St. John's University Athletics
Natanzon Places Fifth at Junior Olympic Fencing Championships
2/15/2016 12:00:00 AM | Fencing
QUEENS, N.Y. - Freshman Ben Natanzon continued his stellar rookie campaign at the Junior Olympic Fencing Championships in Cleveland, Ohio. Natanzon was one of five St. John's fencers to compete this past weekend as he led the Red Storm with a fifth-place finish in junior men's saber.
The Manalapan, N.J., native entered the event the No. 1 overall seed and showed why in pool play as he dominated the competition going undefeated with a 6-0 record to earn a bye into the Table of 128.
After pool play, Natanzon was tied for the No. 2 seed out of 170 fencers that advanced to the next round. Natanzon went on to easily defeat Zachary Johnson, 15-5, to reach the Table of 64. He then defeated Firoz George (15-9) and Ethan Mullennix (15-12) to advance to the Table of 16. The freshman continued to advance after another victory as he made quick work of Daniel Kwak (15-5) to move on to the Table of 8 and set up a bout against Christopher Walker.
Natanzon battled with Walker but was unable able to record the last touch to advance to the semifinals as Walker secured a narrow 15-14 victory.
Joining Natanzon at the Junior Olympics were fellow classmate Caitlin McKenna and sophomores Curtis McDowald, Sean White and Alex Cotter.
McKenna finished 45th overall in the junior women's epee after entering the competition seeded 42nd. McKenna had a first round bye after a 4-2 record in pool play and went on to defeat Elizabeth Chiang (15-14) before falling to Caroline Nixon 15-6 in the Table of 64.
McDowald, who is fresh off his impressive showing at the January NAC where he took home two bronze medals, entered the competition seeded fifth in junior men's epee. He started with an undefeated record in pool play (6-0) and was tied for the No. 4 seed out of 215 fencers that advanced to the next round. McDowald earned a bye in the first round, but then defeated Henry Lange (15-13) and Dylan Kim (15-11) to advance to the Table of 32.
The sophomore epeeist then faced Goutham Nair in another tough bout, but McDowald would pull out the victory, 15-11, to move on to the Table of 16 where he would face Harrison Kimatian. McDowald would drop the bout 15-10 to finish ninth overall, while Kimatian placed eighth.
White finished 45th overall in junior men's epee after getting off to a 5-1 start in pool play. White also received a first round bye and met Zaelig Averch in the Table of 128. The Manassas, Va., native made quick work of Averch as he recorded a 15-6 victory. White then fell, 15-13, in a close bout to Amit Sarma in the Table of 64.
Cotter finished tied for 252nd place in junior men's epee.
NEXT UP
St. John's will compete as a team when they travel to Philadelphia, Pa., for the Temple Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 20. The Red Storm will face Brown, Penn, Penn State, Princeton, and host school Temple.
Players Mentioned
