By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
June 7, 2004
Variety took center stage for the final day of the State Games of Mississippi's fencing competition.
Three sword types, offering different styles, were used in the open competitions at Bonita Lakes Mall on Sunday, as fencing along with sailing closed out the first weekend of the Games.
Competitors were offered the option of competing in epee, foil and saber tournaments in bouts which were open to all age groups.
The epee is a heavy sword in which a fencers use the tip of the blade to score points, but with this sword, a person's entire body is the target area a touch with the tip of the epee sword will score a point. It simulates a duel to first blood.
The foil is a traditional small sword based on a 17th century design, and fencers score points with the tip of the blade. In foil bouts, a competitor scores points by stabbing an opponent's torso, but points are not awarded for hits on the head, arms and legs.
The saber is based on the cavalry sword, and unlike the epee and foil, fencers can score points by making contact with the tip and edge of the blade. The target area for this sword is everything above the waist chest, arms and head.
Paul Geraci walked away with two gold medals, winning the open epee and foil competitions
Geraci, who usually fences with the epee, defeated John "Doc" Mathews in the epee gold-medal bout. Daphne Cain and Richard Jones shared the bronze medal in epee.
Geraci scored a 15-7 win over Carr in gold-medal bout in foil, after Carr opened with a 3-2 lead.
Geraci who injured his right hand, his sword-holding hand, in the semifinals scored four straight touches after falling behind to Carr.
Geraci took a 9-5 into the first one-minute timeout fencers duel in three-minute intervals and took a 10-5 lead at the start of the second period.
Carr scored two quick touches after falling behind by five points to pull within 10-7 of the lead, but Geraci tallied five straight touches for the win.
Carr took the silver, but the fencer who is also instructor said he was prouder of Joel Salda and David Randle sharing the foil competition's bronze medal. Carr defeated Randle in a semifinal bout 15-12.
Matthews, who was the only fencer to compete in all three sword tournaments, picked up the gold medal in the saber competition He defeated David Williams 15-14 in the gold-medal bout.
Lindell Simpson and Bob Zeldner shared the bronze medal in saber.
In Saturday's junior foil tournament, Andrew Morgan defeated David Randle 15-10 in the gold-medal bout. Andrew Morgan took a 7-0 lead, but Randle came back to cut his deficit to 8-7. Andrew Morgan responded by scoring eight of the last 10 touches to win the gold.
Randle defeated Andrew Morgan's brother, Will Morgan, in a semifinal bout, which pitted two members of the U.S. junior Olympic fencing team against each other.
Will Morgan took a slim 4-3 at the start of the bout, but Randle rallied for five straight points for an 8-4 lead, which he never relinquished. Will Morgan shared the bronze medal with Salda in the junior foil.