Fencing is a difficult sport in which one must balance skill, athleticism, and mental toughness while dueling. That is what makes freshman Jared Petroll’s accomplishment so remarkable. He recently fenced his way into 14th place at the November 7th-10th North American Cup (NAC) in Louisville, Kentucky. He beat 157 other fencers from all over the continent. “There were some from Puerto Rico, Canada, and all across the U.S.” Jared said, “mostly California, New York, Houston, and North Texas.” Additionally, there was one competitor from China in his division. Jared competed in the Cadet Men’s Epee group. The steel or aluminum epee is a type of sword in fencing, the other two types being the foil and sabre. With the epee, Jared said, “You can get touches anywhere. You can get touches on the toe, you can get touches on the mask, anywhere.” The tip of an epee sword is wired to record these “touches” on the opponent, and the fighter with the most recorded touches wins the match.
At the NAC, Jared progressed through two main rounds of competition. “In the first round, there is preliminary seeding,” he said. This is the pool round where fencers battle for better seeding in the second round. Jared explained,”Based on how you do in that you are seeded in the actual elimination round.” He advanced all the way into the Round of 16 in the tournament round, with a record of 15-7 until he was finally defeated. Nevertheless, Jared was proud of his performance at the competition, saying, “I was most proud of placing in the top 16.” Indeed, Jared was the highest placed fencer from North Texas. “What I really find amazing is how big the tournaments are,” he said. “North American Cups and national tournaments just in general are the largest tournaments in the world. There is over a thousand people there fencing, that’s what really amazes me, being able to fence with people that good.” He is currently being coached by Jesuit’s Mohammed Elsakawey and his club fencing coach Hossam Mahmoud. At this most recent NAC he represented both his club, Fencing Institute of Texas, and Jesuit. Jared says, “I believe the fencing team’s goal moving forward is to go one step higher and to finish in the top eight in the United States Junior Olympics (which is a national tournament, not the world Olympics).” The team will no doubt improve through hard work and practice to go that one step higher.
