St. John's University Athletics
Bratton and Homer Both Capture Silver at July Challenge
7/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
- 2015 USA Fencing National Championships and July Challenge Results
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QUEENS, N.Y. - St. John's alums Benjamin Bratton and Daryl Homer continue to excel professionally as both fencers took home a silver medal this week at the July Challenge in San Jose, Calif. Bratton placed second in the Division I men's epee, while Homer finished as the runner-up in the Division I men's saber event.
Bratton, who was a member of the 2012 U.S. Senior World Championship team, was seeded fourth coming into the event and got off to an impressive start in pool play with a 5-1 record. Seeded 10th heading into the next round, Bratton but would then pick up where he left off in pool play.
Making it to the finals was not an easy task as Bratton had to get by Matthew Trager in the Table of 8. Bratton defeated Trager 15-13, but had another tough bout in the semifinals against Jason Pryor. The New York native was able to sneak past Pryor in a close bout, 15-14, to make it to the finals to face Alen Hadzic. Bratton fenced a close final, but Hadzic was able to get the final touch to win, 15-14.
Homer, the 2012 Olympian, entered the event ranked No. 1 in the United States and No. 9 in the world. The Bronx, N.Y., native looked every bit deserving of his ranking as he easily went 6-0 in pool play to earn a bye in the next round.
Homer defeated Mitchell So (15-5) in the table of 64 before winning bouts against Geoffrey Loss (15-12) and Erwin Cai (15-11) to advance to the Table of 8. After two more victories against Benjamin Natanzon (15-9) and Andrew Mackiewicz (15-8), Homer was set to fence for the national title against No. 2 seed, Eli Dershwitz.
Dershwitz, the 2015 Pan American Championships gold medalist, defeated Homer in that final back in April. The two met again on the strip and Homer was unable to come away with the victory as Dershwitz won the bout, 15-8.
Players Mentioned
