This past weekend the yellow jacket fencing club made the trip down to Clemson for the Tiger Open. For some YJFC fencers this was the first tournament they had ever attended and for others this was one of many. It was a large tournament with each event consisting of at least 45 fencers. All of the yellow jacket fencers performed very well. There were many good finishes and exceptional bouts from everyone.

Stephanie Baione scores a touch on her opponent

With the annual Vets and Wrecks potluck last week, we are officially welcoming all our new fencers to the club. We are all excited to have so many amazing new members on the team. Last week, we asked our new members some questions about their time in the club so far. Johnathan Yu said that he enjoys the "great mix of social and exercise" that the club provides with its rigorous practices and light atmosphere. Drew Patterson thinks "its one of the highlights of [his] day." When asked how the club has made new members feel welcome, Esther Mathew said that "the squad leaders have been great, giving individual advice as well as being very kind and patient." Our last question was what the new members' favorite moments with the club so far. Natalie Romero said her favorite moment so far is her first time free fencing. Drew's favorite moment was his first bout too, which he described as "exhilarating and confusing." Another new member, Dylan Adriano said his favorite part of fencing is facing off against both new and experienced opponents. All of our new members are very excited to be part of the club and we can't wait to make new memories with all of them.

Dylan fencing another new fencer Veronika Maragulova

Brand new Wrecks being welcomed by their Vets

Just before the school year started, the Yellow Jacket Fencing club was at convocation to demonstrate the sport of fencing for all the incoming students. We demonstrated live bouts in both sabre and foil. Along with the live bouts, we had some quick interviews with current members of the club. We are currently in the first week of practices and welcoming all the new students who are trying out the sport of fencing.

July 21st
Some of our fencers headed down to Savannah for some summer fun: competing in the 14th annual Sabre in the Surf. Fencing sabre on the beach of Tybee Island is a great experience. Hot sand, the cool ocean, and best of all, lots of sabres.

Valerie Avva faces her opponent in the surf

2018 Yellow Jacket Open

On March 3rd and 4th, YJFC held our 2018 annual Yellow Jacket Open! We wanted to thank everyone for coming out and competing.  This year's YJO was massive, with our biggest event, open epee, boasting 97 participants. We loved hearing all of your feedback about the tournament, and we're excited to do it all again next year. 

Congrats to all the YJFC fencers who placed!
Stefano Travaglino - 3rd in Mixed Epee
Ben Waida - 8th in D & Under Mixed Foil
Michael Cogswell - 7th in Mixed Foil
Arthur Lim - 3rd in Mixed Foil
Chunlock Lo - 7th in D & Under Mixed Epee
And congrats to Chunlock Lo for earning his E!

Collegiate Fencing Championships

CFCs - Brown University at the (chilly 36 degree weather) city of Providence, RI!

Congratulations to the teams who participated:
- Men's Epee: 6th
- Men's Foil: 15th
- Men's Sabre: 15th
- Women's Epee: 16th
- Women's Foil: 20th
- Also congratulations to Arthur Lim, who qualified for the Men's Foil individual tournament and placed 8th.

Combined Results:
- Overall: 18th out of 38
- Men's Combined: 8th out of 38
- Women's Combined: 24th out of 38

Seventh Annual Yellow Jacket Open

Thank you to everyone who attended the Seventh Annual Yellow Jacket Open!

This year, 237 unique fencers across 49 unique clubs participated in our tournament. Our epee events remain the largest out of the three weapons at 106 unique fencers. The Yellow Jacket Open has also, for the first time, sponsored its first ever A4 event in the Mixed Epee event - an 84-person event with 20 fencers earning or renewing a rating!

The tournament would not have been run without our 39 YJFC volunteers. And please give the biggest thanks to our tournament committee, who have spent the past 3 months planning for the tournament non-stop!

Again, thank you for making the Seventh Annual Yellow Jacket Open a great success through your participation. We hope to see you again next year!

Results from AskFred: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=32598

Last Tuesday and Thursday, Georgia Tech students try out fencing for their first time! They learned basic footwork and bladework, as well as the various aspects of the sport and the club.

Thank you to all the volunteers for helping out!

Burdell's Best Award 2015

This year, the Yellow Jacket Fencing Club has won Georgia Tech's Burdell's Best award for the Most Creative Fundraiser through YJO!

CFCs 2015 Results

On the weekend of April 11-12, three Yellow Jacket Fencing teams participated in the Collegiate Fencing Championships held in Philadelphia, PA. Teams from 42 different colleges and universities gathered from all across the East Coast.

The final results are as follows:

• Male Epee placed 16th
• Male Saber placed 24th
• Male Foil placed 26th

Spring SIFA 2015 Results

Last weekend, the Yellow Jacket Fencing Club sent 4 squads to Spring SIFA hosted by the University of Tennessee - Knoxville.

Congratulations to the following team placements:

• Men's Epee: 1st place
• Men's Sabre: 1st place
• Men's Foil: 2nd place
• Women's Epee: 2nd place

Also congratulations to the following who placed in the individual tournament:

• Arthur Lim: 1st place in Men's Foil
• Maxwell Curtis: 6th place in Men's Foil
• Daniel Bodamer: 1st place in Men's Epee
• Jamie McAreavey: 4th place in Men's Epee
• Kevin Lyn: 3rd place in Men's Sabre
• Susanna Dong: 2nd place in Women's Epee
• Dorothy Cannella: 7th place in Women's Epee

Congratulations to all Spring SIFA squads for an excellent performance!

YJFC 2015-2016 Election Results

We are pleased to announce the 2015-2016 Yellow Jacket Fencing Club Executive Board:

• President: Susanna Dong
• Vice President: Keith Johnson
• Team Captain: Matt Bernstein
• Treasurer: Leslie McConnell
• Secretary: Dalton Mulkey

Congratulations to next year's board!

Yellow Jacket Open Results

The Yellow Jacket Open: 249 fencers from 46 different clubs watched by ~500 spectators over 2 days in 6 events totaling 289 entries involving 15 outside referees and 22 sets of scoring equipment. It wouldn't be possible without the help of 38 YJFC volunteers who gave up their time and housed 21 overnight guests. Thanks so much for all your help!

Congratulations to the following:
- Vladimir Smirnov for placing 6th in Div III Epee and earning his E rating
- Alumnus Jeffrey Lumish for placing 7th in Div III Sabre

For all results from the Sixth Annual Yellow Jacket Open, please visit AskFred: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=28945

Classic City Open 2015 Results

Congratulations to the following:
- Vladimir Smirnov for 3rd place in E&Under Men's Epee
- Maxwell Curtis for 2nd place in E&Under Men's Foil
- Susanna Dong for 2nd place in E&Under Women's Foil

See all results from Classic City Open on AskFred:https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=29076

Yellow Jacket Open 2015

Come join us for the Sixth Annual Yellow Jacket Open on March 14-15, hosted by Georgia Tech's fencing club in the Adamsville Recreation Center in Atlanta, GA!

Preregister on AskFred and follow the Facebook event!
For general questions, contact yjfencing@gmail.com.

We'll see you there!

Green Gator 2015 Results!

Congratulations to the following:

• Matthew Bernstein for 5th place in Div 3 Foil and renewing his E rating.
• Maxwell Curtis for 10th place in Div 3 Foil.
• Alumnus Parth Deshmukh for 3rd place in Open Foil.
• Arthur Lim for 13th place in Open Foil.
• Kevin Lyn for 7th place in Open Sabre and renewing his E rating.
• Kevin Lyn for 9th place in Div 3 Sabre.

See all the results for Green Gator on AskFred:https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=28708

UGA Open 2015 Results!

Congratulations to the following:

• Daniel Bodamer for 3rd place in the C&Under Epee event and renewing his C, and placing in the Top 16 in Open Epee.
• Alumnus Parth Deshmukh for placing in the Top 8 in the Open Foil event.

For all results in the UGA Open, go to AskFred: https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=28269

Szathmary Open 2014 Results

Congratulations to the following:

• Alumnus Parth Deshmukh for placing 3rd in Mixed Epee and renewing his B2014 in epee
• Arthur Lim for placing 7th in Mixed Epee and earning his C2014 in Epee
• Alumnus Parth Deshmukh for 1st place in Mixed Foil
• Arthur Lim for placing 3rd in Mixed Foil
• Daniel Bodamer for placing 6th in Mixed Foil and earning his C2014 in foil
• Maxwell Curtis for placing 11th in Mixed Foil and earning his E2014 in foil
• Alumnus Parth Deshmukh for placing 2nd in Mixed Sabre
• Kevin Zhu for placing 3rd in Mixed Sabre
• Anthony Betts for placing 5th in Mixed Sabre

For all results from the Szathmary Open, click on the link to AskFred. https://askfred.net/Results/results.php?tournament_id=27630

Homecoming 2014

For the first time ever, the Yellow Jacket Fencing Club participated in Homecoming Week. We placed 7^th out of 20 teams in the clubs and organizations division. Not a bad start for our first year!

YJFC club members competed in Iron Buzz, Trivia Night, the Scavenger Hunt, and the Mini 500. Although we discovered that trivia is not a fencer’s forte, our team placed first overall in the club division of Iron Buzz with Jack Mueller on bike, Alex Nikoukary running, and Matt Bernstein swimming. We also put in an impressive showing in the Mini 500, placing third in the co-ed division. The team was made up of Dalton Mulkey, Jack Mueller, Kevin Zhu, and Anthony Betts as racers and Fiona Wong, Keith Johnson, and Matt Bernstein making up the pit crew.

YJFC's In-House Tournament!

On Sunday, October 26th, we had the first In-House Tournament of the year. We had a large turnout with 10-15 participants per weapons!


Thank you to Tim Kierkzowski and Keith Johnson for hosting and running the tournament! Also thanks to Matt Bernstein, Arthur Lim, Kevin Lyn, Parth Deskhmukh, Leslie McConnell, and Jess Shimko for refereeing for the tournament.

Congratulations to the Top 4 Foilists!
From left to right: Daniel Bodamer (1st), Susanna Dong (3rd), Valerie Avva (2nd)
Absent: Max Curtis (3rd)
Keith Johnson (furthest left) was this tournament's 1-man bout committee!

Congratulation to the Top 4 Epeeists

[ Picture not acquired. :( ]

1st: Arthur Lim

2nd: James McAveavey

3rd: Jack Mueller

3rd: Matthew Lemons

Congratulation to the Top 4 Saberists!
James Kelly (left, 2nd), Kevin Zhu (right, 1st)
Absent: Daniel Bodamer (3rd), Alex Nikoukary (3rd)