St. John's University Athletics
Homer and Wozniak Take Home Silver At Pan American Championships
4/21/2015 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
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QUEENS, N.Y. -- St. John's alums Daryl Homer and Dagmara Wozniak continued their impressive seasons at the Pan American Championships in Santiago, Chile. Homer took home the silver medal in the men's saber event Monday evening, while Wozniak placed second in the women's saber event earlier in the day.
Homer entered his sixth Pan American Championships ranked No. 1 in the United States and No. 10 in the world. The Bronx, N.Y., native was never threatened in pool play as he registered a perfect 6-0 record. Homer defeated Enrico Pezzi (15-6) in the table of 64 before making quick work of both Pascual Maria Di Tella (15-4) and Ricardo Alberto Bustamante (15-4) to make it to the semifinals.
Homer ran into a tough bout with Renzo Agresta in the semifinals, but managed to pull out the narrow victory, 15-14, to make it to his second Pan American Championship final. Homer, who won gold in 2011, faced fellow U.S. teammate Eli Dershwitz in the final in a bout that went back-and-forth early. Homer fenced a close final, but Dershwitz would win the bout, 15-13.
Wozniak made her ninth Pan American Championship team ranked No. 4 in the world. The Avenel, N.J., native dropped a bout in the pools before defeating 2014 Junior World silver medalist Julieta Toledo, 15-12, in the table of 16. She would then move onto the quarterfinals to face her teammate Ibtihaj Muhammad, who was the No. 1 seed. Wozniak easily defeated Muhammad, 15-5, to advance to the semifinals.
Wozniak then fenced Paola Pliego, who was the 2014 Overall Junior World Cup Champion. Wozniak held an 8-3 lead against Pliego at the break and held off a late comeback to finish the bout, 15-10. In the gold medal final, Wozniak would face two-time Olympic Champion and fellow U.S. teammate Mariel Zagunis, who defeated her in the 2012 final. Wozniak kept the bout close early as she was within two touches at 9-7, but Zagunis would score six of the next seven touches to win the bout, 15-8.
Fellow St. John's alum Benjamin Bratton competed in his third Pan American Championships and finished in seventh-place in the men's epee event.   Â
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Players Mentioned
