Fencing Club to cross blades

Tomorrow the Portland State Fencing Club will host its first-ever fencing tournament in the main gym of the Academic and Student Recreation Center.

The tournament will feature events in each of the three different weapons styles used in fencing: foil, epée and sabre. Each one is used in a specific style of fighting and features its own distinctive scoring system.

The foil is primarily a thrusting weapon and scores by hitting the torso of the opponent. The epée is also a thrusting weapon, but is heavier and has the freedom to hit anywhere on the body. Lastly, the sabre is a cutting and thrusting weapon that has freedom to strike anywhere above the waist.

Members of PSU’s fencing club will compete against fencers from Reed College, Western Washington University and the University of Oregon, among others.

“We love competing against our fellow college clubs, and it’s always nice to fence other people,” club president Todd Young, a junior, said. “We tend to fence the same group of people all the time in the club, so we’re familiar with each other’s styles and what to expect from their fencing.”

According to Young, the fencing club that is around today took up arms in 2007 and has flourished ever since as college fencing clubs have gained popularity in the Northwest. Club members compete throughout the year as other collegiate fencing clubs hold competitions.

At a previous competition earlier this year, one of PSU’s epeeists beat one of U of O’s top epeeists, which seems to be the pattern of competition between the two schools—U of O wins the epee bouts and PSU wins the foil bouts, adds Young. The PSU foil team has also won the Reed’s Gryphon Cup for a team foil for the past two years.

“We’re hoping to keep this up,” Young said. “Epée events are not available as frequently, but we’d like to see some of our epéeists place over U of O’s epéeists.”

As for this weekend’s tournament, Young hopes that there will be more of its kind to come.

“We hope for it to be an annual event,” he said. “We’re also hoping to host an event at Northwest Fencing Center in the spring. They are one of the—if not the most—well-equipped fencing centers in the state. Competitions held there are a big draw for college clubs in this region.”

The tournament starts at 9:30 a.m. and will last until around 5:30 p.m, depending on how long each fencing bout will take. ?