Seven youth fencers earn medals at the Super Youth Circuit Tournament

HOUSTON/THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- Alliance Fencing Academy fencing athletes have been busy since September sharpening their skills, winning medals and earning points in fencing tournaments across the U.S. and Europe.

At the Super Youth Circuit Tournament held in Irving, TX, Aug. 31-Sept. 2. Jonathan Piskovatskov, earned a gold medal in Youth 14 Men’s Epee event; Darius Zacharakis and Jesse Harrick earned gold and silver respectively in Cadet Men’s Epee; Levi Hughes, silver, Youth 10 Men’s Epee; Talia Weiss, silver, Youth 10 Women’s Epee; Andrew Graber, bronze, Youth 10 Men’s Epee and Amber Nussberger, bronze, Youth 10 Women’s Epee. In total 34 fencers from Alliance participated at Irving, none finishing lower than 29th place.

Jesse Harrick, in addition to his silver medal, earned his “C” rating at Super Youth Tournament with an “A” rating being the best. Harrick, 16 years old, lives in the Cypress area, began fencing when he was 12 years old. “I like fencing because of the constant action, physically demanding, especially the lower body.”

Sixteen years old, Darius Zacharakis, began fencing when he was 11 years old. He is a junior at Memorial High School in the Memorial area.

He became interested in fencing because he was looking for something different than traditional sports such as football, soccer, basketball. “When I first started fencing it was more like, ‘this is really cool’ and as I got more into it it’s a really great workout. We get to travel to all kinds of places, fascinating getting to see all the different places.” He has been to World Cups in Austria and Sweden. “It’s a constant evolving sport. I am always learning new things, never boring.” His younger brother, Demetri, also fences at Alliance Fencing Academy and finished 21st at the Super Youth Circuit.

According to Darius, he is in 37th place in team points. National points help to determine placement in a tournament. For example, a fencer ranked 3rd in the nation will get an easier pool (first round of fencing) than someone ranked 30th. National points also help decide who will qualify to fence at international events.

“Fencing not only pushes me to be better on a physical level, but also on an intellectual level. My coach compares it to a physical chess game.” His main coach at Alliance Fencing Academy is Sergei Danilov.

“Congratulations to our fencers that took medals and received national points thereby qualifying them for Summer Nationals next year,” said Head Coach, Andrey Geva. “This tournament was a great way to start the fencing season for our Youth and Cadet fencers!”