Solomon and Thompson tie for third at North American Cup

This weekend may have been a break from NCAA competition for Princeton fencers, but for juniors Soren Thompson and Eric Stodola and freshman Ben Solomon, there was nothing restful about it.

Thompson, Stodola and Solomon traveled to Columbus, Ohio for the first North American Cup — an important national tournament — of the season.

The 173 competitors included top fencers from the United States as well as from Europe and Canada.

Solomon and Thompson tied for third in a very strong men's epee field. With two members of the Polish national team nabbing the top spots for the epee, the two Princetonians were the highest placing U.S. fencers.

Thompson and Solomon's impressive performances moved them both ahead in the national rankings. Solomon advanced from 12th to 10th while Thompson moved from fifth to third in the U.S. fencing rankings.

The road to the top of the tournament was not easy for either fencer, however.

On his way to the final, Thompson beat a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team and two nationally ranked Canadians.

In the final, he won his first bout against Rashaan Greenhouse, a member of multiple U.S. cadet and junior World Championship Teams, before losing to Michal Sobieraj of the Polish National team.

"I fenced well in all of my bouts and had a good chance to win against Sobieraj to make the gold medal bout," Thompson said. "Unfortunately, he fended the last third or so of the match much better than I did, so I had to settle for the third place finish."

Solomon also came through in some huge bouts. After initially struggling, he left the tournament with a personal best finish.

After winning his first direct elimination match, he drew the No. 1 seed in the tournament, Canada's Charles St. Hillaire. St. Hillaire is possibly the best fencer in Canada and has traditionally placed in the top four of nearly ever U.S. competition. A very focused and patient Solomon defeated St. Hillaire 15-12.

"This was a huge victory for me because St. Hillaire is a great fencer who always does well in our tournaments," Solomon said.

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Making it to the final, Solomon fenced against Penn State's Adam Wierchoch. Wierchoch has placed in the top two at a number of U.S competitions, including NCAAs the last two years. Wierchoch and Solomon exchanged the lead a few times early in the bout but after Solomon committed a self-described "tactical mistake," Wierchoch prevailed.

Due to last week's snow storm, many of the athletes and the referees had trouble flying into Columbus before the start time of Eric Stodola's men's foil. Despite an extended rest, Stodola's results were not as good as had been expected. Going into the foil competition as the No. 28 seed, Stodola finished a disappointing 47th out of approximately 140 fencers.

"I don't feel like I was fencing poorly, but I don't feel like I fenced incredibly well either. I had some bad luck with who I got matched up against as a result of the seeding after the first round of pools," Stodola said.

Thompson, Stodola and Solomon may not have gotten the weekend off, but their dedication — and the solid performances they posted at the NAC — bode well for the team's regular season.