ziechmann, Kevin 64. Ziechmann, Robert (Bo Youth-14 Men's Épée (113 Competitors) 29. Yoder, William P Youth-14 Men's Saber (104 Competitors) 61. Yoder, William P |