MIDDLEBURY — The Vermont Fencing Alliance (VFA) hosted its 26th Annual Middlebury Open tournament at Middlebury Union Middle School on March 2 and 3, drawing competitors from all over New England, New York and Quebec.
The Open Epee field at the event was strong enough for the winner to earn an A rating from the U.S. Fencing Association, and second- and third-place finishers earned B ratings.
In that event Norwich native Peter Horak, now resident in Boston, defeated Ziheng Wang (also of Boston) by a point for the gold medal, while the bronze medal went to Middlebury Union High School junior Peter Wolosinski.
Open Foil was a B-level event, with David Adler (Boston) defeating Andrew Simon of Hanover, N.H. Tied for third was Leicester native Ben Hogan (now of Lake Placid N.Y.), the first Vermont fencer ever to earn an A rating in foil, who was making a return to competition after a long hiatus.
In other events, the top three finishers were:
•Youth Foil (all VFA): 1. Ciaran May; 2. Val Keepin; 3. Kirin Biancosino and Jansen Hill.
•Veteran Foil: 1. Daniel Robbins; 2. Viveka Fox (VFA); 3. Rick Davis (VFA) and Tom Parris (VFA).
•Unrated Women’s Foil: 1. Emma Xiang; 2. Kelly Cooper; 3. Dawn Hathaway and Anna Tuttle (VFA)
•Unrated Men’s Foil: 1. Killian Hanlon; 2. Daniel Robbins; 3. Keith Puffer and Azro Pratt.
•Youth Epee (all VFA): 1. Ciaran May, 2. Torrey Hanna; 3. Kirin Biancosino; 3. Sten Woodward.
•Veteran Epee: 1. Julian Tyson; 2. Joseph Rouse; 3. Paul Walting and Jeffrey Sumler.
•Unrated Women’s Epee; 1. Mary Woods; 2. Kassandra Morse (VFA); 3. Kelly Cooper and Annabelle Landry.
•Unrated Men’s Epee: 1. Aidan DiBenerdini; 2. Emmet Moeykens; 3. Robert Kite (VFA) and Judson Yaggy (VFA).
•Open Saber; 1. Seth Wyatt; 2. Emma Turner; 3. Charlie D’Souza and Dawn Hathaway.