USA Fencing reports that 14-year-old Brian Howard of Petaluma has won his first Cadet title at the North American Cup, held Nov. 23 in Richmond, Va.
Read the full report of his victory here.
“This may sound funny, but I saw The Three Musketeers and was like ‘I want to do that!’ and now here I am eight years later,” Brian told USA Fencing at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.
Brian, who won gold at this event in 2010 as a Division II fencer with a D rating, earned his A with his victory over July NAC Champion Axel Kiefer of Lexington, Ky.
Although the two fencers exchanged the lead by a touch or two each, Brian pulled ahead during the final five touches.
“It’s amazing. I don’t even know how I did it,” Brian said of his win against Kiefer – a fencer who had defeated Howard during their last three match-ups. “That last bout was really intense, but I just took each touch as a new challenge and I just had to get past that touch.”
Brian said he believes his win will earn him enough national ranking points to compete for the first time on the Cadet European Cup circuit next month.
