Columbiad

On March 6, 2004, the Spindletop Cavaliers hosted the first Columbiad event since the early 1990's.

Rather than a standard, USFA sanctioned foil and epee event, we experimented with a one touch epee tournament. Epee was originally fenced to a single touch during competition to simulate a duel. Today, epee events, like foil and sabre events, are fenced to 5 touches during the preliminary rounds and 15 during the direct elimination rounds.

Fencing to a single touch forced the competitors to fence in a much more conservative manner since we did not have the cushion of fencing to several touches. Form was cleaner, and the action was a bit slower but we had several very intense bouts.

By far the most intense was the direct elimination bout between Scott Wosniak and Peter Power, both from Spindletop. The action was fierce and very tense as both had many near touches. When the buzzer finally went off, signalling that a touch had been scored, we found that both had hit simultaneously, meaning that both points landed on the body within 1/25 of a second from the other.

The bout began again as one had to proceed to the next round. The second part was quicker with Peter pulling off the touch.

The major upset was 3th seeded Sinclair loosing to Nicole Trojanowski during the first round of the direct elimination.

The finals between Jeremy Cooper and Matt Delevoryas began with the typical "peck" shots to the hand until Matt performed his trademark assalt. Jeremy retreated until he had range to counterattack and landed the final touch.

The first price winner received the Columbiad sword, a ceromonial Knights of Columbas sword, until the next Columbiad event.

The sword was last held by the two time champion of the Columbiad, and last years Veterens Mens Epee National Champion August Skopik, coach of the Katy Blades Fencing club.

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A lot of folks ask about the name, but the origin is simpler than you might think. The original annual Columbiad tournaments were hosted by the Knights of Columbus and held during the Columbus Day weekend.

1. Jeremy Cooper (SC)
2. Matt Delevoryas (CLFC)
3. Peter Power (SC)
4. Nicole Trojanowski (CLFC)
5. Scott Wozniak (SC)
6. Sinclair Oubre (SC)
7. John Trojanowski (CLFC)

Below are a couple of shots from the last Columbiad tournament held (2004).

TOP: Peter Power & Nicole Trojanowski

BOTTOM: Jeremy Cooper vs Matt Delevoryas