FENCING: U.S. Men's Epee Team Places 15th at Heidenheim World Cup

The U.S. Men’s Epee Team finished 15th at the Heidenheim World Cup in Germany on Saturday.

Team USA drew a bye into the table of 32 where Ben Bratton (New York City, N.Y.), Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Jimmy Moody (Colorado Springs, Colo.) took on Hong Kong.

The Americans built a nine-touch lead after the first five bouts and Bratton anchored the squad to a 45-40 victory.

In the table of 16, Russia led the match, 24-11, at the start of the eighth bout. Bratton outscored 2009 Senior World Champion Anton Avdeev, 7-5, and Andras Horanyi (Colorado Springs, Colo.) came in as anchor against 2013 Senior World bronze medalist Pavel Sukhov. Horanyi scored 10 touches on Sukhov in a fast-paced final bout, but Russia took the win, 43-28.

Team USA fenced Italy in the 9th – 16th place table and Pryor posted a key victory against 2011 Senior World Champion Paolo Pizzo in the fifth where Pryor outscored the Italian, 7-1, in just over two minutes to give the Americans a 14-11 lead. Italy regrouped in the subsequent bouts and won the match, 39-33.

In the 13th – 16th place table, Estonia led Team USA, 36-33, after the first eight bouts. Moody fenced the anchor bout against Sten Priinits. The bout was sent to overtime after a scoreless first minute. In the final minute, Moody and Priinits each scored six touches and Estonia finished with a 43-36 victory.

Team USA ended the day with a victory in the final match to finish in 15th place. Bratton, Pryor and Moody won eight of nine bouts with Moody anchoring the final bout and securing the 45-28 win.

In the individual competition, two U.S. team members advanced from the pools and preliminary rounds on Thursday and into the table of 64 on Friday.

For Ariel Simmons (Bellaire, Texas), a 2013 Cadet World Champion, this may be his first season on the senior international circuit, but the youngest member of the U.S. delegation made himself a contender for the 2015 Pan American Zonal Championship Team with his second top-64 result of the season.

Simmons defeated Anatoliy Herey (UKR), 15-12, and Dmitriy Gryaznov (KAZ), 15-11, in the prelim tables to qualify for the table of 64.

On Friday, Simmons took a 9-4 lead against Kasper Roslander (FIN) after the first period, but Roslander fought back to tie the bout at 12 in the third and earn a 15-14 win.

Pryor, a two-time Senior World Team member, qualified for the table of 64 for the first time this season after a 15-14 win against Gabriele Cimini (ITA) and a 15-10 victory over Taejin Son (KOR).

In the table of 64, Pryor lost his bout to Chengjie Zhang (CHN), 15-13.

With just three tournaments remaining before the 2015 Pan Am Zonal Team is selected, Simmons will climb from fifth to third and Pryor from sixth to fourth in the team standings.

Click here to view complete team results.

Click here to view complete individual results.

Top eight and U.S. results are as follows:

Heidenheim Individual Epee World Cup

1. Max Heinzer (SUI)

2. Yannick Borel (FRA)

3. Robin Kase (SWE)

3. Enrico Garozzo (ITA)

5. Gauthier Grumier (FRA)

6. Sangyoung Park (KOR)

7. Bogdan Nikishin (UKR)

8. Niklas Multerer (GER)

50. Ariel Simmons (Bellaire, Texas)

51. Jason Pryor (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

69. Benjamin Ungar (Bronx, N.Y.)

119. Jimmy Moody (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

141. Andras Horanyi (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

143. Jonathan Yergler (Plantation, Fla.)

174. Yeisser Ramirez (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

212. Ben Bratton (New York City, N.Y.)

224. Peregrine Badger (Providence, R.I.)

240. Adam Watson (Richford, Vt.)

246. Kevin Mo (Irvine, Calif.)

Heidenheim Team Epee World Cup

1. Korea

2. France

3. Russia

4. Hungary

5. Ukraine

6. Switzerland

7. Israel

8. Germany

15. USA

For more information, contact Nicole Jomantas, USA Fencing Communications Manager, at 719.761.7909 or N.Jomantas@usfencing.org.

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